2 Samuel 12:26

_AND JOAB FOUGHT AGAINST RABBAH OF THE CHILDREN OF AMMON, AND TOOK THE ROYAL CITY._ Joab fought against Rabbah. The time during which this siege lasted, since the intercourse with Bath-sheba-and the birth of at least one child, if not two, occurred during the progress of it-probably extended over two years....

26-31 To be thus severe in putting the children of Ammon to slavery was a sign that David's heart was not yet made soft by repentance, at the time when this took place. We shall be most compassionate, kind, and forgiving to others, when we most feel our need of the Lord's forgiving love, and taste the sweetness of it in our own souls....

Verse 2 Samuel 12:26. _AND TOOK THE ROYAL CITY._] How can this be, when Joab sent to David to come to take the city, in consequence of which David did come and take that city? The explanation seems to be this: Rabbah was composed of a _city_ and _citadel_; the former, in which was the king's residence, Joab had taken, and supposed he could soon render himself master of the latter, and therefore sends to David to come and take it, lest, he taking the whole, the city should be called after his name....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 12:1 JEHOVAH SENT NATHAN UNTO DAVID. Though David had remained unrepentant for nearly a year, for we read in 2 Samuel 12:14 that the child was born, yet we are not to suppose that there had been no compunctions of conscience. A man could scarcely pass from utter callousness to a state of mind so tender as that depicted in Psalms 51:1 without some preparation. Assuredly David had suffered much mental distress, but he had given no outward sign of contrition, and possibly, but for Nathan's message, he might have overpowered his conscience, and his self-reproaches have become less frequent and agitating. More probably he was slowly ripening for re

AND JOAB FOUGHT AGAINST RABBAH OF THE CHILDREN OF AMMON,.... Of his being sent against it, and of his besieging it, we read in 2 Samuel 11:1; but it can hardly be thought that he had been so long besieging it, as that David had two children by Bathsheba; but the account of the finishing of it is placed here, that the story concerning Bathsheba might lie together without any interruption: AND TOOK THE ROYAL CITY; or that part of it in which the king's palace was, and which, as Abarbinel observes, was without the city, as the palaces of kings now usually are....

2. THE MESSAGE OF GOD AND DAVID'S CONFESSION AND THE BEGINNING OF THE CHASTISEMENT CHAPTER 12 _ 1. The Lord's message through Nathan (2 Samuel 12:1)_ 2. David's anger (2 Samuel 12:5) 3. Thou art the man! (2 Samuel 12:7) 4. The chastisement (2 Samuel 12:10) 5. David's confession (2 Samuel 12:13) 6. The death of the child announced (2 Samuel 12:14) 7. The death of the child and David's grie

2 SAMUEL 12. DAVID'S REPENTANCE. CAPTURE OF RABBAH (J). The section concerning Nathan (2 Samuel 12:1_ a_) is sometimes regarded as a later addition by some one who was anxious to point out and emphasize the moral; but this view is not generally held. Only 2 Samuel 12:10 need be regarded as editorial. The chapter is important because it shows that the primitive ideas as to the morality of Yahweh were very real, though they might be defective in some directions. 2 SAMUEL 12:1. Nathan, by parable and admonition, brings David's guilt home to him; he makes penitent confession. Yahweh puts away his sin, which is thought of as a kind of disease, which would of itself kill the sinner, if it were n

_And Joab fought against Rabbah_ The narrative returns to the point at which it was left in ch. 2 Samuel 11:1. But how long a time was occupied in the siege does not appear. It is possible that it lasted more than one year, and did not come to an end till after the birth of Bath-sheba's first child. But on the other hand it would be quite natural for the historian, having once commenced his account of Bath-sheba, to complete it before narrating the capture of Rabbah, so that this may have been effected within a year. _and took the royal city_ "The royal city" seems to be equivalent to "the city of waters" of 2 Samuel 12:27, that is, the lower city on the river, as distinguished from "the city" (2 Samuel 12:28

AND JOAB FOUGHT—AND TOOK— Or, _Now Joab had fought—and had taken._...

_The Final Siege of Rabbah._ 2 Samuel 12:26-31 26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters. 28 Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name. 29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. 30 And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight whereof _was_ a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was _set_ on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance. 31 And he brought forth the people that _were_ therein, and put _them_ under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of ir