Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, December 21st, 2025
the Fourth Week of Advent
Attention!
StudyLight.org has pledged to help build churches in Uganda. Help us with that pledge and support pastors in the heart of Africa.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

2 Samuel 12:5

David exploded in anger. "As surely as God lives," he said to Nathan, "the man who did this ought to be lynched! He must repay for the lamb four times over for his crime and his stinginess!"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - David;   Minister, Christian;   Nathan;   Parables;   Reproof;   Self-Condemnation;   Thompson Chain Reference - Bible Stories for Children;   Children;   David;   Home;   Pleasant Sunday Afternoons;   Religion;   Stories for Children;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Poor, the;   Prophets;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Nathan;   Parable;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Anger;   Bathsheba;   Nathan;   Prophecy, prophet;   Wisdom literature;   Easton Bible Dictionary - David;   Oath;   Tekoa, Tekoah;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Nathan;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Court Systems;   Crimes and Punishments;   David;   Jonah;   King, Kingship;   Parables;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ammon, Ammonites;   Nathan;   Poverty;   Samuel, Books of;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Nathan ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Nathan;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Chief parables and miracles in the bible;   David;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Law of Moses;   Na'than;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Nathan;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Nathan (1);   Samuel, Books of;   Sin (1);   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Allegory;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Bath-Sheba;   Judge;   Nathan;   Satire;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan: “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!
Hebrew Names Version
David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Natan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this is worthy to die!
King James Version
And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
Lexham English Bible
Then the anger of David was kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this deserves to die!
English Standard Version
Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die,
New Century Version
David became very angry at the rich man. He said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this should die!
New English Translation
Then David became very angry at this man. He said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!
Amplified Bible
Then David's anger burned intensely against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die.
New American Standard Bible
Then David's anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this certainly deserves to die!
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Dauid was exceeding wroth with the man, and sayde to Nathan, As the Lorde liueth, the man that hath done this thing, shall surely dye,
Legacy Standard Bible
Then David's anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As Yahweh lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die.
Contemporary English Version
David was furious with the rich man and said to Nathan, "I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this deserves to die!
Complete Jewish Bible
David exploded with anger against the man and said to Natan, "As Adonai lives, the man who did this deserves to die!
Darby Translation
Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah liveth, the man that hath done this thing is worthy of death;
Easy-to-Read Version
David became very angry with the rich man. He said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man who did this should die!
George Lamsa Translation
And Davids anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said, As the LORD lives, the man who has done this thing is worthy of death;
Good News Translation
David became very angry at the rich man and said, "I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this ought to die!
Literal Translation
And David's anger glowed greatly against the man. And he said to Nathan, As Jehovah lives, surely the man who did this is a son of death.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The was Dauid wroth with greate displeasure agaynst that man, and sayde vnto Nathan: As truly as the LORDE lyueth, the man that hath done this, is the childe of death.
American Standard Version
And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah liveth, the man that hath done this is worthy to die:
Bible in Basic English
And David was full of wrath against that man; and he said to Nathan, By the living Lord, death is the right punishment for the man who has done this:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Dauid was exceeding wroth with the man, and saide to Nathan: As the Lorde lyueth, the man that hath done this thing is the childe of death.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan: 'As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this deserveth to die;
King James Version (1611)
And Dauids anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liueth, the man that hath done this thing, shall surely die.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And David was greatly moved with anger against the man; and David said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man that did this thing shall surely die.
English Revised Version
And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this is worthy to die:
Berean Standard Bible
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe Dauid was ful wrooth with indignacioun ayens that man, and seide to Nathan, The Lord lyueth, for the man that dide this is the sone of deeth;
Young's Literal Translation
And the anger of David burneth against the man exceedingly, and he saith unto Nathan, `Jehovah liveth, surely a son of death [is] the man who is doing this,
Update Bible Version
And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Yahweh lives, the man that has done this is worthy to die:
Webster's Bible Translation
And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, [As] the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this [thing] shall surely die:
World English Bible
David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this is worthy to die!
New King James Version
So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!
New Living Translation
David was furious. "As surely as the Lord lives," he vowed, "any man who would do such a thing deserves to die!
New Life Bible
David was very angry at the man, and said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, for sure the man who has done this should die.
New Revised Standard
Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die;
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then was kindled the anger of David against the man, fiercely, - and he said unto Nathan, By the life of Yahweh, doomed to death, is the man that hath done this;
Douay-Rheims Bible
And David’s anger being exceedingly kindled against that man, he said to Nathan: As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this is a child of death.
Revised Standard Version
Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die;
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then David's anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die.

Contextual Overview

1and sent Nathan to David. Nathan said to him, "There were two men in the same city—one rich, the other poor. The rich man had huge flocks of sheep, herds of cattle. The poor man had nothing but one little female lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up with him and his children as a member of the family. It ate off his plate and drank from his cup and slept on his bed. It was like a daughter to him. 4 "One day a traveler dropped in on the rich man. He was too stingy to take an animal from his own herds or flocks to make a meal for his visitor, so he took the poor man's lamb and prepared a meal to set before his guest." 5David exploded in anger. "As surely as God lives," he said to Nathan, "the man who did this ought to be lynched! He must repay for the lamb four times over for his crime and his stinginess!" 7"You're the man!" said Nathan. "And here's what God , the God of Israel, has to say to you: I made you king over Israel. I freed you from the fist of Saul. I gave you your master's daughter and other wives to have and to hold. I gave you both Israel and Judah. And if that hadn't been enough, I'd have gladly thrown in much more. So why have you treated the word of God with brazen contempt, doing this great evil? You murdered Uriah the Hittite, then took his wife as your wife. Worse, you killed him with an Ammonite sword! And now, because you treated God with such contempt and took Uriah the Hittite's wife as your wife, killing and murder will continually plague your family. This is God speaking, remember! I'll make trouble for you out of your own family. I'll take your wives from right out in front of you. I'll give them to some neighbor, and he'll go to bed with them openly. You did your deed in secret; I'm doing mine with the whole country watching!" 13Then David confessed to Nathan, "I've sinned against God ." Nathan pronounced, "Yes, but that's not the last word. God forgives your sin. You won't die for it. But because of your blasphemous behavior, the son born to you will die."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

David's: Genesis 38:24, 1 Samuel 25:21, 1 Samuel 25:22, Luke 6:41, Luke 6:42, Luke 9:55, Romans 2:1

As the Lord: 1 Samuel 14:39

shall surely die: or, is worthy to die, Heb. is a son of death, 1 Samuel 20:31, 1 Samuel 26:16, *marg.

Reciprocal: Genesis 20:9 - a great 1 Samuel 14:44 - thou shalt 2 Samuel 13:21 - he was very wroth 2 Samuel 14:8 - I will give 1 Kings 1:29 - As the 1 Kings 2:26 - worthy of death 1 Kings 20:40 - So shall thy judgment be Matthew 7:3 - but Matthew 21:31 - The first Romans 6:21 - for the 2 Corinthians 7:11 - indignation

Cross-References

Genesis 11:31
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and Sarai his daughter-in-law (his son Abram's wife) and set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.
Genesis 12:8
He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there and prayed to God .
Genesis 12:9
Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.
Genesis 14:21
The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me back the people but keep all the plunder for yourself."
Acts 7:4
"So he left the country of the Chaldees and moved to Haran. After the death of his father, he immigrated to this country where you now live, but God gave him nothing, not so much as a foothold. He did promise to give the country to him and his son later on, even though Abraham had no son at the time. God let him know that his offspring would move to an alien country where they would be enslaved and brutalized for four hundred years. ‘But,' God said, ‘I will step in and take care of those slaveholders and bring my people out so they can worship me in this place.'

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man,.... That had done this, taking it for a real fact:

and he said to Nathan, [as] the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this [thing] shall surely die; which be said in the transport of his wrath and fury; otherwise a thief, according to the law of Moses, was not to be put to death, but to make restitution; and if he was not able to make it, then to be sold, but he was not to die for it; but David thought the crime was so greatly aggravated by being done by a rich man, and by the loss the poor man sustained, it being his all, and the fact, in all its circumstances, so cruel and barbarous, that the guilty person ought to die: how much more vehemently, and indeed with justice, would he have passed the sentence of death on him, or condemned him to it, had it been put in the parable, that the rich man not only took the poor man's ewe lamb, but killed the poor man himself? but this Nathan left out, that David might not take his meaning, as Abarbinel thinks, who then would have been upon his guard, and not have condemned himself; and hereby also Nathan had this advantage against him, that if this man deserved to die, who had only taken the poor man's ewe lamb, then how much more ought he to die, who had not only committed adultery with Bathsheba, but had slain Uriah?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 12:5. The man - shall surely die — Literally בן מות ben maveth, "he is a son of death," a very bad man, and one who deserves to die. But the law did not sentence a sheep-stealer to death; let us hear it: If a man steal an ox or a sheep, he shall restore FIVE OXEN for an ox, and FOUR SHEEP for a sheep, Exodus 22:1; and hence David immediately says, He shall restore the lamb FOURFOLD.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile