Tyndale Open Study Notes

Verse 1

12:1-31 Chapter 12 expands on the last phrase of 11:27.

12:1 The Lord sent Nathan to David at least nine months after his adulterous sin. • This story is a rare Old Testament instance of a parable (see also Judg 9:8-15). Such stories can be effective for communicating truth. • David was rich in the royal treasures he possessed, the number of wives he had, and all the promises of God for his future. Uriah by contrast was poor: he had one wife, one home, and no lineage.

Verse 3

12:3 like a baby daughter: Nathan’s comparison of this lamb to a daughter (Hebrew bath) strikes a parallel with Bathsheba’s name (see study note on 11:3).

Verse 4

12:4 he took the poor man’s lamb: Samuel had previously warned that a king would take what was not his (1 Sam 8:11-17).

Verse 5

12:5-6 The rich man of the parable did not deserve to die according to the law; instead, he must repay four lambs (cp. Exod 22:1). Intriguingly, David would later lose four of his sons (Bathsheba’s first child, 2 Sam 12:18; Amnon, 13:29; Absalom, 18:14-15; Adonijah, 1 Kgs 2:25).

Verse 7

12:7-8 You are that man! David did deserve to die for his crime (Lev 20:10). • I anointed . . . I gave . . . I would have given you: David’s sin not only violated God’s commandments against murder, adultery, and coveting (Exod 20:1-17) but also amounted to a brazen disregard for all that the Lord had graciously given him.

Verse 8

12:8 His wives were probably the concubines of Saul’s harem (cp. 3:7). The phrase could refer to Saul’s wife Ahinoam, although David probably married a different woman with the same name (cp. 1 Sam 14:50; 25:43).

Verse 10

12:10 from this time on (literally forever): Contrast God’s gracious “forever” promises of 7:13-29. • The reminder of what David had done with the sword (12:9) and what role the sword would play in his family recalls David’s cavalier response to Joab’s report of the deaths of Uriah and other innocent Israelites (11:25).

Verse 11

12:11 I will cause your own household to rebel against you: Absalom’s revolt against David (chs 14–19) fulfilled this promise.

Verse 14

12:14 Nevertheless . . . your child will die: At times, God transfers punishment of fathers to their descendants (Exod 20:5; 34:7; Num 14:18; Deut 5:9; Jer 32:18). Although David repented and was forgiven (2 Sam 12:13), it did not cancel all retribution; it delayed it until a later generation (cp. 1 Kgs 21:27-29).

Verse 20

12:20 The series of actions described here show David resuming normal life activities. That he did so this soon after his son’s death amazed his advisers (12:21).

Verse 21

12:21-23 David grieved before his son’s death, hoping to ward off punishment.

Verse 23

12:23 Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day: The irreversibility of his son’s death forced David to face his own mortality. But he also showed his confidence in the afterlife.

Verse 24

12:24 Even after Uriah’s death, Bathsheba was still called Uriah’s wife (12:9; see also Matt 1:6). Only here is she called David’s wife. • Solomon: Pronounced Shelomoh in Hebrew, it probably means “his peace,” from the Hebrew shalom. It might mean “his replacement”; cp. Shelemiah (Jer 36:14, “Yahweh has provided compensation”) and Shelumiel (Num 1:6, “God [is] my compensation”); both contain the root shelem (“replacement, compensation”).

Verse 25

12:25 Jedidiah means “loved by Yahweh.” This God-given second name for Solomon, mentioned only here, guaranteed his future, as it expressed God’s special love for him.

Verse 26

12:26-31 David’s battle with the Ammonites, begun in ch 10, ended in success.

Verse 30

12:30 David removed the crown: David had, in effect, become the Ammonites’ king. • a vast amount of plunder: Instructions against taking such booty during a conquest (Deut 7:25-26) show how dangerous David’s actions were. Such wealth might seduce the king’s heart away from God.

Verse 31

12:31 He also made slaves of the people of Rabbah and forced them to labor with: Enslaving defeated peoples was in accord with Deut 20:11. Solomon later did the same with the Canaanites (1 Kgs 9:20-22; see also Judg 1:30, 33). The alternate reading might indicate torture inflicted on the defeated Ammonites (cp. textual note on 1 Chr 20:3).