> The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
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> "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."
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> — 2 Samuel 12:1-4 (NIV)

Nathan delivered this parable to King David after David's sin with Bathsheba and the arranged death of her husband Uriah. The parable was designed to help David see his own actions through a different lens.

Nathan's Parable of the Ewe Lamb

Joab sent someone to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there. He said to her, "Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don't use any cosmetic lotions. Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead."

Then the woman said, "Please let me speak a word to my lord the king."

"Go ahead," he replied.

The woman said, "I am a widow; my husband is dead. I your servant had two sons. They got into a fight with each other in the field, and no one was there to separate them. One struck the other and killed him. Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant; they say, 'Hand over the one who struck his brother down, so that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed; then we will get rid of the heir as well.' They would put out my only ember that is left and leave my husband neither name nor descendant on the face of the earth."

— 2 Samuel 14:2-3, 12-14 (NIV)

Joab, David's commander, sent this wise woman to help reconcile King David with his son Absalom. The story parallels David's own situation with his sons, particularly after Absalom killed his brother Amnon.

Wisdom in Approach

Justice and Mercy

Reconciliation

Parable of the Wise Woman of Tekoa

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!'

And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

— Luke 18:1-8 (NIV)

Jesus told this parable to encourage His disciples to persist in prayer and maintain faith, even when answers seem delayed. It comes in a section of Luke's Gospel focusing on prayer and faithfulness.

justice

Nathan's Parable of the Ewe Lamb

Parable of the Wise Woman of Tekoa

Parable of the Persistent Widow