2 Samuel 12

KJV · Chapter 12/24

¹And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

²The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:

³But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

⁴And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

⁵And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:

⁶And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

⁷And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

⁸And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

⁹Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

¹⁰Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

¹¹Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

¹²For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

¹³And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

¹⁴Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

¹⁵And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

¹⁶David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

¹⁷And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

¹⁸And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

¹⁹But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.

²⁰Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.

²¹Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.

²²And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live?

²³But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

²⁴And David comforted Bath–sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the Lord loved him.

²⁵And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

²⁶And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.

²⁷And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.

²⁸Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.

²⁹And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.

³⁰And he took their king’s crown from off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was set on David’s head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.

³¹And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto 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

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 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.
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.
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.
2 Samuel 12:5David burns with anger at the story and declares that the rich man deserves to die for what he did.
2 Samuel 12:6David decides the man should restore the lamb fourfold, for acting with no compassion at all.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
2 Samuel 12:12God contrasts what David did in secret with what will happen openly, before all Israel.
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.
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.
2 Samuel 12:15After Nathan leaves, the LORD strikes the child born to Bathsheba, and he becomes gravely ill.
2 Samuel 12:16David pleads with God for the child, fasting and lying all night on the ground, pleading.
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.
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.
2 Samuel 12:19Noticing his servants whispering, David understands that the child is dead and asks them plainly, and they confirm it.
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.
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.
2 Samuel 12:22David explains that he fasted and wept hoping that God would be gracious to him and let the child live.
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.
2 Samuel 12:24David comforts Bathsheba, and together they have another son, named Solomon, whom the LORD loved.
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.
2 Samuel 12:26Meanwhile, Joab continues the war against Rabbah, the Ammonite capital, and captures the royal stronghold of the city.
2 Samuel 12:27Joab sends messengers to David, reporting that he has already taken the water supply of Rabbah.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Chapters

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