Then he took the crown from the head of their king. It weighed a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David's head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city. Then he took the crownThe act of taking the crown signifies a transfer of power and authority. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, the crown was a symbol of kingship and divine favor. The Hebrew word for "crown" is "עֲטָרָה" (atarah), which can also mean a wreath or a symbol of honor. This act by David represents God's judgment and the fulfillment of His promise to establish David's kingdom. from the head of their king
The phrase indicates a direct conquest over the Ammonite king. Historically, this reflects the common practice of displaying victory by taking the crown from a defeated ruler. It symbolizes the complete subjugation of the enemy and the transfer of their glory and power to the victor. It weighed a talent of gold
A talent was a significant measure of weight, approximately 75 pounds or 34 kilograms. The mention of the crown's weight emphasizes the wealth and splendor of the Ammonite kingdom. Gold, in biblical times, was a symbol of wealth, purity, and divine blessing. The heavy crown signifies the burden of leadership and the responsibility that comes with it. and was set with precious stones
The inclusion of precious stones indicates the crown's immense value and beauty. In biblical symbolism, precious stones often represent divine favor and the beauty of God's creation. The Hebrew word for "precious stones" is "אֶבֶן יָקָר" (even yaqar), which denotes something rare and valuable. This detail highlights the richness of the spoils and the honor bestowed upon David. and it was placed on David’s head
This act of placing the crown on David's head signifies his legitimate rule and God's anointing over him as king. It is a physical manifestation of God's promise to David, affirming his leadership and the expansion of his kingdom. Theologically, it represents the fulfillment of God's covenant with David. He also took away a great amount of plunder from the city
The taking of plunder was a common practice in ancient warfare, symbolizing the victor's dominance and the transfer of wealth. The phrase "a great amount" underscores the extent of David's victory and the prosperity it brought to Israel. This act of taking plunder can be seen as God's provision for His people, rewarding their faithfulness and obedience. Persons / Places / Events 1. DavidThe King of Israel, who is central to this passage. He is depicted as a victorious leader who takes the crown from the defeated king. 2. The King of RabbahThe unnamed Ammonite king from whom David takes the crown. Rabbah was the capital city of the Ammonites. 3. RabbahThe city of the Ammonites, which David captures. It is significant as a symbol of David's military success and God's favor upon Israel. 4. The CrownA symbol of victory and authority, weighing a talent of gold and adorned with precious stones, signifying the wealth and power of the Ammonite king. 5. The PlunderRepresents the material wealth and resources that David acquires from the conquered city, highlighting the spoils of victory. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty in VictoryDavid's victory and the taking of the crown demonstrate God's sovereignty and fulfillment of His promises to Israel. Believers can trust in God's ultimate control over their battles and challenges. The Weight of LeadershipThe crown's weight symbolizes the responsibility and burden of leadership. Leaders in the church and community should seek God's wisdom and strength to bear their responsibilities faithfully. Material Wealth vs. Spiritual RichesWhile David gained material wealth, believers are reminded to prioritize spiritual riches and treasures in heaven over earthly possessions. Repentance and RestorationThis event follows David's repentance after his sin with Bathsheba, illustrating that God can restore and use us for His purposes despite past failures. The Importance of ObedienceDavid's success is tied to his obedience to God's commands. Believers are encouraged to live in obedience to God's Word to experience His blessings. Bible Study Questions 1. How does David's taking of the crown from the Ammonite king reflect God's promises to Israel, and what does this teach us about God's faithfulness? 2. In what ways can the weight of the crown symbolize the responsibilities of leadership in our own lives, and how can we seek God's guidance in these roles? 3. How can we balance the pursuit of material success with the call to seek spiritual riches, as seen in David's acquisition of plunder? 4. Reflect on a time when God restored you after a failure. How does David's account encourage you to trust in God's redemptive power? 5. How can we apply the principles of obedience and trust in God's sovereignty from this passage to our current life situations? Connections to Other Scriptures 1 Chronicles 20:2This passage parallels 2 Samuel 12:30, providing additional context to David's conquest of Rabbah and the taking of the crown. Deuteronomy 20:10-14Offers insight into the laws of warfare given to Israel, which can be related to David's actions in taking plunder from Rabbah. Psalm 21:3Speaks of God placing a crown of pure gold on David's head, symbolizing divine favor and blessing, which connects to the physical crown taken from Rabbah. People Ammonites, Bathsheba, David, Jedidiah, Joab, Milcom, Nathan, Saul, Solomon, Uriah, UrijahPlaces Jerusalem, RabbahTopics Abundance, Amount, Amounts, Crown, David, David's, Exceeding, Forth, Gold, Goods, King's, Malcam, Milcom, Placed, Plunder, Precious, Price, Quantity, Spoil, Stone, Stones, Store, Taketh, Talent, Thereof, Town, Weight, WhereofDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Samuel 12:30 4333 gold
4342 jewels
5280 crown
5615 weights 2 Samuel 12:29-31 7240 Jerusalem, history 2 Samuel 12:30-31 5239 bricks Library David and Nathan
'And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin.'--2 SAMUEL xii. 13. We ought to be very thankful that Scripture never conceals the faults of its noblest men. High among the highest of them stands the poet- king. Whoever, for nearly three thousand years, has wished to express the emotions of trust in God, longing after purity, aspiration, and rapture of devotion, has found that his words have been before him. And this man …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureThou Art the Man
'And David said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die; because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man.'--2 SAMUEL xii. 5-7. Nathan's apologue, so tenderly beautiful, takes the poet-king on the most susceptible side of his character. All his history shows him as a man of wonderfully sweet, chivalrous, generous, swiftly compassionate nature. And so, when he hears the story of a mean, heartless selfishness, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Letter vi. In My Last Two Letters I have Given the State of the Argument as It...
My dear friend, In my last two Letters I have given the state of the argument as it would stand between a Christian, thinking as I do, and a serious well-disposed Deist. I will now endeavour to state the argument, as between the former and the advocates for the popular belief,--such of them, I mean, as are competent to deliver a dispassionate judgment in the cause. And again, more particularly, I mean the learned and reflecting part of them, who are influenced to the retention of the prevailing …
Samuel Taylor Coleridge—Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit etc The Blessings of Noah Upon Shem and Japheth. (Gen. Ix. 18-27. )
Ver. 20. "And Noah began and became an husbandman, and planted vineyards."--This does not imply that Noah was the first who began to till the ground, and, more especially, to cultivate the vine; for Cain, too, was a tiller of the ground, Gen. iv. 2. The sense rather is, that Noah, after the flood, again took up this calling. Moreover, the remark has not an independent import; it serves only to prepare the way for the communication of the subsequent account of Noah's drunkenness. By this remark, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Cleansing.
As there are conditions requiring to be complied with in order to the obtaining of salvation, before one can be justified, e. g., conviction of sin, repentance, faith; so there are conditions for full salvation, for being "filled with the Holy Ghost." Conviction of our need is one, conviction of the existence of the blessing is another; but these have been already dealt with. "Cleansing" is another; before one can be filled with the Holy Ghost, one's heart must be "cleansed." "Giving them the Holy …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life That the Ruler Should not Set his Heart on Pleasing Men, and yet Should Give Heed to what Ought to Please Them.
Meanwhile it is also necessary for the ruler to keep wary watch, lest the lust of pleasing men assail him; lest, when he studiously penetrates the things that are within, and providently supplies the things that are without, he seek to be beloved of those that are under him more than truth; lest, while, supported by his good deeds, he seems not to belong to the world, self-love estrange him from his Maker. For he is the Redeemer's enemy who through the good works which he does covets being loved …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great The Unchangeableness of God
The next attribute is God's unchangeableness. I am Jehovah, I change not.' Mal 3:3. I. God is unchangeable in his nature. II. In his decree. I. Unchangeable in his nature. 1. There is no eclipse of his brightness. 2. No period put to his being. [1] No eclipse of his brightness. His essence shines with a fixed lustre. With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' James 1:17. Thou art the same.' Psa 102:27. All created things are full of vicissitudes. Princes and emperors are subject to …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity How the Poor and the Rich Should be Admonished.
(Admonition 3.) Differently to be admonished are the poor and the rich: for to the former we ought to offer the solace of comfort against tribulation, but in the latter to induce fear as against elation. For to the poor one it is said by the Lord through the prophet, Fear not, for thou shalt not be confounded (Isai. liv. 4). And not long after, soothing her, He says, O thou poor little one, tossed with tempest (Ibid. 11). And again He comforts her, saying, I have chosen thee in the furnace of …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great Of Antichrist, and his Ruin: and of the Slaying the Witnesses.
BY JOHN BUNYAN PREFATORY REMARKS BY THE EDITOR This important treatise was prepared for the press, and left by the author, at his decease, to the care of his surviving friend for publication. It first appeared in a collection of his works in folio, 1692; and although a subject of universal interest; most admirably elucidated; no edition has been published in a separate form. Antichrist has agitated the Christian world from the earliest ages; and his craft has been to mislead the thoughtless, by …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Thirdly, for Thy Actions.
1. Do no evil, though thou mightest; for God will not suffer the least sin, without bitter repentance, to escape unpunished. Leave not undone any good that thou canst. But do nothing without a calling, nor anything in thy calling, till thou hast first taken counsel at God's word (1 Sam. xxx. 8) of its lawfulness, and pray for his blessings upon thy endeavour; and then do it in the name of God, with cheerfulness of heart, committing the success to him, in whose power it is to bless with his grace …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The Preparatory Service; Sometimes Called the Confessional Service.
In our examination of the nature and meaning of the Lord's Supper, we have found that it is indeed a most important and holy Sacrament. It is in fact the most sacred of all the ordinances of the Church on earth. There is nothing beyond it--nothing so heavenly, on this side heaven, as this Feast. Nowhere else does the believer approach so near to heaven as when he stands or kneels, as a communicant at this altar, the Holy of Holies in the Church of Christ. What a solemn act! To approach this altar, …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church The Right Understanding of the Law
Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Before I come to the commandments, I shall answer questions, and lay down rules respecting the moral law. What is the difference between the moral laud and the gospel? (1) The law requires that we worship God as our Creator; the gospel, that we worship him in and through Christ. God in Christ is propitious; out of him we may see God's power, justice, and holiness: in him we see his mercy displayed. (2) The moral law requires obedience, but gives …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments The Sixth Commandment
Thou shalt not kill.' Exod 20: 13. In this commandment is a sin forbidden, which is murder, Thou shalt not kill,' and a duty implied, which is, to preserve our own life, and the life of others. The sin forbidden is murder: Thou shalt not kill.' Here two things are to be understood, the not injuring another, nor ourselves. I. The not injuring another. [1] We must not injure another in his name. A good name is a precious balsam.' It is a great cruelty to murder a man in his name. We injure others in …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments The Eighth Commandment
Thou shalt not steal.' Exod 20: 15. AS the holiness of God sets him against uncleanness, in the command Thou shalt not commit adultery;' so the justice of God sets him against rapine and robbery, in the command, Thou shalt not steal.' The thing forbidden in this commandment, is meddling with another man's property. The civil lawyers define furtum, stealth or theft to be the laying hands unjustly on that which is another's;' the invading another's right. I. The causes of theft. [1] The internal causes …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Samuel
Alike from the literary and the historical point of view, the book[1] of Samuel stands midway between the book of Judges and the book of Kings. As we have already seen, the Deuteronomic book of Judges in all probability ran into Samuel and ended in ch. xii.; while the story of David, begun in Samuel, embraces the first two chapters of the first book of Kings. The book of Samuel is not very happily named, as much of it is devoted to Saul and the greater part to David; yet it is not altogether inappropriate, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 2 Samuel 12:30 NIV2 Samuel 12:30 NLT2 Samuel 12:30 ESV2 Samuel 12:30 NASB2 Samuel 12:30 KJV
2 Samuel 12:30 Commentaries
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