2 Samuel 12:23

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I’ll go to him, but he will never return to me.”

Hebrew Names Version
But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

King James Version
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

Lexham English Bible
But now he is dead. Why should I be fasting? Am I able to return him again? I am going to him, but he cannot return to me."

English Standard Version
But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."

New Century Version
But now that the baby is dead, why should I fast? I can't bring him back to life. Someday I will go to him, but he cannot come back to me."

New English Translation
But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back? I will go to him, but he cannot return to me!'"

Amplified Bible
"But now he is dead; why should I [continue to] fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him [when I die], but he will not return to me."

New American Standard Bible
"But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I am going to him, but he will not return to me."

Geneva Bible (1587)
But now being dead, wherefore shoulde I now fast? Can I bring him againe any more? I shall goe to him, but he shall not returne to me.

Legacy Standard Bible
But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

Contemporary English Version
But now that he's dead, why should I go without eating? I can't bring him back! Someday I will join him in death, but he can't return to me.

Complete Jewish Bible
But now that he's dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

Darby Translation
But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

Easy-to-Read Version
But now the baby is dead, so why should I refuse to eat? Can I bring the baby back to life? No. Some day I will go to him, but he cannot come back to me."

George Lamsa Translation
But now he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he cannot return to me.

Good News Translation
But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Could I bring the child back to life? I will some day go to where he is, but he can never come back to me."

Literal Translation
And now he has died. Why this, that I should fast? Am I able to bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But now that it is deed, wherfore shulde I fast? Can I fetch it agayne. I shal go vnto it, but it shall not come agayne vnto me.

American Standard Version
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

Bible in Basic English
But now that the child is dead there is no reason for me to go without food; am I able to make him come back to life? I will go to him, but he will never come back to me.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But now seeing it is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him againe any more? I shall go to him, rather then he shall come againe to me.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.'

King James Version (1611)
But now hee is dead, Wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him backe againe? I shall goe to him, but he shall not returne to me.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
But now it is dead, why should I fast thus? shall I be able to bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

English Revised Version
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

Berean Standard Bible
But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
`Now forsothe for he is deed, whi `fast Y? whether Y schal mow ayen clepe hym more? Y schal `go more to hym, but he schal not turne ayen to me.

Young's Literal Translation
and now, he hath died, why [is] this -- I fast? am I able to bring him back again? I am going unto him, and he doth not turn back unto me.'

Update Bible Version
But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

Webster's Bible Translation
But now he is dead, Why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

World English Bible
But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

New King James Version
But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."

New Living Translation
But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me."

New Life Bible
But now he has died. Why should I go without food? Can I bring him to life again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

New Revised Standard
But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, now, that he is dead, wherefore should I go on fasting? can I bring him back again? I am going unto him, but, he, will not come back unto me.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Shall I be able to bring him back any more? I shall go to him rather: but he shall not return to me.

Revised Standard Version
But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

Contextual Overview

¹⁵After Nathan went home, God afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he came down sick. David prayed desperately to God for the little boy. He fasted, wouldn't go out, and slept on the floor. The elders in his family came in and tried to get him off the floor, but he wouldn't budge. Nor could they get him to eat anything. On the seventh day the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him. They said, "What do we do now? While the child was living he wouldn't listen to a word we said. Now, with the child dead, if we speak to him there's no telling what he'll do." ¹⁹ David noticed that the servants were whispering behind his back, and realized that the boy must have died. He asked the servants, "Is the boy dead?" "Yes," they answered. "He's dead." ²⁰ David got up from the floor, washed his face and combed his hair, put on a fresh change of clothes, then went into the sanctuary and worshiped. Then he came home and asked for something to eat. They set it before him and he ate. ²¹ His servants asked him, "What's going on with you? While the child was alive you fasted and wept and stayed up all night. Now that he's dead, you get up and eat." ²²"While the child was alive," he said, "I fasted and wept, thinking God might have mercy on me and the child would live. But now that he's dead, why fast? Can I bring him back now? I can go to him, but he can't come to me." ²⁴David went and comforted his wife Bathsheba. And when he slept with her, they conceived a son. When he was born they named him Solomon. God had a special love for him and sent word by Nathan the prophet that God wanted him named Jedidiah (God's Beloved).

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I shall go: Genesis 37:35, Job 30:23, Luke 23:43

he shall not: Job 7:8-10

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 13:39 - comforted Job 7:9 - he Job 10:21 - I go whence

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast?.... And pray; it is to no purpose, no end can be thought to be answered by it:

can I bring him back again? from the state of the dead, bring him to life by fasting, and praying, and weeping; that is not to e expected:

I shall go to him; to the state of the dead, to the grave, where his body was, or would be; to heaven and eternal happiness, where his soul was, as he comfortably hoped and believed: from whence it appears, that the Old Testament saints did not suppose an annihilation at death; but believed the immortality of the soul, a future state after death of eternal life and bliss:

but he shall not return to me; in the present mortal state, though at the resurrection they should meet again.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 12:23. I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. — It is not clear whether David by this expressed his faith in the immortality of the soul; going to him may only mean, I also shall die, and be gathered to my fathers, as he is. But whether David expressed this or not, we know that the thing is true; and it is one of the most solid grounds of consolation to surviving friends that they shall by and by be joined to them in a state of conscious existence. This doctrine has a very powerful tendency to alleviate the miseries of human life and reconcile us to the death of most beloved friends. And were we to admit the contrary, grief, in many cases, would wear out its subject before it wore out itself. Even the heathens derived consolation from the reflection that they should meet their friends in a state of conscious existence. And a saying in Cicero De Senectute, which he puts in the mouth of Cato of Utica, has been often quoted, and is universally admired: -

O praelarum diem, cum ad illud divinum animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar, cumque ex hac turba et colluvione discedam! Proficiscar enim non ad eos solum viros de quibus ante dixi; sed etiam ad Catonem meum quo nemo vir melior natus est, nemo pietate praestantior: cujus a me corpus crematum est; quod contra decuit ab illo meum. Animus vero non me deserens, sed respectans, in ea profecto loca discessit, quo mihi ipsi cernebat esse veniendum: quem ego meum catum fortiter ferre visus sum: non quod aequo animo ferrem: sed me ipse consolabar, existimans, non longinquum inter nos digressum et discessum fore.

CATO MAJOR, De Senectute, in fin.

"O happy day, (says he,) when I shall quit this impure and corrupt multitude, and join myself to that divine company and council of souls who have quitted the earth before me! There I shall find, not only those illustrious personages to whom I have spoken, but also my Cato, who I can say was one of the best men ever born, and whom none ever excelled in virtue and piety. I have placed his body on that funeral pyre whereon he ought to have laid mine. But his soul has not left me; and, without losing sight of me, he has only gone before into a country where he saw I should soon rejoin him. This my lot I seem to bear courageously; not indeed that I do bear it with resignation, but I shall comfort myself with the persuasion that the interval between his departure and mine will not be long."

And we well know who has taught us not to sorrow as those without hope for departed friends.