2 Samuel 12:22

And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
said	וַיֹּ֕אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
child	הַיֶּ֣לֶד hai.Ye.led	H3206	something born · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
alive	חַ֔י Chai	H2416	alive · adjective, masculine singular absolute
fasted	צַ֖מְתִּי Tzam.ti	H6684	to cover over (the mouth) · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
wept	וָֽאֶבְכֶּ֑ה va.'ev.Keh	H1058	to weep · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
said	אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙ 'a.Mar.ti	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
tell	יוֹדֵ֔עַ yo.De.a'	H3045	to know (properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
GOD	יְהוָ֖ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
gracious	וְחַנַּ֥נִי ye.cha.na.ni	H2603	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
child	הַיָּֽלֶד hai.Ya.led	H3206	something born · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
live	חַי chay	H2416	alive

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Isaiah 38:1-3 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Se…
Isaiah 38:5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will ad…
Jonah 3:9-10 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
Joel 1:14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and c…
Joel 2:14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
Jonah 1:6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon…
Amos 5:15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant…
James 4:9-10 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 12:15-25

Nathan, having delivered his message, staid not at court, but went home, probably to pray for David, to whom he had been preaching. God, in making use of him as an instrument to bring David to repentance, and as the herald both of mercy and judgment, put an honour upon the ministry, and magnified his word above all his name. David named one of his sons by Bath-sheba Nathan, in honour of this prophet (Ch1 3:5), and it was that son of whom Christ, the great prophet, lineally descended, Luk 3:31. When Nathan retired, David, it is probable, retired likewise, and penned the 51st Psalm, in which (though he had been assured that his sin was pardoned) he prays earnestly for pardon, and greatly lamen…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 12:15

the Lord struck the child . . . and it was very sick--The first visible chastisement inflicted on David appeared on the person of that child which was the evidence and monument of his guilt. His domestics were surprised at his conduct, and in explanation of its singularity, it is necessary to remark that the custom in the East is to leave the nearest relative of a deceased person to the full and undisturbed indulgence of his grief, till on the third or fourth day at farthest (Joh 11:17). Then the other relatives and friends visit him, invite him to eat, lead him to a bath, and bring him a change of dress, which is necessary from his having sat or lain on the ground. The surprise of David's s…

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Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 12:22

Who can tell - David, and indeed all others under the Mosaic dispensation, were so satisfied that all God's threatenings and promises were conditional, that even in the most positive assertions relative to judgments, etc., they sought for a change of purpose. And notwithstanding the positive declaration of Nathan, relative to the death of the child, David sought for its life, not knowing but that might depend on some unexpressed condition, such as earnest prayer, fasting, humiliation, etc., and in these he continued while there was hope. When the child died, he ceased to grieve, as he now saw that this must be fruitless. This appears to be the sole reason of David's importunity.

The Church Fathers

King David loved his child, and sat indeed in sackcloth and ashes, but he neither brought soothsayers, nor enchanters, (although there were such then, as Saul shows,) but he made supplication to God. So do thou likewise: as that just man did, so do thou also; the same words say thou, when thy child is dead, "I shall go to him, but he will not come to me." This is true wisdom, this is affection. However much thou mayst love thy child, thou wilt not love so much as he did then. For even though his child were born of adultery, yet that blessed man's love of the mother was at its height, and ye know that the offspring shares the love of the parents. And so great was his love toward it, that he even wished it to live, though it would be his own accuser, but still he gave thanks to God.
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON COLOSSIANS 8

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Mourning — One marked feature of Oriental mourning is what may be called its studies publicity and the careful observance of the prescribed ceremonies. (Genesis 23:2; Job 1:20; 2:12)
Solomon — Peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David’s second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father…
Afflicted Saints · Examples of afflicted Saints:: David — Examples of afflicted Saints:: David
Bereavement · Of his child by Bath-sheba — Of his child by Bath-sheba
Children · Resignation manifested at loss of — Resignation manifested at loss of
Parents · .David — .David
Seven · .Fasts of — .Fasts of

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Samuel 12:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 12:15-25

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 12:15

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 12:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

2 Samuel 12:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 12:15-25

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 12:15

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 12:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 2 Samuel 12:22

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 12:15-25

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 12:21-23

Rashi on 2 Samuel 12:17