2 Samuel 12:16

2Sa 12:16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

Ver. 16. David therefore besought God.] As knowing that God doth sometimes threaten, that he may not punish: with humble submission therefore to his goodwill and pleasure he supplicateth for the sick child: wherein also he showeth his good assurance of the pardon of his own sin, by taking the humble boldness to sue for his sick child.

And lay all night upon the earth.] By this χαμευνια, humi-cubatio, lying on the ground, joined with his fasting and prayer, David doth both evidence his affection and edge his devotion. It was in the time of this humiliation, it is thought by some, that David uttered the fifty-first Psalm: which he afterwards published.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To wit, to his privy chamber.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 16. David - besought God for the child] How could he do so, after the solemn assurance that he had from God that the child should die? The justice of God absolutely required that the penalty of the law should be exacted; either the father or the son shall die. This could not be reversed.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(16) Besought God for the child.—It can hardly be necessary to say that this does not imply any want of submissiveness to God’s will on David’s part, nor an inordinate love for the child of his guilt. “In the case of a man whose penitence was so earnest and so deep, the prayer for the preservation of his child must have sprung from some other source than excessive love of any created object. His great desire was to avert the stroke as a sign of the wrath of God, in the hope that he might be able to discern, in the preservation of the child, a proof of Divine favour consequent upon the restoration of his fellowship with God. But when the child was dead, he humbled himself under the mighty hand of God, and rested satisfied with His grace, without giving himself up to fruitless pain” (O. von Gerlach, quoted by Keil). Yet David’s deep love for the child is not to be overlooked altogether.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. besought God for the child] Such a prayer was not presumptuous, for God’s threatenings like his promises are conditional. See Isa_38:1 ff.; Jon_3:7-10.

fasted] Cp. Neh_1:4; Est_4:16; Dan_9:3; Act_14:23.

went in] To his private chamber (Mat_6:6), where he lay all night upon the floor, instead of sleeping on his bed. Cp. ch. 2Sa_13:31. The tense of the verbs went in and lay all night is frequentative, indicating that David did so repeatedly.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The death of the infant child of one of the numerous harem of an Oriental monarch would in general be a matter of little moment to the father. The deep feeling shown by David on this occasion is both an indication of his affectionate and tender nature, and also a proof of the strength of his passion for Bath-sheba. He went into his most private chamber, his closet Mat 6:6, and “lay upon the earth” 2Sa 13:31, rather “the ground,” meaning the floor of his chamber as opposed to his couch.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A fast, (jejunavit jejunio) denotes, with more than ordinary rigour. (Salien) --- By himself. Hebrew, "he went in, and lay all night upon the ground." (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

David besought God for the child; supposing the threatening might be conditional, and so the execution of it prevented by prayer.

Went in, to wit, into his closet, as Mat 6:6, to pray solitarily and earnestly, as he had done with others. Or this word may only note his progress and continuance in the actions here expressed.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. Besought God for the child — For, according to 2Sa_12:22, he entertained some hope that God might yet spare him.

Went in — Into some private apartment of his own house.

Lay all night upon the earth — Evidence of profoundest anguish and grief. Compare 2Sa_13:31.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

David... went in. He went, not into the sanctuary, which he did not enter until after the child"s death, but into some private room in his own house. There he remained, passing his nights stretched on the ground, and fasting until the seventh day. His fasting does not imply that he took no food during this long interval, but that he abstained from the royal table, and ate so much only as was necessary to maintain life. Now, what was the meaning of this privacy and abstinence? Evidently it was David"s acknowledgment, before all his subjects, of his iniquity, and of his sorrow for it. The sickness of the child followed immediately upon Nathan"s visit, and we may feel sure that news of his rebuke, and of all that passed between him and the king, ran quickly throughout Jerusalem. And David at once takes the position of a condemned criminal, and humbles himself with that thoroughness which forms so noble a part of his character. Grieved as he was at the child"s sickness, and at the mother"s sorrow, yet his grief was mainly for his sin; and he was willing that all should know how intense was his shame and self-reproach. And even when the most honourable of the rulers of his household, (Gen_24:2) or, as Ewald thinks, his uncles and elder brethren, came to comfort him, he persists in maintaining an attitude of heart stricken penitence.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Besought - Supposing the threatening might be conditional, and so the execution of it prevented by prayer. Went - Into his closet.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

implored

to beg or pray with strong desire

went inside

David went into his room when he was alone. AT: "went inside his room" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

to raise him up from the floor

"and urged him to get up from the floor"

It came about

"It happened"

he did not listen to our voice

The servants are referred to here by their voices to emphasize that they were speaking. AT: "he did not listen to us" (See: Synecdoche)

the seventh day

"day 7." This refers to the seventh day after the baby was born. AT: "the seventh day after he was born" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Numbers)

Look

This is used to get people's attention. AT: "Listen"

What might he do to himself if we tell him that the boy is dead?!

The servants ask this rhetorical question to express their fear. This can be written as a statement. AT: "We are afraid that he may harm himself if we tell him that the boy is dead!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

translationWords

God

fast

elder

servant

fear

life

voice

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And came to repose and lied on the ground. And came [back] to the house and reposed at night lying on the ground.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.