2 Samuel 12

— The Lord also hath put away thy sin.] We learn from the case of David, that God can punish, and that He can forgive, at the same time. Punishment from Him, when it falls upon good men, is not the punishment of wrath and vengeance, but that of love and correction: it is therefore a sign that He forgives, and it ought to be so understood. When Nathan said to David, “The sword shall never depart from thy house;” he said at the same time, “The Lord hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.” God therefore forgives while He punishes, and punishes because He forgives. It may possibly be a privilege of the godly to suffer under Him; and every wise Christian will pray, as many have been known to do, that they may have all their punishment in this world. Jones of Nayland. 14. — the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.] In the very same breath that Nathan tells David, “The Lord hath put away thy sin;” he tells him also of a trying affliction, and a very trying one it proved, that he should immediately undergo, on account of that sin. Nor could the most fervent intercessions of the royal penitent reverse the decree. Thus does Providence ordain the course of events to this day, partly to complete the humiliation of the sinner, partly that others may “hear and fear.” Long after peace of mind has been restored to the sinner, which yet will never be so restored to great offenders as not to leave matter of melancholy reflection; long after penitents are at ease with respect to their future state; afflicting consequences, with respect to the present, will flow from their evil deeds. These are indeed considerations, under which no sinner should despond; but surely others should take warning from them, and learn of how unpreachable value it is, to keep innocency from the first. Abp. Secker.

Chap. XIII. ver. 1. And it came to pass] Now began a sad scene to be opened of the calamities, which, Nathan had foretold, chap. xii. 10, should befall the house of David. Tamar was David’s daughter by the same mother with Absalom, and therefore especially called his sister. Bp. Patrick.

2 Samuel 12:5

5. And David’s anger was greatly kindled] How partial does self-love make us to our own faults! David had forgiven himself the double guilt of adultery and murder; but with the utmost indignation passes a sentence of death on the rich man, “because he had no pity.” Wogan.

6. And Jonadab said unto him, &c.] The advice of Jonadab was execrably wicked, thus to indulge a most criminal passion in his friend, and suggest the means by which he might accomplish it, at the expense of his own honour and his sister’s innocence. Dr. Chandler.

2 Samuel 12:6

6. — restore—fourfold.] This was agreeable to the Levitical law, Exod. xxii. 1. Bp. Patrick.

2 Samuel 12:7

7. And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.] How surprising a blow must this have been! In the midst of his wrath, when, forgetful of his own iniquity, he had not only adjudged a person much less culpable to pay the legal penalty of a fourfold restitution, but, from excessive detestation of his crime, had even, contrary to law, passed sentence of death upon him:—then to be told, “Thou art the man!"—Let us often think of this; and as often remember, that, with equal truth, though God forbid that it should be with equal measure, the same thing holds concerning every one of us. We all know our duty, or easily may: we are all abundantly ready at seeing and censuring what others do amiss; and yet we all continue, more or less, to do amiss ourselves, without regarding it. But, in however strong delusion men may remain at present, ere long remorse may seize them, an adversary expose them, a friend rebuke them; one way or other, the case of David, who doubtless thought he was exceedingly safe, may become theirs; and some voice proclaim aloud to them, what they are afraid of whispering to themselves, “Thou art the man!” Abp. Secker.

How must David have been confounded when the Prophet answered him in these words! He had never looked into his own heart while the Prophet was speaking to him. He saw not that the guest coming to the house of the rich man was his own base passion, that his poor neighbour was Uriah, and the ewe-lamb his wife. His thoughts were entirely occupied with what he thought the case of another sinner; and he remained blind to his own crime, which was much more heinous than that, against which he had pointed a most righteous sentence. This story of David is one of the strongest instances of self-deceit, and should make us seriously consider our aptness to delude ourselves, and the danger which attends such conduct. Gilpin.

king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

2 Samuel 12:8

8. — and thy master’s wives] Polygamy, which had been introduced into the world before the deluge, was tolerated by God under the Jewish dispensation, although it was contrary to the first institution of marriage. It was allowed to the Jews in the same manner as divorces, on account of the hardness of their hearts. Concubine wives were for the most part slaves, and were less solemnly married; but the lawful wives had no other advantage over them than the honour of having their children preferred to the inheritance. Fleury.

2 Samuel 12:9

9. Wherefore hast thou despised &c.] This remonstrance of Nathan with David was worthy the dignity of a Prophet’s character and station, and such as became the majesty of him to whom it was given. It was grave, strong, affecting, and insinuating. But how did the unhappy offender receive the remonstrance? He immediately fell under conviction, acknowledged his offence, and owned himself worthy of death. The psalms which he now composed shew his deep sense of guilt, and will be an eternal memorial of the sincerity of his repentance. Dr. Chandler.

2 Samuel 12:10

10. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house.] Meaning, that, as long as he lived, there should be slaughter in his family: which was fulfilled in the violent deaths of his children, Ammon, Absalom, and Adonijah. See chapters xiii, xviii, and I Kings ii. Bp. Patrick.

As all vice is disobedience, and disobedience against God, whose laws are transgressed by it, vice is not left to its natural effects, though these are sufficiently disastrous, but calls down various kinds of punishment from God. David fell in an evil hour into the sins of adultery and murder: of his guilt he was for awhile insensible, till he was alarmed by a message from Nathan the prophet; and from that time forward he saw no more happiness and peace in this world: his life was disturbed with tumults and rebellions: always do we find him either flying from danger, or weeping with sorrow. Let no man then consider the example of David, as an encouragement to sin; the miserable consequences of sin were never more displayed than in the history of that man. He was a sinner for a comparatively short period; and he was a sorrowing, afflicted, and tortured penitent for the rest of his life. “The sword did never depart from his house.” Jones of Nayland.

and threateneth retribution. David humbleth himself. Before C H R I S T about 1034. a Deut. 25. 30. chap. 16. 22.

2 Samuel 12:11

11. I will raise up evil—I will take thy wives &c.] It should be well remembered, that these expressions do not denote any positive actions of God, as if He prompted wicked men to do the things with which He threatens David. Such a construction as this is injurious to the Divine attributes, and makes God the author of evil. The true meaning is, that God, at that time, saw the perverse disposition of one of David’s sons, and the crafty disposition of one of his counsellors, which, if left unrestrained, would not fail to cause David much unessiness. Therefore, because David had violated the Divine law, and committed adultery and murder, God would not interpose, but suffered the tempers of these two wicked persons to follow their own course: whereupon the one, being ambitious of a crown, endeavours to depose his father; and the other, willing to make the breach irreparable, advised the most detested thing he could think of. Thus, from these Scripture phrases, we are not to infer that God either does or can do evil; but only, that He permits evil to be done, which His omnipotence might have prevented: or, in other terms, that He suffers men naturally wicked to follow the bent of their tempers, without any interposition of His providence to restrain them. Stuckhouse. As Nathan foretold to him, so a world of mischief and misery fell out to him from this one presumptuous act: his daughter defiled by her brother; that brother slain by another brother; a strong conspiracy raised against him by his own son; his concubines openly defiled by the same son; himself afflicted by the untimely death of that son, who was his darling; reviled and cursed to his face by a base unworthy companion; besides many other affronts, troubles, and vexations. So truly David felt, by sad experience, what woe is brought on by presumptuous sin. Bp. Sanderson. —in the sight of this sun.] Meaning, he shall do it openly, so as to be visible to all. Bp. Pococke. Absalom had a tent spread on the house top, and there went in unto David’s wives, chap. xvi. 21, 22; also David fled from his son, and left his concubines behind him, chap. xv. 14—16. Bp. Patrick.

2 Samuel 12:12

12.—for no such thing ought to be done] She entreats him not to defile the Church of God with such

forbidden practices, whatever may be done in other nations; to consider also the foulness of the sin, which would highly provoke the Divine majesty; the disgrace which the act would bring upon her, who would be weighed down with shame; and the loss of reputation which would ensue to him, who would be looked upon as a man devoid of all sense of religion, honour, and humanity. Bp. Patrick.

2 Samuel 12:13

13.—I have sinned against the Lord.] Here the example of David begins to be as useful for our imitation, as it had before been for our warning. Struck to the very heart with the sense of so many and heinous inquities, crowding in at once upon his mind; and abhorring himself for being able, first to commit, and then to overlook them, he cries out, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Few words indeed; but greatly expressive, and the more so, for being few. Astonishment, confusion, terror, might well stop the utterance of more for the present, and for no small time. Afterwards, his sorrow obtained the relief of free vent: and his penitent pealms, especially the 51st, composed on this very occasion, express most pathetically the depth of his humiliation, and the earnestness of his entreaties for pardon, even after he had been assured of it; for still the consciousness that he was unworthy to receive it, would prompt him continually to pray for it. Let all of us then, who like David have sinned, in whatever instance it be, greater or less, repent like David too; and, instead of perversely defending ourselves by the bad part of his example, resolve immediately to reform ourselves according to the good. Abp. Secker. It well becomes us to reflect seriously on David in his present fallen condition. Behold the greatest monarch of the earth thus humbled for his sins before God; confessing his shame with contrition and confusion of face, calling out for mercy, and imploring pardon in the presence of his meanest subjects; as appears from the pealms he composed on this occasion, and especially from the 51st, which, it is supposed, he caused to be publicly sung in the tabernacle. There is something in this image of penitence more fitted to strike the soul with a dread and abhorrence of guilt than it is possible to express: something more edifying, more adapted to human infirmities, and more powerful to reform them, than the most perfect example of unsinning obedience: —and from the 69th psalm we see what reproach and insults he brought on himself, even by his repentance and humiliation before God and the world. What must we think of the fortitude and magnanimity of that man, who could endure what is there described for a series of years? Or rather, how shall we adore that unfailing mercy and all-sufficient goodness, which could support him thus, under the quickest sense of shame and infamy, and deepest compunctions of conscience; which could enable him to bear up steadily against guilt, infamy, and the evil world united, from a principle of true religion, and, in the end, even rejoice in his sad estate, inasmuch as he plainly perceived it must finally tend to promote the true interest of virtue and glory of God, that is, must finally tend to promote that interest, which was the great governing principle, and main purpose of his life? Dr. Delaney. It is hardly possible for language to express greater agony of mind than that shewn by David in his penitential psalms, Ps. xxv, xxxviii, li, lxix, written on this occasion. No one surely that reads them can wish to undergo the misery there described. It is impossible for any one of a sound mind to make so wretched a bargain for himself, as voluntarily to plunge into such crimes, that he may afterwards taste the bitter fruits of such repentance; or, what is still worse, that he may die without repenting, and rush into endless torments. Bp. Porteus. —And Nathan said unto David.] It was, probably, not immediately after David’s confession of his guilt, but after he had bewailed his sins so bitterly that his repentance appeared to be hearty, that Nathan pronounced an absolution upon him; and assured him of the pardon of his guilt, and the remission of part of the punishment, so that he should not die, either eternally, or in the present world by an untimely death. Bp. Patrick. It may very well be asked, how it could happen, that God so readily forgave David on his acknowledging his transgression, and yet did not forgive Saul, though he made the same confession, “I have sinned?” But the answer is obvious, that, be the form of expression what it will, unless it proceeds from real sincerity of heart, the great Searcher of hearts will not regard it. The true reason therefore, why Saul could not obtain a revocation of his sentence of rejection was, that his repentance was not sincere, that it did not proceed from an humble and contrite spirit: at the same time that he acknowledged his sin, he desired Samuel to honour him before the people, 1 Sam. xv. 30, and persisted in his disobedience ever after: whereas David, on the contrary The child is stricken of God. Before CHRIST about 1834. LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

13.—thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel.] Every one in Israel that hears of this foul act shall condemn thee of great wickedness and folly. Bp. Hall.

—for he will not withhold me from thee.] She seems to have said this merely as coming first into her mind, which she thought might deliver her from the present danger: (Bp. Patrick:) for she could not but know that her marriage with her half brother was forbidden by law. Dr. Chandler.

2 Samuel 12:15

15.—hated her exceedingly:] The villany was no sooner committed, than shame and vexation, the natural attendants of exorbitant vices, changed his burning

2 Samuel 12:20

20. — David arose from the earth.] Sir J. Chardin informs us, that it is usual in the East to leave a near relative of a person deceased to weep and mourn, till, on the third or fourth day at farthest, the other relations Before CHRIST about 1834. hart. Solomon is born. David taketh Rabbah.

and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.

2 Samuel 12:22

22. — While the child was yet alive, &c.] This answer of David’s is the most truly heroic, philosophick, and religious, of any recorded in history. It is, I venture to affirm, the noblest lesson on all that is reasonable and religious in grief that ever was penned. Dr. Delaney.

2 Samuel 12:24

24. — called his name Solomon.] A name which signifies peaceable: forasmuch as God would give peace to Israel in those days. Dr. Wells.

— and the Lord loved him.] As this son was conceived in innocence, in the happy season of God’s reconciliation with his parents, and of their establishment in true religion by sincere repentance and humiliation before Him, it pleased God to accept him in a singular manner. And, to manifest His favour to him, for the consolation of David, He conveyed His benediction to the son by the same hand which had before conveyed His chastisements to the father: He sent Nathan to David to bestow on his son, in His name, the most blessed of all earthly, the most blessed but one of all heavenly appellations, Jedidiah, or “the beloved of the Lord.” Dr. Delaney.

2 Samuel 12:27

27. — have taken the city of waters.] That part of the city which lay upon the water; the other part, which was the heart of the city, being yet unsubdued. Bp. Patrick. Some are of opinion, that this royal city of Rabbah was called the city of waters; either because it stood on a river, or was encompassed with water for its defence. But Junius renders the words, “he cut

Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.

2 Samuel 12:30

30. — the weight whereof was &c.] Rather, the price or value, as the Hebrew word often signifies: for the weight of a talent could not be borne on a man’s head. Bp. Patrick.

2 Samuel 12:31

31. — brought forth the people &c.] These dreadful punishments were intended to terrify other countries from violating the laws of nations, by abusing public ambassadors. Some have deemed these punishments too severe, and have therefore supposed that David acted thus in his state of impenitence, when the mild and gentle Spirit of God had departed from him, and he was become cruel and furious as well as lustful. Bp. Patrick. If any apology for David’s conduct be deemed necessary, it should be recollected, that these Ammonites were monsters of barbarity, as appears from the conditions they offered to the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, 1 Sam. xi. 2: and the punishments here mentioned were inflicted by the Ammonites themselves, on those Jews whom they took prisoners. David, therefore, when he conquered their country, and reduced their capital city, used them with the same cruelty; not every one of them indiscriminately, but such only as appeared in arms against him, and had either advised, or approved the advice of putting such a disgrace on his messengers. Stackhouse. But the words admit of being translated, “He put them to the saw, to iron mines, and to iron

Ammon in love with Tamar. He first ravisheth, # CHAP. XIII.