2 Samuel 12:1

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

The Lord sent Nathan to David. When Nathan arrived, he said to him, "There were two men in a city. One was rich, and the other was poor."

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיִּשְׁלַ֧ח יְהוָ֛ה אֶת־נָתָ֖ן אֶל־דָּוִ֑ד וַיָּבֹ֣א אֵלָ֗יו וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ שְׁנֵ֣י אֲנָשִׁ֗ים הָיוּ֙ בְּעִ֣יר אֶחָ֔ת אֶחָ֥ד עָשִׁ֖יר וְאֶחָ֥ד רָֽאשׁ

Transliteration

wə-yišlaḥ YHWH ʾet-nātān ʾel-dāwid wə-yābōʾ to-him wə-yōʾmer to-him, šənê ʾănāšîm hāyû in-ʿîr one, one ʿāšîr wə-ʾeḥād rāʾš

Grammar Details

• *wə-yišlaḥ*: conjunction + Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - and he sent
• *YHWH*: proper noun - Yahweh, the LORD
• *ʾet-nātān*: direct object marker + proper noun - Nathan (literally: 'the one who gives')
• *ʾel-dāwid*: preposition + proper noun - to David
• *wə-yābōʾ*: conjunction + Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - and he came
• *wə-yōʾmer*: conjunction + Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - and he said
• *šənê*: cardinal number, construct state - two of
• *ʾănāšîm*: common noun, masculine plural - men
• *hāyû*: Qal perfect 3rd common plural - they were
• *ʿîr*: common noun, feminine singular - city
• *ʿāšîr*: adjective, masculine singular - rich
• *wə-ʾeḥād*: conjunction + cardinal number - and one
• *rāʾš*: adjective, masculine singular - poor

Word Meanings

• *ʾet-nātān*: Nathan (lit: 'gift', 'the one who gives')
• *rāʾš*: poor/impoverished/destitute

Other Translations

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  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.

• KJV1611 – Modern English

  And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said, There were two men in one city; one was rich, and the other poor.

• King James Version 1611 (Original)

  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.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  And Jehovah 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.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  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.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  And the LORDE sent Nathan vnto Dauid. Whan he came to him, he tolde him: There were two men in one cite, the one riche, the other poore.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  Then the Lorde sent Nathan vnto Dauid, who came to him, and sayd vnto him, There were two men in one citie, the one riche, and the other poore.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  And the Lord sent Nathan vnto Dauid, and he came vnto him, and tolde him: There were two men in one citie, the one rich, & the other poore.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  ¶ 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.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  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.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  And Jehovah sendeth Nathan unto David, and he cometh unto him, and saith to him: `Two men have been in one city; One rich and one poor;

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And Jehovah 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.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And Jehovah 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.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man.

• World English Bible (2000)

  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.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  Nathan the Prophet Confronts David 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.

Referenced Verses

• 1 Kgs 20:35-41 : 35 One of the sons of the prophets said to his companion by the word of the LORD, 'Strike me, please.' But the man refused to strike him. 36 Then the prophet said to him, 'Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, as soon as you leave me, a lion will kill you.' And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him. 37 The prophet found another man and said, 'Please strike me.' So the man struck him and wounded him. 38 Then the prophet went and stood by the road to wait for the king, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him and said, 'Your servant went into the middle of the battle, and suddenly a man brought another man to me and said, "Guard this man. If he is missing, your life will be for his life, or you will pay a talent of silver." 40 But while your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared.' The king of Israel said to him, 'That is your sentence; you have pronounced it yourself.' 41 Then the prophet quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.
• 2 Kgs 1:3 : 3 But the angel of the LORD told Elijah the Tishbite, 'Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, "Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?"'
• Ps 51:1-9 : 1 For the choir director: A psalm of David. 2 When Nathan the prophet came to him after David had gone to Bathsheba. 3 Be gracious to me, O God, according to your lovingkindness; according to the abundance of your compassion, blot out my transgressions. 4 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 5 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 6 Against you, you alone, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified when you speak and blameless when you judge. 7 Surely I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. 8 Surely you desire truth in the inner being; you teach me wisdom in the hidden place. 9 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 10 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 11 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 12 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 13 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. 14 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. 15 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. 16 Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 17 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 18 For you do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 19 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
• Isa 5:1-7 : 1 Let me sing now for my beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a tower in its center and also carved out a winepress in it. He hoped it would produce good grapes, but it yielded only wild ones. 3 Now then, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more could I have done for my vineyard than I have already done? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes, did it yield only wild ones? 5 Now let me tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. 6 I will make it a wasteland; it will neither be pruned nor hoed, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will also command the clouds not to rain on it. 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are the planting of His delight. He expected justice but saw bloodshed; He expected righteousness but heard cries of distress.
• Isa 57:17-18 : 17 Because of their sinful greed, I was angry; I struck them and turned away in anger, yet they continued in their willful ways. 18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to them and to those who mourn for them.
• Matt 21:33-45 : 33 Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away. 34 When the time came to harvest the fruit, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. 35 But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group, but they treated them the same way. 37 Finally, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said. 38 But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance!' 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenant farmers? 41 They said to him, 'He will bring those wretches to a miserable end and lease the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit at the proper times.' 42 Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This came from the Lord and is wonderful in our eyes? 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. 44 Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will crush him to powder. 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew he was speaking about them.
• Luke 15:11-32 : 11 Then He said, 'There was a man who had two sons.' 12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided the property between them. 13 Not long after, the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in reckless living. 14 After he had spent everything, a severe famine arose throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but here I am dying from hunger! 18 I will rise up and go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.’ 20 And he rose up and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us eat and celebrate! 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. 25 Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. As he came and drew near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things were about. 27 He said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.' 28 But he became angry and refused to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, 'Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has squandered your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' 31 The father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'
• Judg 9:7-9 : 7 When Jotham was told about this, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He raised his voice, called out, and said to them, "Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you! 8 The trees once went out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.' 9 But the olive tree replied, 'Should I stop producing my rich oil, by which gods and humans are honored, to go sway over the trees?' 10 Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You come and reign over us.' 11 But the fig tree replied, 'Should I stop producing my sweetness and my good fruit, to go sway over the trees?' 12 Then the trees said to the vine, 'You come and reign over us.' 13 But the vine answered them, 'Should I stop producing my wine that cheers both God and humans, in order to sway over the trees?' 14 Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'You come and reign over us.' 15 The bramble said to the trees, 'If you truly mean to anoint me as king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.'
• 2 Sam 7:1-5 : 1 Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all of his enemies around him, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, "See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God remains in a tent." 3 Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you." 4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, 5 "Go and tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD: Is it you who would build me a house to dwell in?
• 2 Sam 7:17 : 17 Nathan spoke all these words and this entire vision to David.
• 2 Sam 11:10-17 : 10 When they told David, 'Uriah did not go down to his house,' David said to Uriah, 'Haven’t you just come from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?' 11 Uriah said to David, 'The Ark, Israel, and Judah are staying in tents, and my lord Joab and the king’s servants are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!' 12 Then David said to Uriah, 'Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.' So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David made him drunk. In the evening, Uriah went out to lie on his mat among his master's servants but did not go home. 14 The next morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In the letter, David wrote, 'Put Uriah at the front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and killed.' 16 As Joab kept watch over the city, he positioned Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s men fell in battle, and Uriah the Hittite also died.
• 2 Sam 11:25 : 25 David said to the messenger, 'Say this to Joab: Don’t let this thing upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Press your attack against the city and destroy it. Encourage him.'
• 2 Sam 14:5-9 : 5 The king said to her, "What is troubling you?" She replied, "Truly, I am a widow; my husband has died. 6 Your servant had two sons. They were fighting in the field, with no one there to separate them, and one of them struck the other and killed him. 7 Now the whole family has risen against your servant. They say, 'Hand over the one who killed his brother so that we may put him to death for taking his brother’s life. We want to destroy the heir as well.' They will extinguish my remaining ember, leaving neither name nor remnant for my husband on the earth. 8 Then the king said to the woman, "Go home, and I will issue a command on your behalf." 9 But the woman from Tekoa replied to the king, "My lord the king, let the guilt rest on me and on my father’s house. The king and his throne will be guiltless." 10 The king replied, "If anyone says anything to you, bring them to me, and they will not bother you again." 11 She said, "Let the king swear by the LORD your God that the avenger of blood will not continue to destroy and that they will not eliminate my son." The king said, "As surely as the LORD lives, not one hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground."
• 2 Sam 14:14 : 14 We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life, but devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from Him.
• 2 Sam 24:11-13 : 11 The next morning, the word of the Lord came to Gad the prophet, David's seer, saying, 12 "Go and tell David, 'This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.'" 13 So Gad went to David and said to him, "Shall there come seven years of famine in your land? Or shall you flee from your enemies for three months while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now think it over and decide how I should reply to the One who sent me."
• 1 Kgs 13:1 : 1 Behold, a man of God came from Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel, and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer incense.
• 1 Kgs 18:1 : 1 After many days, the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land."
• Luke 16:19-31 : 19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores. 21 He longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' 25 But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.' 26 And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us. 27 He said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so they will not also come to this place of torment.' 29 But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 30 ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 But Abraham said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'