2 Samuel
The triumphs and troubles of David as king: a man after God’s own heart, forgiven but not spared the consequences of sin.
Second Samuel is the story of King David’s forty-year reign. It opens with David lamenting Saul and Jonathan, reigning seven and a half years in Hebron over Judah, and then being anointed king over all Israel. He captures Jerusalem, brings the ark to Zion, defeats Israel’s enemies on every side, and receives from God the covenant that his house and throne will be established forever.
Then comes chapter 11. At the height of his power David stays home from battle, sees Bathsheba, commits adultery, and arranges the death of her husband Uriah. Nathan the prophet confronts him—“Thou art the man”—and David confesses. God forgives him, yet the sword never departs from his house. The rest of the book records Amnon’s crime, Absalom’s murder of Amnon, Absalom’s rebellion and death, and further revolt and plague.
The book is honest about its hero. David is the sweet psalmist of Israel and a man after God’s own heart, and he is also capable of terrible sin. Second Samuel shows both the grace that restores and the harvest that follows.
Writer: Nathan and Gad
Written: From the records of Nathan and Gad, after David’s reign, about 1015–975 BC.
Name: Samuel; the continuation of the history bearing his name
Title and authorship
The book continues 1 Samuel under the same name; the two formed one book in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek and Latin Bibles called it the Second Book of Kingdoms or Kings.
The author is not named. The records of Nathan the prophet and Gad the seer (1 Chronicles 29:29) supplied much of the history, compiled by an inspired writer after David’s reign.
Historical background
Hebron, Jerusalem, and the lands surrounding Israel from Philistia to the Euphrates, from Saul’s death about 1056 BC to the end of David’s reign about 1015 BC.
Israel under the Davidic dynasty, learning the foundation of the royal house and the covenant on which it rested.
Jerusalem captured
Jerusalem was a Jebusite fortress on a narrow ridge between the Kidron and Tyropoeon valleys. David’s men entered by way of “the gutter” or water shaft (5:8). As a capital on the border of Judah and Benjamin, it belonged to no tribe and united the nation.
David’s empire
Chapters 8 and 10 record victories over the Philistines, Moab, Zobah, Syria, Ammon, Amalek, and Edom. For a brief period Israel’s influence reached toward the Euphrates, partially realizing the borders promised to Abraham.
Absalom’s rebellion
Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel at the gate for four years, then proclaimed himself king at Hebron. David fled across the Jordan, weeping. The rebellion ended in the wood of Ephraim, where Absalom was caught by his head in an oak and slain by Joab.
Key passages
2 Samuel 7:12–13
The Davidic covenant: God will raise up David’s seed and establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
2 Samuel 12:13
“I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.”
2 Samuel 23:2
David’s last words: “The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.”
Outline
1–10 · The king established
David mourns Saul, rules from Hebron and Jerusalem, receives the covenant promise, and wins victories.
11–12 · The king confronted
Adultery, the death of Uriah, and an attempted cover-up lead to Nathan’s rebuke and David’s confession.
13–24 · The kingdom troubled
Family violence, rebellion, national unrest, and the final records display the consequences surrounding David’s later reign.
Original language
בַּיִת (bayith, H1004) — “house”
Chapter 7 turns on a play on this word. David wanted to build God a house (temple); God promised to build David a house (dynasty).
עַד־עוֹלָם (ad olam, H5769) — “for ever”
Olam denotes a long or indefinite duration, “to the vanishing point.” Used three times in 7:13–16, it grounds the eternal kingdom promised to David’s seed (Luke 1:33).
צִיּוֹן (Tsiyon, H6726) — “Zion”
The stronghold David took from the Jebusites, called the city of David (5:7). The name came to stand for Jerusalem and for God’s dwelling among His people.
חָטָאתִי (chatathi (chata), H2398) — “I have sinned”
Chata means to miss the mark. David’s two-word confession in Hebrew was full and unqualified, directed against the LORD.
Doctrinal study
The Davidic covenant
God promised David a house (dynasty), a kingdom, and a throne established forever, and a son who would build the temple. Solomon partially fulfilled the promise, but the everlasting throne belongs to Christ, “the son of David” (Matthew 1:1). Gabriel announced that God would give Him “the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32). The covenant is unconditional in its outcome, though individual kings could be chastened for sin (7:14–15).
Forgiveness and consequences
Nathan announced forgiveness immediately after David confessed, yet he also announced that the sword would never depart from David’s house and that the child would die (12:10–14). The death of Bathsheba’s son, Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah fulfilled the fourfold restoration David had himself decreed (12:6).
David’s mercy to Mephibosheth
David sought out the lame grandson of Saul “for Jonathan’s sake” and seated him at the king’s table as one of his sons (9:1–13). The unworthy is received for the sake of another—a picture of grace to the sinner for Christ’s sake.
Commentary notes
The steps of David’s fall
Shirking responsibility led to idleness (11:1), idleness to temptation (11:2), temptation to sin (11:3–4), and one sin to another (11:5–25). It would have been better to confess immediately than to connive to cover it. The place of blessing is a dangerous place; more is at stake, and more people are affected.
David’s last words
In his final song David describes the ruler who is just, ruling in the fear of God, “as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds” (23:3–4). He knew his house was not all it should be, yet God had made with him “an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure” (23:5).
Numbering the people
Chapter 24 says God moved David to number Israel; 1 Chronicles 21:1 says Satan provoked him. Satan was the instrument and God permitted it as a judgment. David’s sin was pride in military strength, and the half-shekel ransom required at a census (Exodus 30:12) was evidently not paid.
Christ in the book
- David — the king in Zion, conqueror of his enemies (Psalm 2:6)
- David weeping over Absalom — the King grieving over a rebellious son
- David crossing the Kidron, rejected and weeping (15:23, 30; John 18:1)
- The seed of David whose throne is forever (7:12–16)
Applications
Historical
- The life of David as king: his rise to the throne of all Israel, his conquests and administration, his sin and repentance, and the troubles that followed in his family and nation.
- David unites the nation and makes Jerusalem the center of royal rule. The covenant promise gives the reign significance beyond David’s own lifetime.
- The personal sins of the king affect his household, military servants, and nation; the narrative does not conceal this damage.
Doctrinal
- Christ conquering Jerusalem and reigning on the throne of His father David (5:6–10; Luke 1:32–33). David’s capture of Zion and victories over the surrounding nations anticipate the Second Coming and the establishment of the millennial kingdom.
- The throne of David points forward to Jesus Christ’s reign. God’s promise is larger than the failures of an individual king.
- David’s conquest and rule provide a royal picture of the Messiah, while David’s sins mark the limits of that picture.
Devotional
- Every believer is vulnerable to sin, especially in times of success and ease, and sin has lasting consequences. At the same time, David’s confession in Psalm 51 shows the way back to fellowship and joy.
- David’s adultery leads to deception and murder as he attempts to conceal his conduct. The sequence demonstrates the further harm caused by refusing confession.
- David’s forgiveness restores his relationship with the Lord, while the consequences of his actions continue to affect his household and nation.
Answering the critics
Critics raise the same objections as in 1 Samuel, alleging duplicate accounts and tensions with Chronicles.
Chronicles supplements Samuel from a priestly and royal viewpoint rather than contradicting it. Different emphases, numbers rounded or counted differently, and additional details are what one expects when two inspired records cover the same period. Comparing Scripture with Scripture resolves the apparent difficulties.