2 Samuel 12:23 BSB — MannaFest

2 Samuel 12:23

But now that 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.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

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.

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.

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Commentary

4 voices

Ambrose of Milan

CONSOLATION ON THE DEATH OF EMPEROR VALENTINIAN 47.48 (397)

Thus David wept for his son who was about to die; he did not grieve for him when dead. He wept that he might not be snatched from him, but he ceased to weep when he was snatched away, for he knew that he was with Christ. And that you may know what I declare is true, he wept for his incestuous son Amnon when he was killed, and he mourned for the parricide Absalom when he perished, saying, "My son Absalom, my son Absalom!"

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

I fast - Seeing fasting and prayer cannot now prevail with God for his life. I shall go to him - Into the state of the dead in which he is, and into heaven, where I doubt not I shall find him.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

We shall be with them shortly, to part no more. Though David's marrying Bath-sheba had displeased the Lord, yet he was not therefore commanded to divorce her; so far from this that God gave him that son by her on whom the covenant of royalty should be entailed. Bath-sheba, no doubt, was greatly afflicted with the sense of her sin and the tokens of God's displeasure.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

I 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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

16 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וְעַתָּ֣ה׀	ve.'a.Tah	and now	H6258 →
מֵ֗ת	Met	he has died	H4191 →
לָ֤מָּה	La.mah	<to> why?	H4100 →
זֶּה֙	zeh	this	H2088 →
אֲנִ֣י	'a.Ni	[am] I	H589 →
צָ֔ם	Tzam	fasting	H6684 →
הַאוּכַ֥ל	ha.'u.Khal	¿ am I able	H3201 →
לַהֲשִׁיב֖וֹ	la.ha.shi.Vo	to bring back him	H7725 →
ע֑וֹד	od	again	H5750 →
אֲנִי֙	'a.Ni	I	H589 →
הֹלֵ֣ךְ	ho.Lekh	[am] going	H1980 →
אֵלָ֔יו	'e.Lav	to him	H413 →
וְה֖וּא	ve.Hu'	and he	H1931 →
לֹֽא־	lo'-	not	H3808 →
יָשׁ֥וּב	ya.Shuv	he will return	H7725 →
אֵלָֽי׃	'e.Lai	to me	H413 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Luke 23:43
And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
leads to
- Revelation 2:7
  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the…
- Psalms 50:15
  Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- 1 Timothy 1:15–16
  This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.
- Luke 19:10
  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
- Psalms 32:5
  Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
Through
Job 30:23
Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:5–7
  when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels—for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners…
Through
Genesis 37:35
All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.
leads to
- Genesis 42:38
  But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring…
- Job 2:11
  Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, each of them came from his home, and they met together…

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About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

2 Samuel: the study guide →Read chapter 12 →The featured study →

Continue: 2 Samuel 12 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About 2 Samuel

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About 2 Samuel