EasyEnglish Bible 2018
2 Samuel 12:23
23But now the child is dead. Even if I fast and I pray, I cannot bring him back to me. One day, I will go to the place where he is. But he will never come back here to me.’
2 Samuel 12:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."
- New King James Version (NKJV)But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
Context of 2 Samuel 12:23
21His officers said to him, ‘We do not understand what you are doing. While the child was still alive, you refused to eat food and you wept. But now that the child is dead you are no longer weeping. You are moving around and you are eating. Why?’ 22David replied, ‘While the child was still alive, I wept and I did not eat anything. I thought that perhaps the Lord would be kind to me. I thought that he might let the child live. But now the child is dead. Even if I fast and I pray, I cannot bring him back to me. One day, I will go to the place where he is. But he will never come back here to me.’ 24Then David went to comfort his wife, Bathsheba. He had sex with her as his wife. Later, she gave birth to a son. David gave him the name ‘Solomon’. The Lord loved the child, 25so he sent a message to David with Nathan, the prophet. He told David to call his son Jedidiah, because the Lord loved him.
Read all of 2 Samuel 122 Samuel 12:23 word by word
וְעַתָּ֣ה׀ מֵ֗ת לָ֤מָּה זֶּה֙ אֲנִ֣י צָ֔ם הַאוּכַ֥ל לַהֲשִׁיב֖וֹ ע֑וֹד אֲנִי֙ הֹלֵ֣ךְ אֵלָ֔יו וְה֖וּא לֹֽא־יָשׁ֥וּב אֵלָֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 2 Samuel 12:23
- Genesis 37:35All Jacob's sons and daughters came to comfort him. But Jacob was very sad, so they could not make him happy. Jacob said, ‘I will be sad until the day that I die, because my son is dead.’ Jacob wept because Joseph was dead.
- Job 30:23I know that you are already taking me to my death. Everyone who lives has to go to that place.
- Luke 23:43Jesus replied, ‘I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.’
- Job 7:8People who can see me now will not see me any more. You will look for me, but I will not be there.
Commentaries on 2 Samuel 12:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me - It is not clear whether David by this expressed his faith in the immortality of the soul; going to him may only mean, I also shall die, and be gathered to my fathers, as he is. But whether David expressed this or not, we know that the thing is true; and it is one of the most solid grounds of consolation to surviving friends that they shall by and by be joined to them in a state of conscious existence…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-25Verses 15-25 David now penned the 51st Psalm, in which, though he had been assured that his sin was pardoned, he prays earnestly for pardon, and greatly laments his sin. He was willing to bear the shame of it, to have it ever before him, to be continually upbraided with it. God gives us leave to be earnest with him in prayer for particular blessings, from trust in his power and general mercy, though we have no particular promise to build upon. David…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23Can I bring him back again? I will go to him: The finality of his son’s death forced David to face his own mortality. At the same time, his words express confidence that life continues after death and that he would one day join his son.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 15-2315-23. the Lord struck the child ... and it was very sick--The first visible chastisement inflicted on David appeared on the person of that child which was the evidence and monument of his guilt. His domestics were surprised at his conduct, and in explanation of its singularity, it is necessary to remark that the custom in the East is to leave the nearest relative of a deceased person to the full and undisturbed indulgence of his grief, till on the third…Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Samuel 12:23
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Samuel 12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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