2 Samuel 12:23 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."

NIV: But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

NASB: But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I am going to him, but he will not return to me.'

CSB: But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I’ll go to him, but he will never return to me."

NLT: But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.'

KJV: But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

NKJV: But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

While his son is dying, David prays and fasts. He knows God is gracious and merciful, and he hopes God might spare his son. After the infant dies, David washes, eats, and worships. He knows God is loving and sovereign. The greatest gift God gives him isn't the kingship, Jerusalem, or his son; it's His love and forgiveness (Psalm 51).

The servants are confused. David mourns while the child lives and worships after he dies. David explains that while the boy lived, David humbled himself in hope that God would change His mind. Now that the child is gone, he knows God has made His decision. It's time to move on.

Then David says a small thing with huge implications: "I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."

Among the great theological questions in Christianity is what happens to babies when they die. What happens to any child who dies before they're able to understand and repent from their sin? If we are all born sinners (Psalm 51:5), babies and young children aren't righteous enough to deserve to live in paradise for eternity. In Scripture, God acknowledges there are children who are too young to know "how to refuse evil and choose the good" (Isaiah 7:16). David tells us what will happen to them. In God's grace, He will bring them home. David hasn't lost his son forever. He will meet him again in paradise.

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.