2 Samuel 12 - Printer Friendly

What does 2 Samuel 12 mean?

Chapter Commentary:

2 Samuel 10:1—12:31 is kind of a chiasm:

A. The Israelites fight the Ammonites to avenge Israel's honor (2 Samuel 10)
B. David sins against and dishonors Uriah and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11)
C God confronts David with his sin (2 Samuel 12:1–15)
B' God returns justice and honor to Uriah and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:15–25)
A' Israel defeats the Ammonites, restoring Israel's honor (2 Samuel 12:26–31)

While the army battled the Ammonites, David slept with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his warriors. When she told him she was pregnant, David first tried to get her husband, Uriah, to sleep with her. When that didn't work, David arranged for Uriah's death at the hands of the Ammonites, then married Bathsheba, thinking everyone would believe the child was legitimately David's (2 Samuel 11).

But God knows, and He tells Nathan the prophet.

Nathan comes to David and reports an incident about two men: one rich and one poor. The rich man owns many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. The poor man owns only one young ewe that he has raised like a daughter. When a traveler arrives at the rich man's house, the rich man steals the poor man's beloved lamb for their meal. David is outraged, declaring that the rich man deserves to die and shall be forced to repay the poor man the full restitution required by the Mosaic law. (2 Samuel 12:1–6).

Nathan tells David that he is the rich man. God anointed David king over Israel, saved him from Saul, gave him all of Saul's household and wives, and handed David the throne over a united Israel. David committed adultery and murder, despising the law of the God who blessed him. David repents. God forgives him but still demands justice for Uriah and Bathsheba. David's family will be plagued with violence for the rest of his life. A rebelling family member will publicly humiliate him. The child Bathsheba carries, who should have been Uriah's, will die (2 Samuel 12:7–14).

The baby soon becomes sick. David fasts and prays until the child dies, hoping God will change the child's fate. Once the boy is dead, David cleans himself up and worships God. David takes comfort that he'll see this son in the afterlife (2 Samuel 12:15–23).

God also gives Bathsheba justice. David took away her loving husband and their potential to have children. In return, David comforts Bathsheba, and God gives her a son, Solomon, who will be king after David (2 Samuel 12:24–25).

Meanwhile, Joab is close to finishing the battle against the Ammonites. He calls David to take the finishing strike. The Israelites plunder the city and take the people for forced labor (2 Samuel 12:26–31).

Second Samuel 13 sets the stage for the fulfillment of the rest of God's punishments against David. One of David's sons, Amnon, rapes his own half-sister, Tamar. Tamar's full brother, Absalom, comforts her and plans his revenge. In the coming chapters, he will murder Tamar's rapist, gain the love and loyalty of the people, rebel against David, and sleep with David's concubines on the rooftop (2 Samuel 14—16).

The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles repeat many of the same stories recorded in the books of Samuel. The Chronicles don't mention David's sin, although they record the victory over the Ammonites (1 Chronicles 20:1–3). The purpose of the Chronicles was to remind the exiles who returned from Babylon of their place among God's chosen people, ruled by descendants of King David. Psalm 51, however, is David's repentance for his sin.

Second Samuel 12:1–6 exposes King David's hypocrisy. He slept with Bathsheba, murdered her husband, and married her to cover her pregnancy. He thinks no one of consequence knows the truth. He's forgotten about God. God sends a prophet, Nathan, to confront David with his sin. Nathan tells David a parable comparing the king to a rich man who steals a poor man's beloved lamb for dinner. David was a shepherd and he's outraged. Then Nathan reveals that David is the rich man and God's judgment is coming (2 Samuel 12:7–14).

Second Samuel 12:7–14 records the repercussions to come from David's sin. He thought no one who mattered knew he had taken Bathsheba and murdered Uriah (2 Samuel 11). Nathan told a parable describing David's sin, revealing that David's secret is out. The boy who faithfully followed God's will has now defiled God's law. David repents and will be spared. But Uriah and Bathsheba still deserve justice. David will experience versions of his own crimes against Uriah: loss of a child, violence, and humiliation.

Second Samuel 12:15–23 presents David's loss as Uriah's justice. David stole Uriah's wife, made her pregnant, and murdered him, taking away his right to leave a descendant for his family line. As a parallel, David will experience the loss of a child. David fasts and prays for mercy but accepts God's will when the child dies. Bathsheba will have four more sons including Solomon, the future king (2 Samuel 12:24–25; 1 Chronicles 3:5).

In 2 Samuel 12:24–25, David begins to atone for his sin against Bathsheba. Bathsheba was impregnated by David and made a widow when he arranged her husband's death in war. Because of David's sins, God has taken the life of her son. David repents and does the best thing he can for her, given the culture: he gives her another baby. David names him Solomon. God names him "beloved of the Lord." Bathsheba will transform from victim and widow to mother of the king. In the coming years, Bathsheba will have three other sons (1 Chronicles 3:5).

Second Samuel 12:26–31 explains how David finishes what Hanun started. The Ammonite king disgraced David's messengers, and David sent Joab to war (2 Samuel 10). They fought to a stalemate until the spring, when Joab returned while David sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah. The walled city of Rabbah is set to fall, and Joab calls David to finish the fight. First Chronicles 20:4 gives a shortened version of 2 Samuel 10 and this passage.

Chapter Summary:

In 2 Samuel 12, David learns the consequences of his sins against Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Samuel 11). David thought no one of consequence knew what he'd done. Nathan the prophet reveals that God knows; the Lord demands justice for David's victims. David's household will rebel, and Bathsheba's son will die. David humbly repents, and Bathsheba later conceives Solomon, the future king. Joab, about to defeat the Ammonites, calls David to finish the fight. In 2 Samuel 13, the seeds of the promised rebellion are sown. Psalm 51 is David's expression of remorse for his sins.

Chapter Context:

David begins to lose control of his seemingly perfect situation. While the respected soldier Uriah was fighting Ammonites with Joab (2 Samuel 10), David slept with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. To cover her pregnancy, David arranged for Uriah to die in battle (2 Samuel 11). Nathan, the prophet, confronts David over his crimes. God takes the child's life and will allow David's household to rebel against him. This begins when David's son rapes his own half-sister, Tamar (2 Samuel 13), starting a series of events that will result in another son, Absalom, taking the throne from his father (2 Samuel 14—16).

Second Samuel continues the story of David, who will become king over Judah. The other tribes of Israel are resistant, eventually sparking a civil war. David wins and makes Jerusalem his capital. Early success is followed by moral failure and controversy in David's house. The book of 1 Kings will begin by detailing David's decline and death.

Accessed 1/8/2026 6:00:26 PM