2 Samuel 12 21

2 Samuel 12:21 kjv

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.

2 Samuel 12:21 nkjv

Then his servants said to him, "What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food."

2 Samuel 12:21 niv

His attendants asked him, "Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!"

2 Samuel 12:21 esv

Then his servants said to him, "What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food."

2 Samuel 12:21 nlt

His advisers were amazed. "We don't understand you," they told him. "While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again."

2 Samuel 12 verses

2 Samuel 12 21 Meaning

This verse captures the profound perplexity of David's servants regarding his actions. While his infant son lay gravely ill, David had engaged in intense fasting and weeping, earnestly pleading with God for the child's life. However, upon the child's death, he abruptly ceased his lament, washed, changed clothes, worshipped God, and began eating. The servants' question, "What thing is this that thou hast done?" highlights the stark contrast in David's behavior, which defied typical ancient Israelite mourning customs and their understanding of grief, prompting his subsequent crucial explanation.

2 Samuel 12 21 Context

This verse is positioned immediately after God's judgment upon David's household, pronounced by the prophet Nathan. David had sinned grievously by committing adultery with Bathsheba and arranging the death of her husband, Uriah. Nathan confronted David with a parable, leading David to repent (2 Sam 12:13). However, the consequences remained: the child born of David and Bathsheba would die (2 Sam 12:14). During the child's subsequent seven-day illness, David responded with profound, agonizing prayer and fasting, demonstrating his repentance and fervent appeal for God's mercy and a reprieve from the declared judgment. The scene in verse 21 follows the child's death, contrasting David's prior desperate acts of supplication with his immediate return to normal life. From a historical and cultural standpoint, David's actions directly contradicted the expected, prolonged, and overt mourning rituals common in ancient Israelite society, which typically involved days or even weeks of wailing, wearing sackcloth, and public lamentation, thus fueling his servants' profound bewilderment.

2 Samuel 12 21 Word analysis

• servants (`עֲבָדָיו`, `'avadav`): Refers to David's personal attendants or trusted officials. Their proximity implies observation of David's intimate anguish. Their inquiry reflects respect mixed with genuine confusion at his departure from expected behavior.
• What thing is this that thou hast done? (`מַה הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה עָשִׂיתָה`, `mah haddavar hazzeh asita`): This is a question expressing profound bewilderment and astonishment. It highlights the perceived incongruity of David's actions compared to both his prior conduct and standard cultural practices of mourning. It is less an accusation and more an earnest seeking of understanding.
• thou didst fast (`צַמְתָּ`, `tsamta`): Signifies abstinence from food and drink as an act of humble, desperate supplication to God, often accompanied by repentance or intense petitioning. David's fast was a fervent plea for the child's life, hoping God might relent from His announced judgment.
• and weep (`וַתֵּבְךְּ`, `vattevech`): To express deep sorrow and distress through tears and lamentation. It shows David's genuine grief and earnest, sorrowful intercession for his son's survival.
• for the child (`עַל־הַיֶּלֶד`, `'al-hayyeled`): Lit. "over the child." Emphasizes the specific object of his profound concern and intense intercession, highlighting the personal agony over the innocent victim of his sin's consequence.
• while it was alive (`בְּעוֹדוֹ חַי`, `be'odo chay`): This crucial phrase sets the temporal context for David's prior actions. His fasting and weeping were rooted in a living hope – that as long as the child breathed, God might still intervene and spare his life. This indicates a period of possibility and intense intercession.
• but when the child was dead (`וְכַאֲשֶׁר מֵת הַיֶּלֶד`, `vek'asher met hayyeled`): This marks the definitive, irreversible point in time. Death signifies the ultimate earthly end of the situation and the fulfillment of God's earlier decree, removing any basis for continuing the specific plea for life.
• thou didst rise (`קַמְתָּ`, `qamta`): Literally, "you stood up" or "you arose." This physical action symbolizes David's deliberate transition from a state of prostration, self-abasement, and intense supplication to resuming normal activity and responsibilities.
• and eat bread (`וַתֹּאכַל לָחֶם`, `vattochel lachem`): To partake of a meal, signifying the end of the fast and a return to regular sustenance. It demonstrates a return to normalcy and acceptance of the new reality.

• "What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive;": This part of the verse encapsulates the servants' deep confusion, highlighting the perceived inconsistency. It lays out David's expected and culturally understood response to dire circumstances (earnest petition when hope remained).
• "but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.": This sharply contrasts David's actions, demonstrating a seemingly illogical abruptness. For the servants, it's a dramatic pivot from intense sorrow and prayer to immediate cessation and normalcy upon the fulfillment of what seemed like a worst-case scenario. This phrase underscores David's unique faith, accepting the divine decree once it was irrevocably established.

2 Samuel 12 21 Bonus section

David's response provides a profound lesson in discerning when to pray fervently for an outcome and when to humbly accept God's determined will. His actions are not a denial of sorrow, but a demonstration of mature faith that understands God's ultimate authority and wisdom in all things, even in the midst of suffering and judgment. His immediate resumption of worship (noted in 2 Sam 12:20) further emphasizes that his primary focus shifted from trying to change God's mind to worshipping God's completed work, recognizing that God's ways are higher. This response sets him apart as a man after God's own heart, even in his deep failures. It also foreshadows his understanding of a future hope or reunion with the child (2 Sam 12:23), pointing to an early conception of life beyond death, an implicit hope in God's mercy and eternal plan.

2 Samuel 12 21 Commentary

This verse powerfully illustrates the cultural chasm between the expectations of David's servants and David's deep theological understanding. Their question stemmed from an assumption that mourning should intensify or at least continue upon death. However, David's prior actions were acts of intercessory faith, hoping God might yet relent in judgment. Once the child died, it became unequivocally clear that God's stated judgment had been carried out. David's cessation of mourning was not a lack of grief or love, but a profound act of acceptance and worship. He had done all he could to seek God's mercy while there was hope, and upon its removal, his faith pivoted to submission to God's sovereign will and wisdom, finding peace in God's unchangeable purpose and an implicit future hope beyond this earthly life.