Passage

2 Samuel 12.23

Book: 2 Samuel · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

21. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. 22. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who knoweth whether Jehovah will not be gracious to me, that the child may live?

23. But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon. And Jehovah loved him; 25. and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, for Jehovah's sake. (2 Samuel 12:21-25, ASV)

WEB

21. Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child was dead, you rose up and ate bread.” 22. He said, “While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows whether Yahweh will not be gracious to me, that the child may live?’

23. But now he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her. She bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Yahweh loved him; 25. and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah, for Yahweh’s sake. (2 Samuel 12:21-25, WEB)

KJV

21. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. 22. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?

23. But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him. 25. And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD. ^{Jedidiah: that is, Beloved of the LORD} (2 Samuel 12:21-25, KJV)

YLT

21. And his servants say unto him, 'What [is] this thing thou hast done? because of the living lad thou hast fasted and dost weep, and when the lad is dead thou hast risen and dost eat bread.' 22. And he saith, 'While the lad is alive I have fasted, and weep, for I said, Who knoweth?, Jehovah doth pity me, and the lad hath lived;

23. and now, he hath died, why [is] this, I fast? am I able to bring him back again? I am going unto him, and he doth not turn back unto me.'

And David comforteth Bath-Sheba his wife, and goeth in unto her, and lieth with her, and she beareth a son, and he calleth his name Solomon; and Jehovah hath loved him, 25. and sendeth by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and calleth his name Jedidiah, because of Jehovah. (2 Samuel 12:21-25, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: David
Audience: his servants, who had feared to tell him the child was dead
Location: Jerusalem
Time period: the united monarchy, tenth century BC

Theological reading

I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. David has fasted and lain on the ground for seven days while the child was dying. When the child dies he washes, worships, and eats, which his servants find incomprehensible, and this sentence is his explanation.

The verse is the most frequently cited biblical text in pastoral discussion of infant death, and its force depends on reading it neither too weakly nor too strongly. Too weakly: the sentence is more than an observation that David will also die one day, because the reason it consoles him is that it describes a going to the child rather than merely a going where the child has gone. Too strongly: the sentence is not a developed doctrine of infant salvation, and it does not use the vocabulary of resurrection or of heaven, both of which are later and clearer elsewhere.

What can be said carefully is that David's grief stops when the child dies rather than intensifying, and that his stated reason is reunion. He does not say that the child is nothing, and he does not say that he will one day be nothing alongside him. Within a book that says very little about the state of the dead, this is a striking place for a note of confidence to appear.

The passage also sits inside a judgment narrative, which is often forgotten in pastoral use. The child's death is announced as a consequence of David's sin with Bathsheba and of the contempt that sin showed. The consolation David finds is real, and it does not soften the surrounding judgment or turn the chapter into a comfort text.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

H4191 - mut, mut, Strong's H4191
H7725 - shuv, shuv, Strong's H7725

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

H2763 - charam

Passages:

Numbers 31.17-18

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.