2 Samuel 12

ARC · Chapter 12/24

1E o Senhor enviou Nathan a David: e, entrando elle a David, disse-lhe: Havia n'uma cidade dois homens, um rico e outro pobre.

2O rico tinha muitissimas ovelhas e vaccas;

3Mas o pobre não tinha coisa nenhuma, senão uma pequena cordeira que comprara e creara; e ella tinha crescido com elle e com seus filhos egualmente; do seu bocado comia, e do seu copo bebia, e dormia em seu regaço, e a tinha como filha.

4E, vindo ao homem rico um viajante, deixou este de tomar das suas ovelhas e das suas vaccas para guizar para o viajante que viera a elle: e tomou a cordeira do homem pobre, e a preparou para o homem que viera a elle.

5Então o furor de David se accendeu em grande maneira contra aquelle homem, e disse a Nathan: Vive o Senhor, que digno de morte é o homem que fez isso.

6E pela cordeira tornará a dar o quadruplicado, porque fez tal coisa, e porque não se compadeceu.

7Então disse Nathan a David: Tu és este homem. Assim diz o Senhor Deus d'Israel: Eu te ungi rei sobre Israel, e eu te livrei das mãos de Saul,

8E te dei a casa de teu senhor, e as mulheres de teu senhor em teu seio, e tambem te dei a casa d'Israel e de Judah, e, se isto é pouco, mais te accrescentaria taes e taes coisas.

9Porque, pois, desprezaste a palavra do Senhor, fazendo o mal diante de seus olhos? A Urias, o hetheo, feriste á espada, e a sua mulher tomaste por tua mulher; e a elle mataste com a espada dos filhos d'Ammon:

10Agora, pois, não se apartará a espada jámais da tua casa, porquanto me desprezaste, e tomaste a mulher de Urias, o hetheo, para que te seja por mulher.

11Assim diz o Senhor: Eis que suscitarei da tua mesma casa o mal sobre ti, e tomarei tuas mulheres perante os teus olhos, e as darei a teu proximo, o qual se deitará com tuas mulheres perante este sol.

12Porque tu o fizeste em occulto, mas eu farei este negocio perante todo o Israel e perante o sol.

13Então disse David a Nathan: Pequei contra o Senhor. E disse Nathan a David: Tambem o Senhor traspassou o teu peccado; não morrerás.

14Todavia, porquanto com este feito déste logar sobremaneira a que os inimigos do Senhor blasphemem, tambem o filho que te nasceu certamente morrerá.

15Então Nathan se foi para sua casa; e o Senhor feriu a creança que a mulher de Urias parira a David, e adoeceu gravemente.

16E buscou David a Deus pela creança; e jejuou David, e entrou, e passou a noite prostrado sobre a terra:

17Então os anciãos da sua casa se levantaram a elle, para o levantar da terra; porém elle não quiz, e não comeu pão com elles

18E succedeu que ao setimo dia morreu a creança: e temiam os servos de David dizer-lhe que a creança era morta, porque diziam: Eis que, sendo a creança ainda viva, lhe fallavamos, porém não dava ouvidos á nossa voz; como pois lhe diremos que a creança é morta? Porque mais mal lhe faria.

19Viu porém David que seus servos fallavam baixo, e entendeu David que a creança era morta, pelo que disse David a seus servos: É morta a creança? E elles disseram: É morta.

20Então David se levantou da terra, e se lavou, e se ungiu, e mudou de vestidos, e entrou na casa do Senhor, e adorou: então veiu a sua casa, e pediu pão; e lhe pozeram pão, e comeu.

21E disseram-lhe seus servos: Que é isto que fizeste? Pela creança viva jejuaste e choraste; porém depois que morreu a creança te levantaste e comeste pão

22E disse elle: Vivendo ainda a creança, jejuei e chorei, porque dizia: Quem sabe se o Senhor se compadecerá de mim, e viva a creança?

23Porém, agora que é morta, porque jejuaria eu agora? Poderei eu fazel-a mais voltar? Eu irei a ella, porém ella não voltará para mim.

24Então consolou David a Bath-seba, sua mulher, e entrou a ella, e se deitou com ella: e pariu ella um filho, e chamou o seu nome Salomão: e o Senhor o amou.

25E enviou pela mão do propheta Nathan, e chamou o seu nome Jedid-jah, por amor do Senhor.

26Entretanto pelejou Joab contra Rabba, dos filhos de Ammon, e tomou a cidade real.

27Então mandou Joab mensageiros a David, e disse: Pelejei contra Rabba, e tambem tomei a cidade das aguas.

28Ajunta, pois, agora o resto do povo, e cerca a cidade, e toma-a, para que, tomando eu a cidade, não se acclame sobre ella o meu nome.

29Então ajuntou David a todo o povo, e marchou para Rabba, e pelejou contra ella, e a tomou.

30E tirou a corôa da cabeça do seu rei, cujo peso era d'um talento de oiro, e havia n'ella pedras preciosas, e foi posta sobre a cabeça de David: e da cidade levou mui grande despojo.

31E, trazendo o povo que havia n'ella, o poz ás serras, e ás talhadeiras de ferro, e aos machados de ferro, e os fez passar por forno de tijolos; e assim fez a todas as cidades dos filhos de Ammon: e voltou David e todo o povo para Jerusalem.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The prophet Nathan confronts David with the parable of the rich man who steals the poor man's little ewe lamb, revealing that David is that man. David repents, but the son born to Bathsheba dies. Afterward, Solomon is born, and David helps conquer the Ammonite capital, Rabbah.

Explanation

Nathan's confrontation is a model of prophetic courage: telling the truth to a power that could easily crush him. The parable works because it stirs David's moral outrage before he realizes he is judging himself. David's sincere repentance (also expressed in Psalm 51) shows that even grave sins can be forgiven, though the practical consequences continue — the sword would 'never depart' from his house, as is fulfilled in the following chapters. Solomon's birth, despite everything, shows the grace of God bringing a new beginning amid the ruins of sin.

Fun facts

  • Solomon also receives the name 'Jedidiah,' meaning 'beloved of the Lord,' given by Nathan — a clear sign that God had forgiven and blessed this child despite the tragic circumstances of his conception.
  • The crown of the king of Rabbah weighed, according to the text, a talent of gold (about 34 kg / 75 lbs), which probably means it was displayed hanging over the throne rather than actually worn on the head.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Samuel 12:1God sends the prophet Nathan to David, who opens with a story: there were two men in a city, one rich and one poor.
  2. 2 Samuel 12:2This rich man is only a character in a parable the prophet Nathan invents to confront David—the rich man stands for the king himself, who took Uriah’s wife even though he had so many of his own.
  3. 2 Samuel 12:3Nathan’s parable uses the image of a little pet ewe lamb, raised like a daughter by a poor man, to make David react with outrage before he realizes the story is about himself and Bathsheba.
  4. 2 Samuel 12:4When a traveler comes to the rich man’s house, he takes nothing from his own flock—instead, he takes the poor man’s one little lamb to prepare a meal.
  5. 2 Samuel 12:5David burns with anger at the story and declares that the rich man deserves to die for what he did.
  6. 2 Samuel 12:6David decides the man should restore the lamb fourfold, for acting with no compassion at all.
  7. 2 Samuel 12:7Nathan then reveals that the story was about David himself: God had anointed him king over Israel and delivered him out of the hand of Saul.
  8. 2 Samuel 12:8God reminds David, through Nathan, of everything He had already given him—house, wives, the kingdom of Israel and Judah—and that He would have given even more if that had been too little.
  9. 2 Samuel 12:9Nathan confronts David directly: why has he despised the word of the LORD, killed Uriah with the sword of the Ammonites, and taken his wife?
  10. 2 Samuel 12:10As a consequence, Nathan announces that the sword will never depart from David’s house, because he despised the LORD in this way.
  11. 2 Samuel 12:11God announces that He will raise up evil against David out of his own house, and that his wives will be taken before the eyes of everyone.
  12. 2 Samuel 12:12God contrasts what David did in secret with what will happen openly, before all Israel.
  13. 2 Samuel 12:13When Nathan says David’s sin has been forgiven but the child will still die, the text separates two things: David’s personal forgiveness before God, and the concrete consequence that follows even after forgiveness—a pattern that recurs elsewhere in biblical stories.
  14. 2 Samuel 12:14Even with the sin forgiven, Nathan announces that David and Bathsheba’s newborn son will die, because what David did gave the enemies of the LORD reason to scorn Him.
  15. 2 Samuel 12:15After Nathan leaves, the LORD strikes the child born to Bathsheba, and he becomes gravely ill.
  16. 2 Samuel 12:16David pleads with God for the child, fasting and lying all night on the ground, pleading.
  17. 2 Samuel 12:17The elders of his house try to raise him up from the ground, but he refuses and will not eat food with them.
  18. 2 Samuel 12:18On the seventh day the child dies, and David’s servants are afraid to tell him, fearing how he will react after such anguish.
  19. 2 Samuel 12:19Noticing his servants whispering, David understands that the child is dead and asks them plainly, and they confirm it.
  20. 2 Samuel 12:20David stops fasting as soon as the child dies, the opposite of what his servants expected—he explains that he had fasted hoping to change the outcome while the child still lived, but praying for someone already dead no longer made sense to him.
  21. 2 Samuel 12:21His servants find it strange: David fasted and wept while the child was alive, but rises and eats as soon as it dies.
  22. 2 Samuel 12:22David explains that he fasted and wept hoping that God would be gracious to him and let the child live.
  23. 2 Samuel 12:23Now that the child has died, David says there is no reason to fast, for he cannot bring the child back—he will go to him, but the child will not return to him.
  24. 2 Samuel 12:24David comforts Bathsheba, and together they have another son, named Solomon, whom the LORD loved.
  25. 2 Samuel 12:25Jedidiah, the second name given to Solomon, means something like “beloved of the LORD”—it is common in the Bible for the same person to carry two names, one for public use and another tied to a blessing or special circumstance of birth.
  26. 2 Samuel 12:26Meanwhile, Joab continues the war against Rabbah, the Ammonite capital, and captures the royal stronghold of the city.
  27. 2 Samuel 12:27Joab sends messengers to David, reporting that he has already taken the water supply of Rabbah.
  28. 2 Samuel 12:28Joab asks David to come with the rest of the troops to finish the conquest, so that it will be the king’s name, not his own, remembered for the final victory.
  29. 2 Samuel 12:29David finally goes in person to the war against Rabbah—the very war he had stayed home to avoid, in the chapter where everything went wrong with Bathsheba.
  30. 2 Samuel 12:30David takes the crown of the Ammonite king, heavy with gold and precious stones, and carries off a great amount of spoil from the city.
  31. 2 Samuel 12:31David puts the people of Rabbah to forced labor, and does the same to the rest of the Ammonite cities, before returning with the whole army to Jerusalem.

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