2 Samuel 12:16

16 David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth ^[a] on the ground.

2 Samuel 12:16 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 12:16

David therefore besought God for the child
Perhaps went into the tabernacle he had built for the ark, and prayed to the Lord to restore the child, and spare its life; for though the Lord had said it should die, he might hope that that was a conditional threatening, and that the Lord might be gracious and reverse it, ( 2 Samuel 12:22 ) ;

and David fasted:
all that day:

and went in;
to his own house from the house of God:

and lay all night upon the earth;
would neither go into, nor lie upon a bed, but lay on the floor all night, weeping and praying for the child's life, and especially for its eternal welfare: he having through sin been the means of its coming into a sinful and afflicted state.

2 Samuel 12:16 In-Context

14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.”

15 After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.

16 David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground.

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

18 On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.”

Footnotes

• [a]. DSS and LXX; MT does not include in sackcloth.