Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ 2 Samuel

[Fun on the Floor]

I have a question: Through moses god implemented the 10 commandments. The one commandment im referring to is don’t commit murder. During the time Israelites where under the mosaic law, strict punishment (stoning) was in place when people fail to adhere to god.

Why did god killed David’s baby when he arranged for the husband of the girl he like to die? In that case david committed the murder and him alone should payed the price? Why did god had to kill an innocent child? Why he never killed the rest of david’s sons?

[jimwalton]

In the ancient Near East, including Israelite culture, there was no distinction between natural and supernatural. Their perception was that God or the gods were involved in every detail of life. Thus anything that happened was considered to be an act of God. It's no surprise they word it this way. Any death was "God killed him." Any life was "God spared him." The Lord closed wombs; the Lord opened wombs. Everything was perceived as an act of God. It is very active language that shouldn't be taken in a modern sense. At the same time, the author's point is that David is being judged by God for his sin. If you look at the whole story of David, you'll discover that David loses 4 children as a result of what he did. One son murders another. One son is executed by David's general. This son dies of some kind of disease.

In our modern way of thinking (whether it's more accurate or not is impossible to say), we would not word it this way or understand it this way. We would say the child died a natural death, and that David was cut to the heart with grief, and that was his judgment. But since they saw no distinction between natural and supernatural, they expressed it differently. That's not to claim that the child would have lived anyway. The child may have been born very sickly and was so unhealthy he was going to die. That's how we would say it. The way they said that was "The Lord struck the child and he became ill."

It was perceived, along with the eventual deaths (by completely different and unrelated means) of 3 more of David's sons, as David's punishment for his adultery with Bathsheba. That's what makes it justice. The text is concerned to show us that David is paying for his sin with his family (his offspring, and therefore "eye for eye" for adultery) going to ruin and his heart being filled with unquenchable grief.

[robertnunez]

There is no distinction between natural and supernatural in the ancient Near East. The Bible states the same.