2 Kingdoms (2 Samuel) 12:5Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

What follows? The king, in his fury, believed he was adjudicating someone else's wrongdoing. Fueled by righteousness, he decisively pronounced a verdict. In this instance, there was no bias present to taint the outcome. He decreed that by the sword he shall meet his end, and payment must be made fourfold for the sheep, as stated in Exodus 22. The king's judgment is more stringent than the law, which allows for the thief's punishment to be a quadruple restoration. Yet he goes further, declaring death for the offender and a quadruple compensation.

Upon hearing this, King David, despite having fallen into transgression, retained his sense of justice—for sin arises from the flesh, while righteousness belongs to the spirit—reacted with anger: “The Lord lives! The man who did this deserves to die, and he must restore fourfold for the sheep.” David's decree surpassed what the law required: while the law mandates a fourfold return to the victim, he insisted on a sevenfold restoration.

Such is the nature of humanity! In relation to others, they are eager and prompt to render judgments. And what does David assert? “The Lord lives! Such a person deserves death and must repay fourfold for the sheep.” Yet Nathan did not delicately tend to the wound for long; instead, he swiftly exposed it, ensuring that the king felt the full pain of his wrongdoing. “You are that man, O king.” How did the king respond? “I have sinned against the Lord.” He didn’t protest, questioning Nathan's authority or boldness. Instead, he humbly acknowledged his sin. What did Nathan declare to him? “The Lord has removed your sin from you.” You have judged yourself; I grant you absolution; your wise confession has provided the remedy for your transgression; you have condemned yourself, and thus I nullify the judgment. You have witnessed the fulfillment of the scripture: “You shall first declare your iniquities, that you may be justified.” What effort it requires to be the first to admit one's sins!

The king, quick to judge, soon discovered that he himself was the one at fault and could not refute the righteous verdict he had just pronounced against himself. Thus, in a profound manner, the husband of the saint sought to bind the guilty man to an awareness of his transgressions, aiming to sever his ties to sin through rebuke. Initially, he withheld his true intentions, gradually drawing in the king’s attention before revealing the truth of the matter. Had he directly condemned the sin from the outset, his words may not have carried the same weight. By starting with a parable, he heightened the impact of his concealed admonition. Like a physician attending to a patient, who knows that a wound must be treated with pain yet doubts the patient’s capacity to endure it, he concealed the surgical tool. Then, unexpectedly, he exposed the wound, allowing the patient to feel the incision without the forewarning of what was to come, for had the patient anticipated the pain, he might have resisted facing it.