2 Samuel 12:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die."

NIV: But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die."

NASB: However, since by this deed you have shown utter disrespect for the Lord, the child himself who is born to you shall certainly die.'

CSB: However, because you treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die."

NLT: Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the word of the Lord by doing this, your child will die.'

KJV: Howbeit, 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.

NKJV: However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.”

David has coveted and stolen Bathsheba and committed adultery against and murdered Uriah (2 Samuel 11).

But David didn't only harm Bathsheba and Uriah. The sins David committed are specifically mentioned in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:13–17). They are sins against God. Those crimes were committed by the king of God's people, called to follow God's Law so that His people prosper. The acts are rebellion. David has repented of his sin against God, and God has forgiven him. God will not take David's life, even though that is the legitimate punishment for murder and adultery (Exodus 21:14; Deuteronomy 22:22; 2 Samuel 12:13).

However, David and Bathsheba's son will die. This isn't a blood sacrifice or a sin offering. When David repents of his sin (2 Samuel 12:13), God applies Jesus' sacrifice on the cross as payment. The death of the child is a punishment and a consequence. God's curses against David mirror what David did to Uriah. Evil will rise in his household, and another man will take his wives (2 Samuel 12:10–12). David also took Uriah's right to have a son with his wife, Bathsheba. David made Bathsheba pregnant. Since David took that opportunity from Uriah, God will take David's child.

There may also be a political reason for the boy's death. Although many know there's no way Uriah could be the father, and David and Bathsheba are married at the time of the boy's birth, it still makes for an awkward situation. If the child inherits David's throne, the king of Israel will be the son of adultery. The king of Israel won't be qualified to worship God in the temple (Deuteronomy 23:2).

Although the baby is Bathsheba's, too, there's no indication that she is being punished. She is never condemned for what happens. Nathan's parable portrays her as an innocent, powerless lamb (2 Samuel 12:2–4). It's the nature of things that the sin of one person brings harm to others. The sin of the king harms the entire nation.

God gives Bathsheba justice by having David return to her what he stole. Uriah loved her. David at least cares about her enough to offer comfort (2 Samuel 12:24). Uriah might have given her children. David gives her four sons (1 Chronicles 3:5). But God does one better: one of those sons will be king. Whatever honor David took from her is repaid in full.

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).