277. Fasting for Bereavement

2 Samuel 12:21  •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 12
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2 Samuel 12:2121Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. (2 Samuel 12:21). Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.
What astonished the servants of David was, that their master should act so contrary to old established customs of mourning in time of bereavement. Sir John Chardin says, “The practice of the East is to leave a relation of the deceased person to weep and mourn, till on the third or fourth day at furthest the relatives and friends go to see him, cause him to eat, lead him to a bath, and cause him to put on new vestments, he having before thrown himself on the ground” (Hardier, Observations, vol. 4, p. 424). David, on the contrary, changed his apparel and ate food as soon as he learned of the death of the boy.