John Gill Commentary 2 Samuel 12:11

"Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house; and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun." — 2 Samuel 12:11 (ASV)

Thus says the Lord
For what he said was not of himself, but under a spirit of prophecy:

behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house :
that is, evil persons, who should be guilty of evil things, and that as a chastisement of him for the sins he had committed, and those out of his own family, as Amnon and Absalom:

and I will take your wives before your eyes ;
which is so expressed, because it was done in his lifetime, and he knowing it, but not able to hinder it, though he did not, strictly speaking, see it with his eyes:

and give [them] unto your neighbour ;
or friend, meaning his son Absalom, as they were:

and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun ;
pointing to the sun in the firmament, and which might be then shining in the room where they were: and which is represented by Homer ^F21 as seeing all things, "and eyes" are ascribed to it here in the original; the meaning is, that this fact should be done in the daytime, openly and publicly, and was fulfilled, when by the advice of Ahithophel a tent was spread on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel, (2 Samuel 16:22) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F21: Odyss. 11. ver. 119. & 12. ver. 380.