Behold

A Behold picture book

The Poor Man's Lamb

Dave did something terrible. Someone else paid for it.

  1. Dave was the commander of the whole army. Everyone did what he said. The Voice had made him great.

  2. One evening, Dave saw a beautiful woman named Bess. Bess was married to Uri, one of Dave's soldiers. Uri was away at war. Dave took Bess to his house anyway.

  3. Soon Bess sent a message. "I am going to have a baby." The baby was Dave's.

  4. Dave sent a secret letter to the front lines. "Put Uri where the fighting is worst. Then pull back, so he is killed." Uri was killed. Then Dave married Bess, and their baby boy was born.

  5. The Voice sent Nate to tell Dave a story. "A rich man had lots of sheep. A poor man had one little lamb that he loved like a daughter. The rich man took the poor man's lamb for his own dinner." Dave was furious. "That man should die!" he said. Nate said, "You are that man."

  6. "I have done wrong," said Dave. Nate said, "The Voice forgives you. You won't die. But because of what you did, your baby will die."

  7. The Voice made the baby very sick. Dave begged the Voice to let him live. He didn't eat. He lay on the floor all night, for seven nights.

  8. On the seventh day, the baby died.

  9. Then Dave got up. He washed, changed his clothes, and ate. "Why are you eating now?" asked his helpers. "He's gone," said Dave. "I can't bring him back."

The End.

The source, revealed

The Fine Print

2 Samuel 11:1–12:24

Read it yourself

Where it's from

2 Samuel 11 and 12. King David is one of the Bible's biggest heroes, called "a man after God's own heart." This is the story of his worst sin.

Who's who

In our story In the Bible
Commander Dave King David
Bess Bathsheba
Uri Uriah the Hittite
Nate The prophet Nathan
The Voice God (the LORD)

What the text says

  • Plain words: God forgave David. But because of what David did, his child would die.

  • KJV (2 Samuel 12:13-14): "The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die."

  • Plain words: God made the baby sick.

  • KJV (2 Samuel 12:15): "And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick."

  • Plain words: On the seventh day, the child died.

  • KJV (2 Samuel 12:18): "And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died."

What we kept

  • David sees Bathsheba, a soldier's wife, and takes her. She becomes pregnant.
  • David's letter: put Uriah in the hottest battle and pull back so he dies. He dies.
  • David marries her and a son is born.
  • Nathan's story of the rich man and the poor man's lamb, and "Thou art the man."
  • David confesses. God forgives him and says he won't die, but the child will.
  • God strikes the child. David fasts and lies on the ground all night. The child dies on the seventh day.
  • David gets up, washes, changes, and eats: "can I bring him back again?"

What we changed

  • Names, and today's world: a commander instead of a king.
  • We left out David's first plan to hide the pregnancy (2 Samuel 11:6–13).
  • We left out other punishments God promised David's family (2 Samuel 12:10–12), which are not for kids.
  • The Bible says David "lay with her." We said he "took Bess to his house."

Look closely

David was forgiven and lived a long life. The baby didn't do anything, and he is the one who died. Later, David and Bathsheba had another son, Solomon, and "the LORD loved him" (2 Samuel 12:24).

How it's usually taught

Many teachers say it shows that sin has real consequences, even when it's forgiven. Some say God took the baby to heaven, pointing to David's words "I shall go to him" (12:23). Others say it shows David's true repentance, which is also the setting of Psalm 51.

What the story doesn't say

The story never says the baby was guilty of anything. It says the reason was that David's deed gave God's enemies a reason to mock. It never says a different punishment was possible.

Talk about it

  1. What did Dave do wrong?
  2. Who should be punished when someone does something wrong?
  3. Dave was forgiven, but his baby died. Does that seem fair?
  4. Nate's story made Dave angry at the rich man. Why do you think that worked?
  5. Do you believe this is good advice?

One last question

If you broke the rules, would it be fair for someone else to pay for it?

Read 2 Samuel 11:1–12:24 yourself