2 Samuel 12:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

NIV: "This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.

NASB: This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.

CSB: "This is what the Lord says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them in broad daylight.

NLT: This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view.

KJV: Thus 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.

NKJV: Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

The leadership of David's kingdom is filled with family. When David fled Saul and hid in the Cave of Adullam, his brothers and his father's family rushed to join him (1 Samuel 22:1). His general Joab is his sister's son (1 Chronicles 2:16). His uncle is an advisor (1 Chronicles 27:32). Now, David learns that someone from his own house will betray him. He will take David's wives and have sex with them where everyone can see.

David knows it's a fitting punishment. Uriah was one of his best warriors. They fought together for a long time. But when Uriah was off with the army, battling the Ammonites, David secretly impregnated Uriah's wife. To hide his sin, David had Uriah killed in battle (2 Samuel 11).

Nathan speaks for God when he says: "For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel" (2 Samuel 12:12).

The fulfillment of the grim prediction is a twisted story. Amnon, David's son, will rape his own half-sister, Tamar. Absalom, Tamar's brother, will avenge her by murdering Amnon (2 Samuel 13:11–14, 20–29). This causes a rift in David's relationship with Absalom that ends with Absalom taking Jerusalem and having sex with David's concubines in a tent on the rooftop (2 Samuel 16:20–22).

God gives Uriah justice by making David experience parallels of his own crimes. God gives Bathsheba justice in a different way. He restores to her what she lost when David took her and killed her husband. David becomes a conscientious husband who cares for her (2 Samuel 12:24). He gives her four sons: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon (1 Chronicles 3:5). And he restores her honor when her son Solomon becomes David's heir, king of Israel.

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.

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.

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.