Nathan
Nathan the Prophet is was a seer who lived in the time of King David and his wife Bathsheba. His actions are described in the Books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles (see especially, 2 Samuel 7:2-17, 12:1-25.) Although only a few stories of Nathan's ministry have been preserved in the Bible, he is nevertheless a very important figure, especially because of his prophetic role as a counterbalance to the otherwise absolute rule of King David and his decisive actions in favor of the future King Solomon. Moreover it is through Nathan that God first delivered the Messianic promise of an eternal kingdom based on David's lineal descendants, and Nathan may have had a significant role in both building the Temple of Jerusalem and formulating its liturgical traditions.
Nathan reportedly wrote histories of the reigns of both David and Solomon (see 1 Chronicles 29:29 and 2 Chronicles 9:29). However, presuming these works actually existed, they were either lost or have been partly incorporated into other biblical books such as 2 Samuel and Kings. Nathan also reportedly left instructions regard the musical tradition of the Temple (see 2 Chronicles 29:25) after its consstruction by Solomon.
Nathan and the Temple
The Bible gives no indication concerning Nathan's early life. He appears suddenly in narrative in 2 Samuel as David plans to build a "house" or temple for Yahweh(2 Samuel 7). "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar," says David, "while the ark of God remains in a tent." Nathan initially approves of the plan but returns the next day to announce that God has decide against the idea:
- When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.' " (2 Sam. 12-15)
The passage is signifant for several reasons. First it sets the precedent for a prophet confronting and changing the plans of a southern, or Davidic King. (The prophet Samuel had previously confronted King Saul, who seems to have ruled the northern tribes only.) Secondly, it is the first instance of what would come to known as the "Messianic promise" of God specifically concerning King Solomon as and later interpreted to refer the the Messiah of Judaism and Jesus Christ in Christianity. Third it is also the first example of a "court prophet" — a prophet who speaks in the court of the king. Nathan is one of several true prophets who were also court prophets. The bible also reports many false prophets in the courts of the kings.
The passage is also interesting because it presents an explanation concerning the reason for David's not being qualified to build the Temple that differs from a version given in the Book of Chronicles.
In the Book of Samuel, Nathan begins with God's explanation that He has not been a god who lives in houses. However, now that Israel has settled down and formed a nation, he will allow one of David's sons build the Temple. The story is repeated verbatim in I Chron. 17. However, in I Chron. 18:2-3, David himself explains: "I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. But God said to me,[whether directly or through Nathan is not clear] 'You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.'"
Given Nathan's reported role in blocking David's plan to construct the Temple his prophecy concerning Solomon's destiny to build the Temple, and his pivotal role in bringing Solomon to the throne, as well as the reference below to his leaving instructions regarding the musical tradition of the Temple, it is plausible that Nathan had a major role in guiding the Temple's construction and liturgical practice.
The Bathsheba Affair
Nathan's next appearance, described in 2 Sam. 12, is certainly one of the most dramatic confrontations between a king and a prophet in the entire Bible. Just after David has committed adultery with the beautiful Bathsheba and purposefully ordered her soldier husband to take an unprotected position on the battlfield, where he is killed, God sends Nathan to deliver a parable to David.
Nathan tells the king a story of a rich man who has outrageously slaughtered the pet lamb of a poor fellow townsman in a hypocritcal display of hospitality for a traveler. When David says that the rich man deserves to die, Nathan declares, "You are that man!"
David repents, but the child he has conceived with Bathsheba dies. Although Nathan does not appear again until much later, it is clear that God has accepted David's atonement offerings of prayer and fasting, for when Nathan does appear, it is in support of David and Bathsheba's son, Solomon.
Nathan as Kingmaker
One might expect that Nathan would oppose the succession of an son resulting form the sinful union he so harshly condemned, but instead he does the opposite. 2 Sam. 12:25 gives the explanation that, "The Lord loved him [Solomon]." Nathan adopted the Lord's attitude toward the child, even though David and Bathsheba apparently did not accept God's instruction through Nathan to name him "Jedediah."
The first chapter of the Book of Kings takes up the story much later, when David is an old man near death and Solomon is a teenager. David's oldest surviving son, Adonijah, decides to reign in David's stead, supported by David's powerful military commander and the important priest Abiathar. In token of his kingship Andonijah calls a sacrificial feast at which Abiathar officiates and many of the royal family participate. The rival priest, Zadok, together with with Nathan and several military leaders do not join in festivites. Instead, Nathan comes to Bathsheba and reports the incident, saying: "Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king without our lord David's knowing it?"
Nathan an Bathsheba then conspire to bring the news to David in a way most advantageous to Bathsheba's son, Solomon. David fulfills a previously unreported promise to Bathsheba to support her son, and orders that Solomon immediately be anointed and enthoned as his successor. He instructs Nathan and Zadok to do the anointing, although it may be noteworthy that the only Zadok, the priest, is described as carrying out this significant act.
Nathan himself does not make any further appearances in the narrative. However, in describing the governmental apointments made by Solomon, it seems that Nathan's descendants were well rewarded for their father's loyalty. After describing appointments made to the sons of other the key figures that foiled Adonijah's plot, 2 Kings 4:5 states: "Azariah son of Nathan—-in charge of the district officers; Zabud son of Nathan—-a priest and personal adviser to the king."
King Hezekiah—who lived several hundred years later—reportedly followed instructions left by Nathan regarding the role of Levite musicians in the Temple: "He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king's seer and Nathan the prophet." (2 Chron. 29;25)
Nathan the Writer
(2) Nathan, son of David and Bethsabee (2 Samuel 5:14; 1 Chronicles 3:5, 14:4)
The name Nathan augmented by the theophorous prefix or suffix is borne by other members of the family of David. Thus one of his brothers was Nathanael (1 Chronicles 2:14), and one of his nephews, Jonathan (2 Samuel 21:21).
(3) Nathan, father of Azarias and Zabud, important functionaries of the court of Solomon (1 Kings 4:5)
By some scholars he is identified with Nathan the prophet (1), and by others with Nathan the son of David (2). Both opinions are merely conjectural. His son Zabud is designated as "priest", this being an indication, among many others, that the functions of the priesthood were not at that period exercised exclusively by the descendants of Aaron.
The Book of Nathan the Prophet is a lost text that claims authorship by the Biblical prophet Nathan. It is described at 1Chronicles 29:29. The passage reads: "Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,"
This text is sometimes called Nathan the Prophet or The Acts of Nathan the Prophet.[1] This book is distinguished here from what may be the identical manuscript, The History of Nathan the Prophet.
The History of Nathan the Prophet is one of the Lost books of the Old Testament. It may have been written by the Biblical prophet Nathan, who may have been the author of other lost texts. The book is described in 2Chronicles 9:29. The passage reads: "Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?"
This text is distinguished here from what may be the identical manuscript, The Book of Nathan the Prophet'.
The book is found nowhere in the Old Testament, so it is presumed to have been lost or removed from the earlier texts.
It is possible that the books of Samual the Prophet , the Book of Nathan the Prophet, and the book of Gad the Seer were combined into 1st and 2nd Samuel since Samuel dies mid-way and 2nd Samuel has nothing to do with Samuel.
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