2 Samuel 12:28 (DBY)

Passage

And now gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city and take it: lest I take the city and it be called by my name.

Nearby Context

2 Samuel 12:26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.

2 Samuel 12:27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.

2 Samuel 12:28 And now gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city and take it: lest I take the city and it be called by my name.

2 Samuel 12:29 And David gathered all the people, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it and took it.

2 Samuel 12:30 And he took the crown of their king from off his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold with [the] precious stones; and it was [set] on David's head; and he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "called", "gather", "rest", "people", "encamp", "against", "city", and "take". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "called" and "gather", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 27's "And Joab sent messengers to David and..." into verse 29's "And David gathered all the people and...", so "called" and "gather" belong inside that flow. In 2 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "called" and "gather" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.