2 Samuel 12:1

And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(1) Sent Nathan.—Nathan was already on intimate terms with David, and recognised by him as a prophet (2Samuel 7:1-17).

Benson Commentary

2 Samuel 12:1. The Lord sent Nathan unto David — When the ordinary means did not awaken David to repentance, God takes an extraordinary course. Thus the merciful Lord pities and prevents him who had so horribly forsaken God. He said — He prudently ushers in his reproof with a parable, after the manner of the eastern nations, that so he might surprise David, and cause him unawares to give sentence against himself.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:1-14 God will not suffer his people to lie still in sin. By this parable Nathan drew from David a sentence against himself. Great need there is of prudence in giving reproofs. In his application, he was faithful. He says in plain terms, Thou art the man. God shows how much he hates sin, even in his own people; and wherever he finds it, he will not let it go unpunished. David says not a word to excuse himself or make light of his sin, but freely owns it. When David said, I have sinned, and Nathan perceived that he was a true penitent, he assured him his sin was forgiven. Thou shalt not die: that is, not die eternally, nor be for ever put away from God, as thou wouldest have been, if thou hadst not put away the sin. Though thou shalt all thy days be chastened of the Lord, yet thou shalt not be condemned with the world. There is this great evil in the sins of those who profess religion and relation to God, that they furnish the enemies of God and religion with matter for reproach and blasphemy. And it appears from David's case, that even where pardon is obtained, the Lord will visit the transgression of his people with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. For one momentary gratification of a vile lust, David had to endure many days and years of extreme distress.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Nathan came to David as if to ask his judicial decision on the case about to be submitted to him (compare 2 Samuel 14:2-11; 1 Kings 20:35-41). The circumstances of the story are exquisitely contrived to heighten the pity of David for the oppressed, and his indignation against the oppressor 1 Samuel 25:13, 1 Samuel 25:22.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 12

2Sa 12:1-6. Nathan's Parable.

1. the Lord sent Nathan unto David—The use of parables is a favorite style of speaking among Oriental people, especially in the conveyance of unwelcome truth. This exquisitely pathetic parable was founded on a common custom of pastoral people who have pet lambs, which they bring up with their children, and which they address in terms of endearment. The atrocity of the real, however, far exceeded that of the fictitious offense.Nathan by a parable reproveth and threateneth David, 2 Samuel 12:1-12. He confesseth his sin, and is pardoned, but the child must die, 2 Samuel 12:13,14: David mourneth and prayeth for it whilst life was in it; after is satisfied and cheered: the reason, 2 Samuel 12:15-23. He goeth in to Bath-sheba: Solomon is born of her, and is called Jedidiah, 2 Samuel 12:24,25. David taketh Rabbah, and tortureth the people thereof, 2 Samuel 12:26-31.

Nathan, the prophet, 2 Samuel 7:2 1 Kings 1:8. When the ordinary means did not awaken David to repentance, God useth an extraordinary course. Thus the merciful God pities and prevents him who had so horribly forsaken and forgotten God.

Nathan prudently ushereth in his reproof with a parable, after the manner of the eastern nations and ancient times, that so he might surprise David, and cause him unawares to give sentence against himself. He manageth his relation as if it had been a real thing; and demands the king’s justice in the case. Though the application of this parable to David be easy and obvious, yet it matters not if some circumstances be not so applicable; because it was fit to put in some such clauses, either for the decency of the parable, or that David might not too early discover his designs.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the Lord sent Nathan unto David,.... Quickly after the child was born begotten on Bathsheba, and when it was known and became the public talk of people, and the enemies of religion were full of it, and blasphemed on account of it, 2 Samuel 12:14; so that David was nine months or more without any true sense of his sin, his heart hardened, his graces dormant, the joys of salvation taken from him, and he without any communion with God, and having little concern about it; though perhaps he might have some pangs at times, which quickly went off; though some think he exercised repentance in a private way before; acknowledged his sin to the Lord, and had a sense of pardon, and before this time penned the thirty second and the hundred thirtieth psalms on this occasion, Psalm 32:1; but Nathan is sent to awaken and arouse him, to express a sense of his sin, and repentance for it in public, which he did by penning and publishing the fifty first psalm after Nathan had been with him, Psalm 51:1; for though the Lord may leave his people to fall into sin, and suffer them to continue therein some time, yet not always; they shall rise again through the assistance of his Spirit and grace, in the acts of repentance and faith, both in private and public:

and he came unto him, and said unto him: he came as if he had a case to lay before him, and to have justice done, and he told the story as if it was a real fact, and so David understood it:

there were two men in one city: pointing at David and Uriah, who both lived in Jerusalem:

the one rich and the other poor; David the rich man, king over all Israel; Uriah a subject, an officer in his army, comparatively poor.

Geneva Study Bible

And the LORD sent {a} Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

(a) Because David lay now drowned in sin, the loving mercy of God which does not allow his own to perish, wakes his conscience by this story and brings him to repentance.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Ch. 2 Samuel 12:1-6. Nathan’s Parable

1. the Lord sent Nathan] A year had passed, and Bath-sheba’s child had been born, before Nathan was sent to rouse the king’s slumbering conscience.

To this crisis belong Psalms 51. and 32. See Introd. ch. VIII. § 5, p. 47.

and said unto him] Some MSS of the Vulg. add Give me a judgment. The words cannot be regarded as part of the original text, though they are a correct gloss. The prophet asks for the king’s decision, as though he were consulting him about a case which had really happened. Compare the plan adopted by the widow of Tekoah (ch. 2 Samuel 14:4-7); and by the prophet sent to rebuke Ahab (1 Kings 20:35-41). Other parables are found in the O.T. in Jdg 9:7-15; 2 Kings 14:9; Isaiah 5:1-2.

2 Samuel 12:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Nathan's Reproof. - 2 Samuel 12:1. To ensure the success of his mission, viz., to charge the king with his crimes, Nathan resorted to a parable by which he led on the king to pronounce sentence of death upon himself. The parable is a very simple one, and drawn from life. Two men were living in a certain city: the one was rich, and had many sheep and oxen; the other was poor, and possessed nothing at all but one small lamb which he had bought and nourished (יחיּה, lit. kept alive), so that it grew up in his house along with his son, and was treated most tenderly and loved like a daughter. The custom of keeping pet-sheep in the house, as we keep lap-dogs, is still met with among the Arabs (vid., Bochart, Hieroz. i. p. 594). There came a traveller (הלך, a journey, for a traveller) to the rich man (לאישׁ without an article, the express definition being introduced afterwards in connection with the adjective העשׁיר; vid., Ewald, 293a, p. 741), and he grudged to take of his own sheep and oxen to prepare (sc., a meal) for the traveller who had come to his house; "and he took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that had come to him."