Poole on 2 Samuel 12:15-23: David's Hope of Heaven

Verse 15:[1]  And Nathan departed unto his house.  And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

[And he was desperately ill, ‎וַיֵּאָנַשׁ]  And he was grievously afflicted (Montanus); he was debilitated (Jonathan); he was sick (Septuagint, Pagnine, similarly the Arabic, Junius and Tremellius).  He was gravely ill (Munster, Tigurinus Notes).  In such a way that it was a question concerning him (Tigurinus, similarly Castalio, Strigelius).  And it, that is, the illness, was aggravated (Mariana).  And it was hopeless, that is, concerning his health (Munster).

The Lord struck the child with some sudden and dangerous distemper.

Verse 16:[2]  David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted (Heb. fasted a fast[3]), and went in, and (2 Sam. 13:31) lay all night upon the earth.

[He entreated the Lord]  You will say, He was praying contrary to the word of God, who had said, He shall died.  Response:  He did not know what sort of threat it was:  perhaps it was able to have a condition attached (Martyr, similarly Lyra, Menochius).  The whole will of God is not always revealed; He reserves something for Himself.  God said to Abraham, Offer thy son:[4]  He was reserving in His own mind that he was to be delivered.  Thus He said to Hezekiah, Thou shalt die, etc.[5]  See also Jeremiah 18 and elsewhere.  God said that He was going to destroy the people; Moses interceded; and He gave heed[6] (Martyr).

[For the infant]  The term נַעַר/child is here attributed to the infant by catachresis[7] (Piscator).

David besought God for the child; supposing the threatening might be conditional, and so the execution of it prevented by prayer.

[And he fasted, etc.]  Fasting, abstention from one’s wife, filth, χαμευνία, sleeping on the ground, vile garments, weeping are supports of prayer.  See verses 20, 21, 24.  That David was φιλόστοργον, a great lover of his children, appears, not only from this history, but also from leniency concerning Absalom and Adonijah (Grotius).

[And going in apart, ‎וּבָא]  And having entered, understanding, his chambers (Vatablus, Pagnine).  Others:  when he had returned, from the house of God, where he had entreated Him (certain interpreters in Malvenda).

Went in, to wit, into his closet, as Matthew 6:6, to pray solitarily and earnestly, as he had done with others.  Or this word may only note his progress and continuance in the actions here expressed.

Verse 17:[8]  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.

The elders of his house; the chief officers of his kingdom and household who were there present.

[He would not eat bread with them]  The nobles were wont to take bread together with the king.  Thus 1 Samuel 20 (Sanchez).

He would not, etc.:  This excessive mourning did not proceed simply from the fear of the loss of the child; but from a deep sense of his sin, and from the Divine displeasure manifested herein; and particularly from a just apprehension of the injury which he had done to the child by his sin, which justice obliged him to do his utmost to repair by prayer or other means.

Verse 18:[9]  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died.  And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead:  for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice:  how will he then vex himself (Heb. do hurt[10]), if we tell him that the child is dead?

[On the seventh day]  Either, 1.  From his birth (Vatablus, Martyr out of the Hebrews).  Therefore, he had not been circumcised, yet he was not damned for this; for David does not lament this (Martyr, similarly Sanchez).  Or, 2.  From his sickness, which is called a decisive time, and is gravely perilous to those sick (Menochius).  To this opinion it is objected, that it appears harsh that David fated for seven days.  Response:  1.  It is not said that he began the fast when the boy was smitten, but when he had begun to despair of his recovery.  2.  Or he fasted after the manner of the Hebrews, by abstaining from sumptuous fare, but not all.  See Ezekiel 4:9; 10:3 (Sanchez).

On the seventh day; either, 1.  From the beginning of the distemper.  Or rather, 2.  From the day of his birth, which is the most usual way of computation of men’s days or years; for it is apparent that this happened during the time of David’s fasting and lying upon the earth, verse 20, which it is not probable that it lasted for seven days.  They said, whispering among themselves, verse 19.

[How much more, if we should say, the body is dead, shall he afflict himself? ‎וְעָשָׂ֥ה רָעָֽה׃]  How shall we say (should we say [Piscator]) to him, the infant is dead? (Piscator, thus Montanus, Pagnine).  And he might do evil (Montanus), or evils (Septuagint).  That he might do (would not do [Piscator]) evil to himself (Pagnine, Piscator).  He will doubtlessly bring evil upon himself (Syriac, similarly the Arabic); that shall afflict him with evil (Junius and Tremellius); without him bearing it heavily? (Tigurinus).  How ill shall he do? (Munster); he shall do evil, that is, to his own body (Mariana).

Verse 19:[11]  But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead:  therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead?  And they said, He is dead.

[He is dead]  This was not a work of divine hatred, but of benevolence.  For it was done mercifully with the boy, taken before his time, lest wickedness should alter the his understanding; and that boy, if he had lived, would have been a constant reminder of his father’s lust and cruelty (Sanchez).

Verse 20:[12]  Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and (Ruth 3:3) anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and (Job 1:20) worshipped:  then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.

[He entered the house of the Lord]  For uncleanness was not contracted from sorrow or tears, but by going forth to funeral rites, or by entering the chamber of the dead (Menochius).

Into the house of the Lord, that is, to the tabernacle, to confess his sin before the Lord, and to own his justice in this stroke and the other threatenings, and to deprecate his great and just displeasure, and to acknowledge God’s rich mercy in sparing his own life, and to offer such sacrifices as were proper and required in such cases.  Nor did David transgress that law, Numbers 19:14, in going thither before the seven days were expired.  For neither is there the same reason of a tent, and of a dwelling-house, where the several rooms of the house are as distinct as several tents; nor is it here said, that David was in the same room, or in the same house, where the child died.

[And he worshipped]  That is, 1.  He gave thanks for the pardon of sin, etc.  2.  He confessed, and commended the righteousness of God, and did not complain of overmuch severity.  3.  He was pouring forth prayers, that the remaining crosses might be made lighter, and more useful.  With these three worship is complete (Martyr).

Verse 21:[13]  Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.

Verse 22:[14]  And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept:  (see Is. 38:1, 5; Jon. 3:9) for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?

[Who knoweth if perhap He might grant him to me, etc.? ‎יְחָנַּנִי]  He will show mercy or might show mercy to me.  [Thus most interpreters:]  He does not say to the boy; for the father was being punished in the son (Mariana).  [But the Syriac and the Arabic refer it to the boy, whether He might have mercy upon him (Syriac).  Perhaps He will show mercy to the infant (Arabic), as if it were ‎יְחָנֶּנּו.  The Masorah[15] notes that it is to be read ‎וְחַנַּנִי, as it is found in the margin.]

Who can tell, etc.?:  For God s threatening of the child’s death might be conditional, as that was of Nineveh’s destruction, Jonah 3:4.

Verse 23:[16]  But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but (Job 7:8-10) he shall not return to me.

[Wherefore should I fast? (similarly most interpreters), ‎לָ֤מָּה זֶּה֙ אֲנִ֣י צָ֔ם]  So that why am I now fasting? (Montanus, thus Pagnine).  So that why do I this fast? (Septuagint).  [The others disregard the זֶה/this.]  It is no trifling sign of repentance to acquiesce in the punishments that God sends on account of sins (Grotius).

Wherefore should I fast, seeing fasting and prayer cannot now prevail with God for his life?

[I shall rather go to him]  The Romans were saying, Farewell; we all will follow thee in the order in which nature will have permitted, with Servius as witness on Æneid 3,[17] and in inscriptions (Grotius).  The immortality of souls is indicated, when he says, I shall go to him (Martyr).  I am about to go to him, by death, with the body indeed going into the grave, but the soul into heaven (Piscator).  Should I have continued in mourning, I would be exhausting myself, rather than bringing him back (Malvenda).

[He shall not return to me]  That is, to a life of this condition and state (Martyr).  David was not doubting of the immortality of souls, nor of the resurrection of bodies (Menochius).  But, if this reason is valid; why did David mourn Saul, Jonathan,[18] Absalom,[19] etc.?  Was it possible to recall those from death?  Response:  There is a disparate understanding of infants dying, and of adults.  For, the latter are mourned, because they are fit for public service, and so the loss of some public good happened in their death.  Neither were the former dying without regard to sin, at least of those dying.  Hence the mourning (Martyr).

I shall go to him; into the state of the dead, in which he is, and into heaven, where I doubt not I shall find him.

[1] Hebrew:  ‎וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ נָתָ֖ן אֶל־בֵּית֑וֹ וַיִּגֹּ֣ף יְהוָ֗ה אֶת־הַיֶּ֜לֶד אֲשֶׁ֙ר יָלְדָ֧ה אֵֽשֶׁת־אוּרִיָּ֛ה לְדָוִ֖ד וַיֵּאָנַֽשׁ׃

[2] Hebrew:  ‎וַיְבַקֵּ֥שׁ דָּוִ֛ד אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים בְּעַ֣ד הַנָּ֑עַר וַיָּ֤צָם דָּוִד֙ צ֔וֹם וּבָ֥א וְלָ֖ן וְשָׁכַ֥ב אָֽרְצָה׃

[3] Hebrew:  ‎ וַיָּ֤צָם דָּוִד֙ צ֔וֹם.

[4] Genesis 22:2.

[5] 2 Kings 20:1; Isaiah 38:1.

[6] Exodus 32; 33.

[7] That is, a departure from conventional usage.

[8] Hebrew:  ‎וַיָּקֻ֜מוּ זִקְנֵ֤י בֵיתוֹ֙ עָלָ֔יו לַהֲקִימ֖וֹ מִן־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְלֹ֣א אָבָ֔ה וְלֹֽא־בָרָ֥א אִתָּ֖ם לָֽחֶם׃

[9] Hebrew: וַיְהִ֛י בַּיּ֥וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י וַיָּ֣מָת הַיָּ֑לֶד וַיִּֽרְאוּ֩ עַבְדֵ֙י דָוִ֜ד לְהַגִּ֥יד ל֣וֹ׀ כִּי־מֵ֣ת הַיֶּ֗לֶד כִּ֤י אָֽמְרוּ֙ הִנֵּה֩ בִהְי֙וֹת הַיֶּ֜לֶד חַ֗י דִּבַּ֤רְנוּ אֵלָיו֙ וְלֹא־שָׁמַ֣ע בְּקוֹלֵ֔נוּ וְאֵ֙יךְ נֹאמַ֥ר אֵלָ֛יו מֵ֥ת הַיֶּ֖לֶד וְעָשָׂ֥ה רָעָֽה׃

[10] Hebrew:  ‎וְעָשָׂ֥ה רָעָֽה׃.

[11] Hebrew: וַיַּ֣רְא דָּוִ֗ד כִּ֤י עֲבָדָיו֙ מִֽתְלַחֲשִׁ֔ים וַיָּ֥בֶן דָּוִ֖ד כִּ֣י מֵ֣ת הַיָּ֑לֶד וַיֹּ֙אמֶר דָּוִ֧ד אֶל־עֲבָדָ֛יו הֲמֵ֥ת הַיֶּ֖לֶד וַיֹּ֥אמְרוּ מֵֽת׃

[12] Hebrew: ‎וַיָּקָם֩ דָּוִ֙ד מֵהָאָ֜רֶץ וַיִּרְחַ֣ץ וַיָּ֗סֶךְ וַיְחַלֵּף֙ שִׂמְלָת֔וֹ וַיָּבֹ֥א בֵית־יְהוָ֖ה וַיִּשְׁתָּ֑חוּ וַיָּבֹא֙ אֶל־בֵּית֔וֹ וַיִּשְׁאַ֕ל וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ ל֛וֹ לֶ֖חֶם וַיֹּאכַֽל׃

[13] Hebrew: וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ עֲבָדָיו֙ אֵלָ֔יו מָֽה־הַדָּבָ֥ר הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשִׂ֑יתָה בַּעֲב֞וּר הַיֶּ֤לֶד חַי֙ צַ֣מְתָּ וַתֵּ֔בְךְּ וְכַֽאֲשֶׁר֙ מֵ֣ת הַיֶּ֔לֶד קַ֖מְתָּ וַתֹּ֥אכַל לָֽחֶם׃

[14] Hebrew:  ‎וַיֹּ֕אמֶר בְּעוֹד֙ הַיֶּ֣לֶד חַ֔י צַ֖מְתִּי וָֽאֶבְכֶּ֑ה כִּ֤י אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙ מִ֣י יוֹדֵ֔עַ יְחָנַּ֥נִי יְהוָ֖ה וְחַ֥י הַיָּֽלֶד׃

[15] The Masoretes were mediæval Jewish scribes (laboring from the fifth to the tenth centuries AD), responsible for the preservation and propagation of the traditional text of the Hebrew Scriptures.

[16] Hebrew:  ‎וְעַתָּ֣ה׀ מֵ֗ת לָ֤מָּה זֶּה֙ אֲנִ֣י צָ֔ם הַאוּכַ֥ל לַהֲשִׁיב֖וֹ ע֑וֹד אֲנִי֙ הֹלֵ֣ךְ אֵלָ֔יו וְה֖וּא לֹֽא־יָשׁ֥וּב אֵלָֽי׃

[17] Maurus Servius Honoratius was a fourth century Roman commentator on Virgil.

[18] 2 Samuel 1.

[19] 2 Samuel 18:19-19:7.