2 Samuel 12:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.

NIV: The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

NASB: The elders of his household stood beside him in order to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them.

CSB: The elders of his house stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.

NLT: The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused.

KJV: And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

NKJV: So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.

The Lord has revealed that David's illegitimate child with Bathsheba will die as a direct punishment for David's God-mocking sins of adultery, murder, and abuse of the power and authority God gave to him as king (2 Samuel 12:14). Soon, the baby falls sick (2 Samuel 12:15).

David knows God is merciful (Psalm 51). God has already heard David's repentance and forgiven him. He won't die for his murder and adultery (2 Samuel 12:13). David hopes God will take away this curse, as well. David begins an impassioned and urgent campaign of prayer, asking the Lord to spare his son. He fasts from food and lies face-down before the Lord all night, denying himself nourishment and rest to prove how serious his request is to him (2 Samuel 12:16).

David's advisors are concerned. These men are personally responsible for keeping the King of Israel healthy so he can carry out his duties. They want to pick the king up off the ground and get him fed before he's too sickly to function. David refuses them, continuing to pray that the Lord would spare his son from this consequence of his own sin.

On the seventh day, the boy dies. David rises, cleans himself up, and has a meal. He has accepted countless undeserved blessings from God with great thankfulness. He will accept the discipline he deserves, as well. He knows he'll see the child in the afterlife (2 Samuel 12:18–23).

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, 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.