2 Samuel 12:1-4

Nathan the Prophet Confronts David

12:1 So the Lord sent Nathan ¹  to David. When he came to David, ²  Nathan ³  said, ⁴  “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 12:2 The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. 12:3 But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. ⁵  It used to ⁶  eat his food, ⁷  drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. ⁸  It was just like a daughter to him.

12:4 “When a traveler arrived at the rich man’s home, ⁹  he did not want to use one of his own sheep or cattle to feed ¹⁰  the traveler who had come to visit him. ¹¹  Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and cooked ¹²  it for the man who had come to visit him.”

[12:1]  ¹ tc A few medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta add “the prophet.” The words are included in a few modern English version (e.g., TEV, CEV, NLT).

[12:1]  ² tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:1]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Nathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text repeats “to him.”

[12:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “his sons.”

[12:3]  ⁶ tn The three Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this sentence have a customary nuance; they describe past actions that were repeated or typical.

[12:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “from his morsel.”

[12:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “and on his chest [or perhaps, “lap”] it would lay.”

[12:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “came to the rich man.” In the translation “arrived at the rich man’s home” has been used for stylistic reasons.

[12:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he refused to take from his flock and from his herd to prepare [a meal] for.”

[12:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “who had come to him” (also a second time later in this verse). The word “visit” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[12:4]  ¹² tn Heb “and prepared.”