12:16 Then David prayed to 1 God for the child and fasted. 2 He would even 3 go and spend the night lying on the ground.
12:17 The elders of his house stood over him and tried to lift him from the ground, but he was unwilling, and refused to eat food with them.
2 Samuel 12:20
12:20 So David got up from the ground, bathed, put on oil, and changed his clothes. He went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then, when he entered his palace, he requested that food be brought to him, and he ate.
1 tnHeb “sought” or “searched for.”
2 tnHeb “and David fasted.”
3 tn The three Hebrew verbs that follow in this verse are perfects with prefixed vav. They may describe repeated past actions or actions which accompanied David’s praying and fasting.