2 Samuel 12

2Sa 12:1-6.

NATHAN'S

PARABLE.

1. the Lord sent Nathan unto David--The use of parables is a favorite

style of speaking among Oriental people, especially in the conveyance

of unwelcome truth. This exquisitely pathetic parable was founded on a

common custom of pastoral people who have pet lambs, which they bring

up with their children, and which they address in terms of endearment.

The atrocity of the real, however, far exceeded that of the fictitious

offense.

5. the man that hath done this thing shall surely die--This punishment

was more severe than the case deserved, or than was warranted by the

divine statute

(Ex 22:1).

The sympathies of the king had been deeply enlisted, his indignation

aroused, but his conscience was still asleep; and at the time when he

was most fatally indulgent to his own sins, he was most ready to

condemn the delinquencies and errors of others.

2Sa 12:7-23.

HE

APPLIES

IT TO

DAVID,

WHO

CONFESSES

HIS

SIN, AND

IS

PARDONED.

7. Nathan said to David, Thou art the man--These awful words pierced

his heart, aroused his conscience, and brought him to his knees. The

sincerity and depth of his penitent sorrow are evinced by the Psalms he

composed

(Ps 32:1-11; 51:1-19; 103:1-22).

He was pardoned, so far as related to the restoration of the divine

favor. But as from his high character for piety, and his eminent rank

in society, his deplorable fall was calculated to do great injury to

the cause of religion, it was necessary that God should testify His

abhorrence of sin by leaving even His own servant to reap the bitter

temporal fruits. David was not himself doomed, according to his own

view of what justice demanded

(2Sa 12:5);

but he had to suffer a quadruple expiation in the successive deaths of

four sons, besides a lengthened train of other evils.

8. I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives--The

phraseology means nothing more than that God in His providence had

given David, as king of Israel, everything that was Saul's. The history

furnishes conclusive evidence that he never actually married any of the

wives of Saul. But the harem of the preceding king belongs, according

to Oriental notions, as a part of the regalia to his successor.

11. I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, &c.--The

prophet speaks of God threatening to do what He only permitted to be

done. The fact is, that David's loss of character by the discovery of

his crimes, tended, in the natural course of things, to diminish the

respect of his family, to weaken the authority of his government, and

to encourage the prevalence of many disorders throughout his kingdom.

15-23. the Lord struck the child . . . and it was very sick--The first

visible chastisement inflicted on David appeared on the person of that

child which was the evidence and monument of his guilt. His domestics

were surprised at his conduct, and in explanation of its singularity,

it is necessary to remark that the custom in the East is to leave the

nearest relative of a deceased person to the full and undisturbed

indulgence of his grief, till on the third or fourth day at farthest

(Joh 11:17).

Then the other relatives and friends visit him, invite him to eat, lead

him to a bath, and bring him a change of dress, which is necessary from

his having sat or lain on the ground. The surprise of David's servants,

then, who had seen his bitter anguish while the child was sick, arose

apparently from this, that when he found it was dead, he who had so

deeply lamented arose of himself from the earth, without waiting for

their coming to him, immediately bathed and anointed himself, instead

of appearing as a mourner, and after worshiping God with solemnity,

returned to his wonted repast, without any interposition of others.

2Sa 12:24, 25.

SOLOMON

IS

BORN.

24, 25. Bath-sheba . . . bare a son, and he called his name

Solomon--that is, "peaceable." But Nathan gave him the name of

Jedediah, by command of God, or perhaps only as an expression of God's

love. This love and the noble gifts with which he was endowed,

considering the criminality of the marriage from which he sprang, is a

remarkable instance of divine goodness and grace.

2Sa 12:26-31.

RABBAH

IS

TAKEN.

26. Joab fought against Rabbah--The time during which this siege

lasted, since the intercourse with Bath-sheba, and the birth of at

least one child, if not two, occurred during the progress of it,

probably extended over two years.

27. the city of waters--Rabbah, like Aroer, was divided into two

parts--one the lower town, insulated by the winding course of the

Jabbok, which flowed almost round it, and the upper and stronger town,

called the royal city. "The first was taken by Joab, but the honor of

capturing so strongly a fortified place as the other was an honor

reserved for the king himself."

28. encamp against the city, and take it--It has always been

characteristic of Oriental despots to monopolize military honors; and

as the ancient world knew nothing of the modern refinement of kings

gaining victories by their generals, so Joab sent for David to command

the final assault in person. A large force was levied for the purpose.

David without much difficulty captured the royal city and obtained

possession of its immense wealth.

lest I take the city, and it be called after my name--The circumstance

of a city receiving a new name after some great person, as Alexandria,

Constantinople, Hyderabad, is of frequent occurrence in the ancient and

modern history of the East.

30. he took their king's crown from off his head--While the treasures

of the city were given as plunder to his soldiers, David reserved to

himself the crown, which was of rarest value. Its great weight makes it

probable that it was like many ancient crowns, not worn, but suspended

over the head, or fixed on a canopy on the top of the throne.

the precious stones--Hebrew, "stone"; was a round ball composed of

pearls and other jewels, which was in the crown, and probably taken out

of it to be inserted in David's own crown.

31. he brought forth the people . . . and put them under saws,

&c.--This excessive severity and employment of tortures, which the

Hebrews on no other occasion are recorded to have practised, was an act

of retributive justice on a people who were infamous for their

cruelties

(1Sa 11:2;

Am 1:13).