2 Samuel

Author: Unknown

2 Samuel follows David’s reign from Hebron to Jerusalem, including his sin and the unrest in his house.

Outline

  1. David becomes king (1–5)

    David laments Saul and Jonathan, rules Judah from Hebron, and then is made king over all Israel.

  2. The ark and the covenant (6–10)

    The ark comes to Jerusalem, and God promises David a house that will last.

  3. David and Bathsheba (11–12)

    David takes Bathsheba and arranges Uriah’s death, and Nathan says the sword will not leave his house.

  4. Absalom and the end of the reign (13–24)

    Absalom’s revolt, David’s return, and a census show the cost of the king’s failure.

Key verses

  • 2 Samuel 5:12

    David knows the Lord has established him as king for the sake of Israel.

  • 2 Samuel 7:12–13

    God promises that David’s offspring will build a house and that his throne will be established.

  • 2 Samuel 12:13

    David says he has sinned against the Lord, and Nathan says the Lord has put away his sin.

2 Samuel begins with news from Gilboa. An Amalekite claims he killed Saul. David has him executed for striking the Lord’s anointed, and he sings a lament for Saul and Jonathan that does not gloat. The men of Judah anoint David king at Hebron. Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, is made king over the rest of Israel by Abner. The two houses fight. Abner eventually comes over to David and is murdered by Joab. Ish-bosheth is murdered by his own captains. David punishes the killers and does not treat the northern throne as something to steal in the open. The tribes then come to Hebron and anoint him king over Israel. He takes Jerusalem, the city that had not belonged to a tribe in the earlier allotment, and makes it his capital. Hiram of Tyre builds him a house. The Philistines come up against him and are beaten.

The ark has been at Kiriath-jearim since it came back from the Philistines. David brings it toward Jerusalem. Uzzah steadies it and dies, and David is afraid. Three months later he brings it the rest of the way with sacrifice and dancing. Michal despises him for it. David wants to build a house for the ark. Nathan first says to do whatever is in his heart, then brings a word that turns the offer around. David will not build God a house. God will make David a house. His offspring will build the temple, and the throne will be established forever. If the son commits iniquity he will be disciplined, but the steadfast love will not be taken away as it was taken from Saul. David prays and does not treat the promise as a small thing.

The king’s wars and his kindness to Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, fill the next chapters. Then the book turns. In the spring, when kings go out to battle, David stays in Jerusalem. He sees Bathsheba, sends for her, and she conceives. He brings her husband Uriah home from the siege of Rabbah, and Uriah will not go down to his house while the army is in the field. David sends him back with an order that puts him in the hardest fighting. Uriah dies. David takes Bathsheba as his wife. Nathan tells the parable of the rich man who takes the poor man’s lamb. David condemns the man, and Nathan says, you are the man. David confesses. The child dies. Solomon is born later, and the Lord loves him. The sin is put away, and the sentence stands: the sword will not depart from David’s house.

The rest of the reign shows that sentence. Amnon rapes Tamar. Absalom kills Amnon and flees. David brings him back and will not see him, then receives him, and Absalom steals the hearts of Israel. David leaves Jerusalem rather than fight his son in the city. He is cursed on the way. Absalom lies with his father’s concubines in public, as Nathan had said. Joab kills Absalom against David’s order. David’s grief is so heavy that the victory turns to mourning until Joab warns him he will lose the army. A second revolt follows under Sheba. The book’s closing chapters include a famine tied to Saul’s broken oath, a song of deliverance, and a census David orders against Joab’s advice. Plague follows. David buys the threshing floor of Araunah and offers sacrifices, and the plague stops. The site will matter again when the temple is built. The promise of a lasting house and the disorder inside the house are both still in force when the book ends.

Chapters