2 Samuel 12:3

Contextual Overview

¹ And Yahweh sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ¹ So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: "There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. ¹ And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ¹ The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to David, he said, "There were two men in a city. One was rich, but the other was poor. ¹ So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to David, Nathan said, "There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. ¹ And the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ¹ Yahweh sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, "There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ¹And the LORD sent Nathan [the prophet] to David. He came and said to him, "There were two men in a city, one rich and the other poor. ¹ And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, "There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. ¹ Therfor the Lord sente Nathan to Dauid; and whanne he hadde come to Dauid, he seide to Dauid, Answere thou doom to me; twei men weren in o citee; o man was riche, and the tother was pore.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

one little: 2 Samuel 11:3, Proverbs 5:18, Proverbs 5:19

meat: Heb. morsel

lay in his: Deuteronomy 13:6, Micah 7:5

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 28:54 - and toward 1 Kings 1:2 - lie John 13:23 - leaning Ephesians 5:25 - love

Cross-References

Genesis 18:18
seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

Genesis 18:18
seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

Genesis 18:18
Abraham's children will certainly become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.

Genesis 18:18
After all, Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using his name.

Genesis 18:18
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

Genesis 18:18
seeing that Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?

Genesis 18:18
since Abraham is destined to become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him?

Genesis 18:18
sithen he schal be in to a greet folk and moost strong, and alle naciouns of erthe schulen be blessid in hym?

Genesis 18:18
and Abraham certainly becometh a nation great and mighty, and blessed in him have been all nations of the earth?

Genesis 18:18
Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But the poor [man] had nothing, save one little ewe lamb,.... Uriah had but one wife, who was much younger than he, called a lamb, an ewe lamb, a little one. Abarbinel thinks Uriah had been a widower; and had children by another wife, supposed in the parable, and was much older than Bathsheba:

which he had bought; for men in those times and countries did not receive portions with their wives, but gave dowries to them, and for them:

and nourished up; as his own flesh, as husbands should their wives, Ephesians 5:29;

and it grew up together with him, and with his children; which Kimchi also supposes Uriah had by a former wife:

it did eat of his own meat, and drink of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter; all which are expressive of the care, kindness, love, and tenderness of a loving husband, whose affections are endeared to his wife, making her partaker of all he has, and to share in whatever he eats and drinks, and in his dearest embraces; and as there were instances of creatures, lambs and others, particularly tame or pet lambs, used in this way in a literal sense, to which the reference in the parable is, David had no suspicion of its being a parable. Bochart q has given many instances of creatures nourished and brought up in such a familiar manner.

q Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 46. col. 521, 522.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 12:3. And lay in his bosom — This can only mean that this lamb was what we call a pet or favourite in the family, else the circumstance would be very unnatural, and most likely would have prevented David from making the application which he did, as otherwise it would have appeared absurd. It is the only part of this parable which is at variance with nature and fact.