2 Samuel 12:9

9 Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in his eyes? Uriah the Hittite you have struck down with the sword, and his wife you have taken to yourself as wife! You have killed him with the sword of the {Ammonites}!

2 Samuel 12:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 12:9

Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do
evil in his sight?
&c.] The commandment referred to is the law of God, particularly the sixth and seventh precepts of it, ( Exodus 20:13 Exodus 20:14 ) ; which David had shown no regard unto, and by his breaking them had slighted and despised them:

thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword;
and so had despised and broken the sixth command, ( Exodus 20:13 ) ; for though he had not taken away his life with his own hand, he had plotted and contrived it, and had given orders to put him in such a position as would issue in it:

and hast taken his wife [to be] thy wife;
after he had defiled her, being another man's wife, and had taken such unlawful methods to make her his wife, whereby he had despised and broken both the sixth and the seventh commands, ( Exodus 20:13 Exodus 20:14 ) :

and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon;
though he had not put him to death with his own sword, he had done that which was as bad or worse in some respects, he had exposed him to the sword of the Ammonites, by which it was taken away; and not his only, but that of some of the Israelites also, which gave that uncircumcised people reason to triumph over the children of Israel, and even to blaspheme the God of Israel.

2 Samuel 12:9 In-Context

7 Then Nathan said to him, "You [are] the man! Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: 'I anointed you as king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
8 I gave you the household of your master and the women of your master into your lap. I also gave you the house of Israel and Judah; if [that had been too] little, I would have added to you {much more}.
9 Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in his eyes? Uriah the Hittite you have struck down with the sword, and his wife you have taken to yourself as wife! You have killed him with the sword of the {Ammonites}!
10 So then, a sword will not turn away from your house forever, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife!'
11 Thus says Yahweh, 'Look, I [am] going to raise up evil against you from [within] your house, and I will take your women before your eyes, and I will give them to your neighbor, and he shall sleep with your wives {in broad daylight}.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Thus Kethib; the reading tradition (Qere) reads "my eyes"
  • [b]. Literally "sons/children of Ammon"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.