2 Samuel 12:19

19 When David saw that his servants [were] whispering together, he realized that the child [was] dead. Then David said to his servants, "[Is] the child dead?" And they said, "He [is] dead."

2 Samuel 12:19 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 12:19

And when David saw that his servants whispered
For they said the above to one another with a low voice, that he might not hear them, though in the same room with them:

David perceived the child was dead;
he guessed it was, and that this was the thing they were whispering about among themselves:

therefore David said unto his servants, is the child dead? and they
said, he is dead;
for putting the question to them so closely, they could not avoid giving the answer they did, and which he was prepared to receive, by what he had observed in them.

2 Samuel 12:19 In-Context

17 The elders of his household stood over him to lift him up from the ground, but he [was] not willing, and he did not eat [any] food with them.

18 It happened on the seventh day that the child died, and the servants of David [were] afraid to tell him that the child [was] dead, for they said, "Look, when the child [was] alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to our voice. How can we tell him, 'The child [is] dead'? He may do [something] evil."

19 When David saw that his servants [were] whispering together, he realized that the child [was] dead. Then David said to his servants, "[Is] the child dead?" And they said, "He [is] dead."

20 David stood up from the ground and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothing. Then he went [to] the house of Yahweh and worshiped, and he went to his [own] house. He asked, so they served him food, and he ate.

21 Then his servants said to him, "What [is] this thing that you have done? While the child [was] alive, you fasted and wept; [now] that the child has died, you get up and eat food!"