2 Samuel 12:17

17 The elders of his house stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.

2 Samuel 12:17 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 12:17

And the elders of his house arose, [and went] to him, to raise
him up from the earth
To persuade him to rise up, and sit upon a seat, and go to bed, after having taken some food; these were some of the chief officers at court, and had the management of the affairs of his household:

but he would not;
they could not persuade him to it:

neither did he eat bread with them;
that evening, as he had used to do; they being the princes of his court, who were wont to sit at table with him.

2 Samuel 12:17 In-Context

15 Then Nathan went home. The Lord struck the baby that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became ill.

16 David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted, went [home], and spent the night lying on the ground.

17 The elders of his house stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.

18 On the seventh day the baby died. But David's servants were afraid to tell him the baby was dead. They said, "Look, while the baby was alive, we spoke to him, and he wouldn't listen to us. So how can we tell him the baby is dead? He may do something desperate."

19 When David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, he guessed that the baby was dead. So he asked his servants, "Is the baby dead?" "He is dead," they replied.