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2 Samuel 12 Bible study: You are the man!
In Hebrew, the word for man, ish, comes six times in 12:1-5, through Nathan's story and David's angry answer. David gives the verdict on the man himself, "the man who has done this deserves to die!" (12:5), before Nathan says, in two Hebrew words, "You are the man!" (12:7).
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“David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin. You will not die.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“David said the man in Nathan's story deserved to die before Nathan told him the story was about him.”
Is that in 2 Samuel 12, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
The LORD sent Nathan
Chapter 11 was full of David sending: for Bathsheba, for Uriah, and the letter to Joab (11:3-6, 11:14). It ended, "But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD" (11:27). Chapter 12 opens with the same Hebrew verb and a different sender: "The LORD sent Nathan to David" (12:1) (tap sent). It is the prophet David had spoken to in chapter 7 (7:2), who brought him the LORD's promise: "Nathan spoke to David all these words, and according to all this vision" (7:17). Now the LORD sends him with a story.
Where it leads to Jesus
You have judged correctly
2 Samuel 12:7leads toLuke 7:43
Nathan tells David a story of a rich man and a poor man's lamb (12:1-4), David gives the verdict (12:5-6), and Nathan turns it on him: "You are the man!" (12:7). When a Pharisee named Simon said to himself that the woman at Jesus' feet was a sinner (Luke 7:39), Jesus said, "Simon, I have something to tell you" (Luke 7:40), told of a lender who forgave two debtors, and asked, "Which of them therefore will love him most?" (Luke 7:42). When Simon answered, Jesus said, "You have judged correctly" (Luke 7:43), and turned the answer toward Simon's own welcome (Luke 7:44-46). Then he said to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven" (Luke 7:48), and those at the table said to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" (Luke 7:49); in 2 Samuel it is Nathan who tells David, "The LORD also has put away your sin" (12:13). No New Testament passage cites 2 Samuel 12, and Luke doesn't point to it, so setting the two side by side is a reading. Some see the same shape in both: a story that has the hearer give the verdict, and then turns it on the hearer. Others read each on its own terms: Nathan's story brings a king to see his own sin, while Jesus' story is about love from those who are forgiven much (Luke 7:47), told to a host who had judged someone else.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about 2 Samuel 12
That was a taste
The rest of 2 Samuel 12 is waiting in Favor
- A story, and a verdict
- "I gave you"
- He fasted, and then he arose
- A psalm for when Nathan came
- Solomon, and Jedidiah
- The crown of their king
- 11 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach 2 Samuel 12 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
אִישׁishsay EESH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "man". Strong's: "a man as an individual or a male person". Nathan's story uses it from its first line, "There were two men in one city" (12:1), through "the man who had come to him" (12:4), to David's verdict, "the man who has done this deserves to die!" (12:5). Then Nathan answers in two Hebrew words, attah ha'ish: "You are the man!" (12:7). In Hebrew ish comes seven times in 12:1-7 (once in 12:1, three times in 12:4, twice in 12:5, once in 12:7), and not again in the chapter. The WEB's "rich man" in 12:2 and "poor man" in 12:3 are single Hebrew words, without ish. Samuel had told Saul, "The LORD has sought for himself a man after his own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14), with the same word.
For your group
2 Samuel 12 Bible study questions
- 1Nathan helped David see what he had done by telling him a story first (12:1-7). When has someone helped you see something in yourself that you couldn't see head-on?
- 2David answered in two Hebrew words, "I have sinned against the LORD" (12:13), with no excuse added. What would it look like for you to say something that plainly, to God or to someone you've wronged?
- 3When the child died, David rose, washed, went into the LORD's house and worshiped (12:20). What has helped you keep turning to God after a loss, or after a prayer that wasn't answered as you asked?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 2 Samuel 12 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home