The kingdom has been restored to David and he has nearly subdued all of the surrounding enemies. The Ammonites have refused peace so Joab takes the army to the Ammonites and David stays in Jerusalem. He was in the wrong place and he sinned by taking Bathsheba, another man’s wife. David is confronted by Nathan the prophet and confesses his sin. The Lord forgives him but there is damage to his family in 2 Samuel 12:14 “But because you have utterly scorned Yahweh in this matter”. His son with Bathsheba dies. David takes the kingdom of the Ammonites and seems to be prospering, then his son Amnon rapes his half-sister, Tamar. David is angry but doesn’t take any action. After two years, Absalom, Tamar’s brother, calls all of the king’s sons to a feast and in front of them, kills Amnon. It was for David to deal with the offense done to Tamar. His failure to act let anger turn to rage and rage to murder. As a result, the sword of division entered his family and eventually, the whole nation was divided.
Some of the Servants of the King Died
2 Samuel 11:19-27
The Man Who has Done This Deserves to Die!
Who Knows? Yahweh May Have Mercy on Me
2 Samuel 12:13–25
David has sinned not only by taking Bathsheba as his wife, and to do it, he sent her husband Uriah into battle so he would be killed. What was even worse though, is David didn’t have any sense of wrongdoing until Nathan the prophet came to him in 2 Samuel 12:5 when David pronounces a death sentence for the man that could have done such a thing.
David confesses his sin in 2 Samuel 12:13 and Nathan replies the Lord has forgiven your sin. Then goes on to say in
2 Samuel 12:14 “But because you have utterly scorned Yahweh in this matter, the son born for you will certainly die.”
It was not like David to do something without inquiring of the Lord, so Nathan’s statement, “you have utterly scorned Yahweh in this matter” is certainly true.
But David pleaded in
2 Samuel 12:16 David pleaded with God on behalf of the boy and David fasted. He went to spend the night and lay upon the ground.
because David knew the Lord and his great compassion and the Lord does say, in
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us argue,” says Yahweh. “Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white like snow; even though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
So David pleaded and fasted until the boy died, then got up and went on with his life.
He Took the Crown of Their King From His Head
2 Samuel 12:26–31
From the time of the Exodus, the children of Israel were to leave the Ammonites alone because they were “the descendants of Ammon, the son of Lot (Gen. 19:38). From the very beginning (Deut. 2:16–20) of their history till they are lost sight of (Judg. 5:2), this tribe is closely associated with the Moabites (Judg. 10:11; 2 Chr. 20:1; Zeph. 2:8).1
Then the Ammonites stood against the children of Israel and the Lord set a separation prohibiting the Ammonites because “Both of these tribes hired Balaam to curse Israel (Deut. 23:4) … (and) They showed no kindness to the Israelites when passing through their territory, and therefore they were prohibited from “entering the congregation of the Lord to the tenth generation” (Deut. 23:3). They afterwards became hostile to Israel (Judg. 3:13)”.1
Now David takes their capital city and their king in
2 Samuel 12:29 So David gathered all of the army, and he went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it.
But more than that, he puts the Ammonites to work “David enslaves the inhabitants of Ammon because of their rebellion (see 2 Sam 10:1–19 and note).2
This only happened because the Ammonites had not only rejected David’s offer to them but they hired others to ally with them against Israel. David’s intent when Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, was in
2 Samuel 10:2 David said, “I will show loyal love with Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father showed loyal love with me.”
Tamar Went to the House of Amnon Her Brother
2 Samuel 13:1–10
Do Not Force Me
All of the Sons of the King
2 Samuel 13:21–33
David has a household of many wives, sons and daughters, half brothers and sisters. Amnon had schemed and gotten his sister alone and forced her, then threw her out in the street and now in
2 Samuel 13:21 Now King David heard all these things, and he became very angry.
but David didn’t take any action. David wasn’t the only one that was angry, in
2 Samuel 13:22 Absalom did not speak with Amnon either bad or good, for Absalom hated Amnon over the matter when he raped Tamar his sister.
After two years (2 Samuel 13:23) Absalom puts together a plan to punish Amnon who is living freely while Absalom’s sister Tamar is living in shame in Absalom’s house.
The time of shearing was a time of great work but also a time for a great feast when they were finished so Absalom invites all of the kings sons in 2 Samuel 13:23-27 and they all came. But this was only so Absalom could kill Amnon in front of all of the kings sons. He wanted retribution for his sister, but he also wanted them all to witness it. so, in
2 Samuel 13:29 So Absalom’s servants did to Amnon just as Absalom commanded, and all the sons of the king got up, and each mounted his mule and fled.
The first message to the king was that all of his sons were dead, but then, some had heard of the plan of Absalom and that is was only Amnon in
2 Samuel 13:32-33 Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David, responded and said, “My lord should not think that all the young men, the sons of the king, are dead, because only Amnon is dead. Absalom was talking about it, as it was being determined from the day he raped Tamar his sister … for only Amnon alone is dead”.
Study Verses
- 2 Samuel 12:13–25 Who Knows? Yahweh May Have Mercy on Me
- 2 Samuel 12:26–31 He Took the Crown of Their King From His Head
- 2 Samuel 13:21–33 All of the Sons of the King
Today’s Reading
- 2 Samuel 11:19-27
- 2 Samuel 12:1-31
- 2 Samuel 13:1-33
References
- 1. Easton, M. G. (1893). In Easton’s Bible dictionary. New York: Harper & Brothers.
- 2. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (2 Sa 12:31). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
