“May his days be few!
May another seize his position!
May his children be orphans!
May his wife be a widow!
May his children wander about!
May his children beg!
May they be driven out of the ruins they inhabit!
May the creditor seize all that he has!
May strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
May there be no one to do him a kindness!
May there be no one to pity his orphaned children!
May his posterity be cut off!
May his name be blotted out in the second generation!
May the iniquity of his father be remembered before Yahweh!
May the sin of his mother not be blotted out!
May they be before Yahweh continually!
May his memory be cut off from the earth!”
The enemies of David issued a whole series of curses against him. They wanted his days to be few with an early death, so that his children would be orphans and his wife a widow. They wanted someone to take over his position or the crown. They wanted his children to wander about begging. They wanted them driven out of their ruined home. Creditors should seize all his things. Strangers should plunder his fields. No one should show him kindness. No one should worry about his orphaned children. His name should be wiped out in the 2nd generation. People should remember the iniquity and sin of his father and mother. There was to be no memory of him on earth. All of this should be brought to Yahweh so that he might punish David. Obviously, these curses did not come true for David.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 