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2 Samuel 12:18

in 2 Samuel 12

On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead!

KJV

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

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This verse in 2 Samuel 12

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

On the seventh day the child died

on 2 Samuel 12:18-19

On the seventh day the child dies, and the servants are afraid to tell David, reasoning, “He may even harm himself”. David sees them whispering and asks the plain question, “Is the child dead?”, and they answer, “He is dead”. The answer closes the sentence of verse 14 as it was spoken.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), when it was seven days old, and therefore not circumcised, which David might perhaps interpret as a further token of God's displeasure, that it died before it was brought under the seal of the covenant; yet he does not therefore doubt of its being happy for the benefits of the covenant do not depend upon the seals.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died,....

The words behind it

31 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיְהִ֛יand it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • בַּיּ֥וֹםon the day

    baiyomH3117 →2304 times

  • הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י<the> seventh

    hasheviiH7637 →

  • וַיָּ֣מָתand he died

    vaiyamotH4191 →839 times

  • הַיָּ֑לֶדthe child

    haiyaledH3206 →89 times

  • וַיִּֽרְאוּ֩and they were afraid

    vaiyiruH3372 →315 times

  • עַבְדֵ֨י[the] servants of

    ʾavdeiH5650 →799 times

  • דָוִ֜דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • לְהַגִּ֥ידto tell

    lehagidH5046 →370 times

  • ל֣וֹ׀to <the> him

    lo

  • כִּי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • מֵ֣תhe had died

    metH4191 →839 times

  • הַיֶּ֗לֶדthe child

    haiyeledH3206 →89 times

  • כִּ֤יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אָֽמְרוּ֙they said

    ʾameruH559 →5305 times

  • הִנֵּה֩here!

    hinehH2009 →843 times

  • בִהְי֨וֹתwhen was

    vihyotH1961 →3559 times

  • הַיֶּ֜לֶדthe child

    haiyeledH3206 →89 times

  • חַ֗יalive

    chaiH2416 →498 times

  • דִּבַּ֤רְנוּwe spoke

    dibarnuH1696 →1141 times

  • אֵלָיו֙to him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • וְלֹא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • שָׁמַ֣עhe listened

    shama'H8085 →1159 times

  • בְּקוֹלֵ֔נוּto voice our

    bekolenuH6963 →506 times

  • וְאֵ֨יךְand how?

    veeikhH349 →82 times

  • נֹאמַ֥רwill we say

    nomarH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלָ֛יוto him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • מֵ֥תhe has died

    metH4191 →839 times

  • הַיֶּ֖לֶדthe child

    haiyeledH3206 →89 times

  • וְעָשָׂ֥הand he will do

    veasahH6213 →2628 times

  • רָעָֽה׃harm

    raahH7451 →662 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

1 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Numbers 20:15how our fathers went down to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers,2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Numbers 20:15

    how our fathers went down to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers,

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 26:6

      But the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us, putting us to hard labor.

    • Genesis 46:6

      They also took the livestock and possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt.

    • Exodus 12:40

      Now the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years.

    • Acts 7:15

      So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.

    • Genesis 15:13

      Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 12 →

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 12 →