Bible Strands
2 Samuel 12:23
But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David addresses his attendants immediately after the death of his infant son by Bathsheba. He speaks following his period of fasting and weeping while the child was still alive.
The words — The Hebrew phrase לָ/מָּה צָ֔ם (la./mah Tzam) translates to "why [am I] fasting?" and the verb לַ/הֲשִׁיב֖/וֹ (la./ha.shi.V/o) means "to bring him back."
The thread — This theme of irreversible death appears in Genesis 37:35, where Jacob refuses comfort, and Job 7:8 and Job 30:23, which note the dead do not return.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that mourning must yield to reality when divine judgment is final. It requires the reader to accept human limitation over divine sovereignty without demanding reversal.
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
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
Cross-references
- Genesis 37:35 All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.
- Job 30:23 Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
- Job 7:8 The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more.
- Luke 23:43 And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”