Nathan's Parable to David

II Samuel 11:27b-12:15a tells the story of David's realization that he had sinned. While David did not show any remorse before this point about what he had done, as soon as he was told the parable and was made to understand that he was the rich man he was very repentant. This plays into the larger Deuteronomistic theme of God's people continually doing something wrong, being punished, and showing remorse. This pericope reveals that David subconsciously denied that he had done anything wrong until he was forced to admit it by his own condemnation of the rich man. Throughout the course of this paper, the placement of this pericope within the book of II Samuel will be studied, as will the characterizations of God and God's people within the text.

Literary Analysis

I Samuel 11:27b is the proper starting point for this pericope because the story of David's sinful acts is concluded in 11:27a. He seduced Bathsheba, ordered the death of her husband, and took her to be his wife. Once the reader is told about all of the sinful things that David did, the writer was free to let the readers know that God disapproved of all of those things. This section starts with God sending Nathan to David in order to pronounce judgment upon him, and ends in 12:15a, when Nathan returns to his house. Nathan's exit in the last verse signifies that he had accomplished what he was sent to do. In the next part of verse fifteen, the judgment itself starts, as David has by that point been informed of what he has done wrong.

If one just reads the pericope without having any knowledge of what came before or what happens afterwards, it is difficult to understand exactly what sins David committed, the exact meaning of the parable, and the extent of the punishment that God inflicted upon David. Though it states in the pericope that David killed Uriah and took Uriah's wife for his own, it does not mention that David also lied, tricked, and neglected his duties as king. [1] Nathan states, as part of the parable, that the rich man had many flocks and herds, while the poor man had only one sheep that he cared for well. Without reading the surrounding passages, it would be difficult for the reader to grasp what this implies: that David had many wives and concubines, while Uriah had only one wife. While it is quite clear within the pericope that David's child will die, the punishments listed in II Samuel 12:10-12 are much more obscure. Only someone who reads the rest of II Samuel will understand that "the sword" refers to sorts of violence such as rape and war. The trouble from within David's own house refers to his son, Absalom, who is also the one who will lie with David's concubines in the open, in the sight of all of Israel.

The genres of this pericope are speech and narrative, which includes the subgenres of parable and account. Speech is used for the majority of the pericope, within II Samuel 12:5-15a. Account, on the other hand, is only used within 11:27b-12:1a. Parable is used in II Samuel 12:1-4, when Nathan tells the parable of the poor man and rich man to David. The parable that Nathan uses is a specific type called a "juridical parable," which is a story about a crime told to someone who has committed a similar offense. This method is used in hopes that the listener will unintentionally judge himself or herself. [2] Nathan tells David a judgment-eliciting parable so that, by condemning the rich man in the parable, David will be trapped into admitting that he has done wrong.

I. Nathan Arrives (II Samuel 11:27b-12:1a)

II. Nathan Tells a Parable (II Samuel 12:1b-6)

a. The Parable (II Samuel 12:1b-4)

b. David's Reaction (II Samuel 12:5-6)

III. The Punishment (II Samuel 12:7-14)

a. Nathan Summarizes David's Past and Future (II Samuel 12:7-12)

b. David Admits His Sin (II Samuel 12:13a)

c. David's Punishment is Transferred (II Samuel 12:13b-14)

IV. Nathan Returns Home (II Samuel 12:15a)

This pericope is set during David's reign, directly after he orders Uriah's death and takes Bathsheba as his own wife. The tension starts building at the very beginning of the text, when the reader is told that God is displeased. It continues to heighten as Nathan tells the parable and as David reacts to it, as the reader realizes long before David does that he is the rich man. The tension mounts higher yet as Samuel describes in great detail the good things that God has done for David and, in contrast, the massive amounts of punishments that David will receive in the future. At last, the climax comes when David finally confesses that he has sinned. Nathan tells David that his son will die instead of him, and the pericope's resolution comes with Nathan's return to his house. The theme of this pericope is that it is important for people to confess their sins, just as David admits his. Another theme is that God punishes those who do wrong in his eyes.

Theology

This pericope reveals just a few of the many aspects of God. In II Samuel 11:27b, God sends Nathan to David because he wants David to know that he is displeased with what David had done. This shows that when God does not like something that a person is doing, he will tell them about it. In 12:7-8, Nathan lists all of the good things that God had done for David. The list is long and must have left David amazed at how good God was to him, especially when Nathan adds that God would have given David twice as much if he had not been satisfied. These verses show that God is generous and incredibly good to those who follow him and obey his commands. 12:10-12, however, show that God also punishes those who do wrong. Because David had taken Bathsheba as his wife and had killed Uriah, God was displeased with him. He declared that there was violence ahead for David's household, that members of his own family would turn against him, and that David's wives would be taken from him in the sight of all of Israel. When someone sins, God makes certain that they are aware of his displeasure. In II Samuel 12:13-14, David admits he has done wrong; consequently, Nathan tells him that his newborn son will die instead of him. This indicates that if people admit their sin, then God may choose to lessen or change the punishment he has given. [3] In 12:13-14 it is also made clear that God sometimes changes his mind. He had been planning on killing David, but when David admitted his sin God decided to kill David's son instead.

Anthropology

II Samuel 11:27b-12:15a teaches how the people of God should behave, based upon what the characters in the pericope do and do not do correctly. In 12:5, David is furious because of what the rich man did to the poor man. He had good reason for this, because he was well aware of the fact that stealing is wrong. Israelite law stated that anyone who stole a sheep was required to pay back four sheep, or would be sold as a slave. [4] David also reacts so strongly because it was part of his duties as king to protect the poor. II Samuel 12:6 says that David orders that the rich man be punished because "he did this thing, and because he had no pity." A better word to use might be "compassion," because unlike "pity" it has no negative connotations. [5] David condemns the rich man because he has no compassion, not realizing that he acted just as the rich man did by not showing compassion to Uriah. When David confesses his sin in 12:13, Nathan acts as a contrast to him by showing compassion and taking the death sentence away from him. These two verses show that it is very important for the people of God to show compassion towards those that are weaker than they are or those who are not in control. In 12:9, Nathan tells David that he had done evil in God's eyes when he had arranged Uriah's death and taken Bathsheba as his own wife. From this, it is easy to see that it is wrong to kill others, especially through the hands of an enemy, and to steal. In II Samuel 12:13, David admits his sin, and as a result his punishment is transferred to his son. This signifies that when someone realizes that they have sinned, it is good and necessary for them to confess their wrongdoing and ask for forgiveness.

Assessment

Christians today can learn many important things from II Samuel 11:27b-12:15a. First of all, the entire pericope makes it clear that broken intimacies can only lead to disaster. David chose to give into his desires, and after he had sexual relations with Bathsheba he was forced to kill Uriah to conceal what he had done. Consequently, he underwent a great deal of punishment, including the deaths of several of his sons. This text makes it clear that God sees adultery, thievery, and murder as sins. It is important for Christians today to remember that doing such things can only lead to disaster. Nathan uses a parable in 12:2-4 to reveal David's sin, because David had deceived himself into believing that he had done nothing wrong. This implies that it is important to go to someone who is sinning and talk to him or her about it, because they may not even realize that what they are doing is immoral. [6] In II Samuel 12:13-14, David's death sentence is taken from him after he confesses his sin. God still punishes him by killing his son, but the punishment is not as great as it would have been if David had refused to admit that he had sinned. When reading this passage, Christians are reminded that God wants his people to confess and ask for forgiveness when they realize that they have sinned.

Bibliography

Coats, George W. "2 Samuel 12:1-7a." Interpretation 40, no. 2 (1986): 170-174. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost. Accessed March 20, 2010.

Fontaine, Carole R. "The bearing of wisdom on the shape of 2 Samuel 11-12 and 1 Kings 3." Journal for the Study of the Old Testament no. 34 (1986): 61-77. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost. Accessed March 20, 2010.

Gunn, David M. "Traditional composition in the "succession narrative." Vetus testamentum 26, no. 2 (1976): 214-229. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost. Accessed March 20, 2010.

Phillips, Anthony. "Interpretation of 2 Samuel 12:5-6." Vetus testamentum 16, no. 2 (1966): 242-244. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost. Accessed March 23, 2010.

Roth, Wolfgang. "You are the man: structural interaction in 2 Samuel 10-12." Semeia no. 8 (January 1, 1977): 1-13. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost. Accessed March 23, 2010.

Schipper, Jeremy. "Did David overinterpret Nathan's parable in 2 Samuel 12:1-6?" Journal of Biblical Literature 126, no. 2 (2007): 383-391. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost. Accessed March 25, 2010.

Steffen, Lloyd H. "On honesty and self-deception: 'you are the man.'" Christian Century 104, no. 14 (April 29, 1987): 403-405. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost. Accessed April 6, 2010.

[1] For more information about David's sins, see Carole R. Fontaine, "The bearing of wisdom on the shape of 2 Samuel 11-12 and 1 Kings 3," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament no. 34 (1986): 61-77, in ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost.

[2] For more information see Jeremy Schipper, "Did David overinterpret Nathan's parable in 2 Samuel 12:1-6?" Journal of Biblical Literature 126, no. 2 (2007): 383-391, in ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost; and David M. Gunn, "Traditional composition in the "succession narrative," Vetus testamentum 26, no. 2 (1976): 214-229, in ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost.

[3] Mediation occurs; see Wolfgang Roth, "You are the man: structural interaction in 2 Samuel 10-12," Semeia no. 8 (January 1, 1977): 1-13, in ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost.

[4] For more information on the subject of thievery and punishments, see Anthony Phillips, "Interpretation of 2 Samuel 12:5-6," Vetus testamentum 16, no. 2 (1966): 242-244, in ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost.

[5] George W. Coats, "2 Samuel 12:1-7a," Interpretation 40, no. 2 (1986): 170-174, in ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost.

[6] For more information on this subject, see Lloyd H. Steffen, "On honesty and self-deception: 'you are the man,'" Christian Century 104, no. 14 (April 29, 1987): 403-405, in ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost.