Nathan ( he, נָתָן ''Nāṯān'', "Given";

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

BC) is a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Samuel,

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

, and Chronicles (especially , ).

Biblical accounts

Nathan was a court

in the time of King David. He is introduced in and as an advisor to David, with whom David reflects on the contrast between his own comfortable home and the tent in which the

Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant,; Ge'ez: also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, is an alleged artifact believed to be the most sacred relic of the Israelites, which is described as a wooden chest, covered in pure gold, with an ...

is accommodated. Nathan then announces to David the covenant God was making with him (, a passage known as ''Nathan's Oracle''), contrasting David's proposal to build a house (i.e. a building) for the Ark with God's plan to build a house (i.e. a

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

) for David. Later, he comes to David to reprimand him for committing

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

with

Bathsheba Bathsheba ( or ; he, בַּת־שֶׁבַע, ''Baṯ-šeḇaʿ'', Bat-Sheva or Batsheva, "daughter of Sheba" or "daughter of the oath") was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, according to the Hebrew Bible. She was the mother of ...

while she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, whose death the King had also arranged to hide his previous transgression (). According to Chronicles, Nathan wrote histories of the reigns of both David () and Solomon (), and was involved in the music of the temple (see ). In it is Nathan who tells the dying David of the plot of

Adonijah According to 2 Samuel, Adonijah ( he, , ''’Ǎḏōnīyyā''; "my lord is Yah") was the fourth son of King David. His mother was Haggith as recorded in the book of . Adonijah was born at Hebron during the long conflict between David and the ...

to become king, resulting in Solomon being proclaimed king instead. Nathan presides at the anointing of King Solomon. The

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

teaches that two honorary seats flanked the throne of King Solomon, one for Nathan and the other for Gad the Seer. A lost

Book of Nathan the Prophet The Book of Nathan the Prophet and the History of Nathan the Prophet are among the lost books quoted in the Bible, attributed to the biblical prophet Nathan. They may be the same text, but they are sometimes distinguished from one another. No such ...

is mentioned in 1 and 2 Chronicles. Although the work appears to have been lost, some speculate that some of its content have been incorporated into the books of Samuel or Kings.

Feast day

In the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

, and those

Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

which follow the Byzantine Rite, he is commemorated as a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers (i.e., the Sunday before the Great Feast of the

Nativity of the Lord Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

). According to the

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA is partly recognized as autocephalous and consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions ...

website, the Prophet Nathan is commemorated on December 14.

As a name

Derived from this biblical character, "Nathan" is used as a male first name in various languages.

References

{{Authority control 10th-century BCE Hebrew people 11th-century BCE Hebrew people Books of Samuel people Christian saints from the Old Testament People associated with David 10th-century BC religious leaders

Biblical accounts

Feast day

As a name

See also

References