2 Samuel 12:17

17 The elders in his family came in and tried to get him off the floor, but he wouldn't budge. Nor could they get him to eat anything.

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 After Nathan went home, God afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he came down sick.

16 David prayed desperately to God for the little boy. He fasted, wouldn't go out, and slept on the floor.

17 The elders in his family came in and tried to get him off the floor, but he wouldn't budge. Nor could they get him to eat anything.

18 On the seventh day the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him. They said, "What do we do now? While the child was living he wouldn't listen to a word we said. Now, with the child dead, if we speak to him there's no telling what he'll do."

19 David noticed that the servants were whispering behind his back, and realized that the boy must have died. He asked the servants, "Is the boy dead?" "Yes," they answered. "He's dead."