2 Samuel 12:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

NIV: Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

NASB: Why have you despised the word of the Lord, by doing evil in His sight? You have struck and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you have taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.

CSB: Why then have you despised the Lord’s command by doing what I consider evil? You struck down Uriah the Hethite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword.

NLT: Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife.

KJV: Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

NKJV: Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

Until a moment ago, David thought that he had cleverly managed to keep a sexual affair private. God, through His prophet Nathan, reframes what happened.

God gave David everything he has: his life, his wealth, his wives, and the responsibility to serve God's people as king (2 Samuel 12:8). David responded by "despising" the Word of YHWH: the Mosaic law. This wasn't a dalliance; it was covetousness, theft, and adultery. It wasn't cleverness; it was murder. David broke four of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1–17), two of which are subject to death (Exodus 21:14; Deuteronomy 22:22).

God's description shows how closely David's actions against Uriah mirror Saul's sins against David. Saul told David he could marry his daughter Michal if David defeated a hundred Philistines. Saul's intent was that the Philistines would kill David. David killed two hundred and survived. Saul continued to try to kill David, and David ran. While he was away, Saul took Michal and married her to another man (1 Samuel 18:20–229; 1 Samuel 25:44).

God gave David justice. He protected David from Saul's murderous intents, gave David Saul's kingdom, and returned Michal to him (2 Samuel 3:14–15; 5:1–5).

Throughout Saul's attacks, David kept his eyes on God. He didn't want Saul to kill him, but he didn't demand justice, either; he left it to God. When David finally faces his sin, he has that same posture: He accepts that he has sinned against God and that God has the right to demand justice from him (2 Samuel 12:13). Saul and David's sins against other people are real, but the authority is always God.

Every sin anyone commits is ultimately a sin against the Lord who loves us, who has given good gifts to us, and who has revealed His will to us in His Word. David says this clearly in a song of confession and repentance he writes after these events: "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight," (Psalm 51:4). We may be tempted to think of some sin as "victimless" or only hurting someone who deserves it, but God insists that He is the one we despise when we willfully sin.

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).