Bible Strands
2 Samuel 12:21
“What is this you have done?” his servants asked. “While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David’s servants address him immediately after he rises from the ground, worships, and resumes eating following the infant’s death.
The words — The phrase מָה־הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָה (mah-haddavar hazeh asher asita) literally translates to “what [is] the thing this which you have done?”
The thread — This abrupt transition from ritual mourning to ordinary sustenance parallels the discernment described in 1 Corinthians 2:15.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to distinguish between hopeful intercession and defeated resignation, showing that faithful action follows divine silence.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.
Cross-references
- 1 Corinthians 2:15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.