2 Samuel 12:3

3 The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter.

2 Samuel 12:3 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 12:3

But the poor [man] had nothing, save one little ewe lamb
Uriah had but one wife, who was much younger than he, called a lamb, an ewe lamb, a little one. Abarbinel thinks Uriah had been a widower; and had children by another wife, supposed in the parable, and was much older than Bathsheba:

which he had bought;
for men in those times and countries did not receive portions with their wives, but gave dowries to them, and for them:

and nourished up;
as his own flesh, as husbands should their wives, ( Ephesians 5:29 ) ;

and it grew up together with him, and with his children;
which Kimchi also supposes Uriah had by a former wife:

it did eat of his own meat, and drink of his own cup, and lay in his
bosom, and was unto him as a daughter;
all which are expressive of the care, kindness, love, and tenderness of a loving husband, whose affections are endeared to his wife, making her partaker of all he has, and to share in whatever he eats and drinks, and in his dearest embraces; and as there were instances of creatures, lambs and others, particularly tame or pet lambs, used in this way in a literal sense, to which the reference in the parable is, David had no suspicion of its being a parable. Bochart ^F17 has given many instances of creatures nourished and brought up in such a familiar manner.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F17 Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 46. col. 521, 522.

2 Samuel 12:3 In-Context

1 So the LORD sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor.

2 The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle.

3 The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter.

4 One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.”

5 David was furious. “As surely as the LORD lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die!