📖 2 Samuel 13 : 💎 The chapter where the Lord simply lets the misfortune of David's house run its course without intervening...

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The previous chapter, 2 Samuel 11, records David's wrongdoing.

• When his plan to conceal his sin failed,
• David deliberately arranged for the death of Uriah, a loyal man.

📖 2 Samuel 12 : 💎

A chapter in which one child is taken away,
while another child is given to show Jehovah's love

Verse 1: Jehovah sends Nathan to David.

➡️ Nathan tells David a parable

• There was one rich man and one poor man.
• The rich man took the poor man's only little ewe lamb and prepared it for a traveler who had come to him, instead of using an animal from his own flock.

➡️ David becomes angry and swears by the life of Jehovah

• He declares that the man who did this deserves to die (verse 5).
• He says that the man must repay the lamb four times over because he did such a thing (verse 6).

➡️ Nathan tells David, "You are the man," and conveys Jehovah's judgment

• I anointed you king over Israel and rescued you from the hand of Saul.
• I gave you your master's house and placed the house of Israel and Judah under your care.
• Why have you despised the word of Jehovah and done what is evil in his eyes?
• You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, using the sword of the Ammonites to kill him.
• You took his wife and made her your wife.
• Because you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite and making her your wife,
• the sword will never depart from your house.
• I will bring calamity upon you from within your own household. I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor,
• and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.
• You acted secretly, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.

📌 Key expressions in Jehovah's words ➔ Repetition

• Despising Jehovah (repeated twice)
• Taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite and making her your wife (repeated twice)
• Taking your wives and giving them to your neighbor, who will lie with your wives in broad daylight.
  • The wording is different, but the content is similar and is repeated twice.

👉 David confesses his sin, and Jehovah's response follows

• David says, "I have sinned against Jehovah."
• Nathan tells him, "Jehovah, in turn, forgives your sin. You will not die."

📌 However, Nathan also declares: "The child born to you will certainly die."

👉 Jehovah strikes the child who was born

• The child suffers for seven days and then dies. During those days, the parents endure anguish — a 💎 punishment through suffering.
• David fasts, weeps, and pleads for the child.
• But Jehovah does not reverse his decision, and the child dies.

👉 Jehovah God allows another child to be born

• David and Bathsheba have another son.
• Jehovah loves the child, Solomon, and sends the prophet Nathan to name him Jedidiah.
• ➔ The account explicitly records that Jehovah loved him.

👉 The defeat of the Ammonites

Joab sends a messenger to David, asking him to come and capture the city himself so that the victory will be credited to the king.

David gathers all the troops, goes to Rabbah, attacks and captures it, brings the Ammonites out, and returns to Jerusalem.

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Conclusion 1 — David's Sin and Jehovah's Judgment

2 Samuel 8 records the extraordinary blessings Jehovah God bestowed upon David.

In contrast, chapter 12 reveals the severe judgment David would face.

• The reason was that David had despised God's word.
• He took another man's wife,
• and caused her husband to be killed by the sword of the Ammonites.

The child born from his adulterous relationship was taken away by God,

but another child was given, and we see that Jehovah loved this child in a special way.

✔️ David would also have to face God's judgment that would come later.

💎 Reflection — How Long Did the Ammonite War Last?

In 2 Samuel 11 and 12, David's wrongdoing is recorded within the period that begins with the war against the Ammonites and ends with its conclusion. So, how long did this war last?

📌 Here, we come to realize that Jehovah God has placed what seems to be a trap in the account.

① First calculation

When I first read the account in its recorded order, my calculation suggested that at least one or two years had passed. ❌

— This calculation was based on the record that one child died and another child was later born.

② Second calculation

If we calculate from the birth of Solomon, at least four or five years would have been required. ❌

— After the first child died, Solomon was born; however, there were three other sons born to Bathsheba before Solomon.

💡 While calculating the various possibilities, I suddenly realized something.

✔️ It was as if the Bible had simply placed two verses into the account, almost casually. 💎

➡️ These are 2 Samuel 12:24–25. These verses record Jehovah's grace toward David. 💎

David comforted Bathsheba his wife and went in to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and he named him Solomon. Jehovah loved him and sent the prophet Nathan to name him Jedidiah, because Jehovah loved him.

➡️ These verses should be read as a record of Jehovah's grace.

If we force them into a strict chronological sequence, everything becomes tangled. 💎💎💎

📌 Point 1 — What can be inferred?

If verses 24–25 are considered separately, the timing of the war becomes clearer in relation to the death of the child. We may infer that the war against the Ammonites, described in chapters 11 and 12, lasted at least a year or perhaps longer. 💎

This is an inference, not a period of time explicitly stated in the text.

📌 Point 2 — A way of reading the Bible

The Bible sometimes includes a single word or one or two verses that help us understand the account. At other times, those same kinds of details seem to create a very complicated situation. We cannot know exactly why such puzzling details are included...

Could the intention be for us to identify the central purpose of the account first, and then keep thinking and reading—not just once or twice, but until the puzzle is resolved?

😀 This turns out to be a fascinating feature of the account. I have added one more method of reading the Bible to my memory! 💎

Conclusion 2 — Jehovah's Grace and the Two Children

Jehovah took away the son born from the adulterous relationship. I think that, for David's sake, taking the child away may have been the right thing to do.

• The child was a reminder of David's shame.
• And, in the eyes of the world, this child might not have been able to live a happy life.

🔎 Thinking of David, Jehovah gave Bathsheba another child, Solomon, through whom the royal line would continue in the future.

✔️ I wonder whether this was a great expression of Jehovah's grace, transforming what had been a source of shame into something glorious. 💎

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