2 Samuel 12:1

Contextual Overview

¹Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, "There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.¹ and he sent Nathan the prophet to tell this story to David: A rich man and a poor man lived in the same town. ¹ Adonai sent Natan to David. He came and said to him, "In a certain city there were two men, one rich, the other poor. ¹ And Jehovah sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ¹ The Lord sent Nathan to David. Nathan went to him and said, "There were two men in a city. One man was rich, but the other man was poor. ¹ And Jehovah 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. ¹ And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man. ¹ And the Lord sent Nathan vnto Dauid, and he came vnto him, and tolde him: There were two men in one citie, the one rich, & the other poore. ¹ Then the Lorde sent Nathan vnto Dauid, who came to him, and sayd vnto him, There were two men in one citie, the one riche, and the other poore. ¹ AND the LORD sent Nathan the prophet to David. And he came to him and said to him, There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

am 2970, bc 1034, An, Ex, Is, 457

the Lord: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 2 Samuel 24:11-13, 1 Kings 13:1, 1 Kings 18:1, 2 Kings 1:3

unto David: 2 Samuel 11:10-17, 2 Samuel 11:25, 2 Samuel 14:14, Isaiah 57:17, Isaiah 57:18

he came: Psalms 51:1, *title

There were: There is nothing in this parable which requires illustration. Its bent is evident; and it was wisely constructed, by not having too near a resemblance, to make David unwittingly pass sentence on himself. The parable was in David's hand what his own letter was in the hands of the brave Uriah. Nathan at length closed in with him in the application of it. In beginning with a parable he shewed his prudence, and great need there is of prudence in giving reproof; but now he speaks as an ambassador from God. He reminds David of the great things God had designed and done for him, and then charges him with a high contempt of the Divine authority, and threatens an entail of judgments upon his family for this sin. Those who despise the word and law of God, despise God himself, and will assuredly suffer for such contempt. 2 Samuel 14:5-11, Judges 9:7-15, 1 Kings 20:35-41, Isaiah 5:1-7, Matthew 21:33-45, Luke 15:11-32, Luke 16:19-31

Reciprocal: Judges 3:20 - I have 2 Samuel 5:14 - Nathan 2 Samuel 7:2 - Nathan 2 Samuel 12:25 - Nathan 1 Kings 1:8 - Nathan 1 Kings 1:10 - General 1 Kings 4:5 - son of Nathan 1 Kings 20:39 - Thy servant 2 Kings 14:9 - The thistle 1 Chronicles 3:5 - Nathan 1 Chronicles 14:4 - Nathan 1 Chronicles 17:1 - Nathan 1 Chronicles 29:29 - Nathan 2 Chronicles 9:29 - Nathan 2 Chronicles 25:7 - a man of God 2 Chronicles 25:15 - a prophet 2 Chronicles 29:25 - Nathan Psalms 32:3 - When Isaiah 39:3 - came Isaiah Jeremiah 22:1 - Go Ezekiel 17:2 - General Zechariah 12:12 - Nathan Matthew 13:3 - in Galatians 6:1 - restore

Cross-References

Genesis 12:2
I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others.

Genesis 12:2
I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you are to be a blessing.

Genesis 12:2
And I will make of thee a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.

Genesis 12:2
I will build a great nation from you. I will bless you and make your name famous. People will use your name to bless other people.

Genesis 12:2
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

Genesis 12:2
And I will make of you a great nation, blessing you and making your name great; and you will be a blessing:

Genesis 12:2
And I will make of thee a great people, and wyll blesse thee, and make thy name great, that thou shalt be [euen] a blessyng.

Genesis 12:2
And I will make of you a great people, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing;

Genesis 12:2
I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing.

Genesis 12:2
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.

Gill's Notes on the 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, Psalms 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, Psalms 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.

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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XII

The Lord sends Nathan the prophet to reprove David; which he

does by means of a curious parable, 1-4.

David is led, unknowingly, to pronounce his on condemnation,

5, 6.

Nathan charges the guilt home on his conscience; and predicts

a long train of calamities which should fall on him and his

family, 7-12.

David confesses his sin; and Nathan gives him hope of God's

mercy, and foretells the death of the child born in adultery,

13, 14.

The child is taken ill; David fasts and prays for its

restoration, 15-17.

On the seventh day the child dies, and David is comforted,

18-24.

Solomon is born of Bath-sheba, 25, 26.

Joab besieges Rabbah of the Ammonites, takes the city of waters,

and sends for David to take Rabbah, 27, 28.

He comes, takes it, gets much spoil, and puts the inhabitants to

hard labor, 29-31.

NOTES ON CHAP. XII

Verse 2 Samuel 12:1. There were two men in one city — See a discourse on fables at the end of Judges 9:56, and a discourse on parabolic writing at the end of the thirteenth chapter of Matthew.

There is nothing in this parable that requires illustration; its bent is evident; and it was construed to make David, unwittingly, pass sentence on himself. It was in David's hand, what his own letters were in the hands of the brave but unfortunate Uriah.