Nathan

Nathan is a biblical prophet associated with the court of King David in the books of Samuel and Kings. He first appears as an adviser on David’s plan to build a temple, conveying a divine message that the task would belong to a later generation while promising continuity for David’s dynasty. His best-known intervention follows David’s adultery with Bathsheba and the arranged death of Uriah, when Nathan confronts the king through the parable of the rich man who steals a poor man’s lamb.

Nathan also appears in the succession crisis at the end of David’s reign. Working with Bathsheba, he warns the ageing king that Adonijah has attempted to secure the throne and helps bring about the public designation of Solomon as successor. These stories make Nathan an important literary voice for prophetic accountability within monarchy. The biblical texts provide no secure lifespan or independent biography for him, so chronological details beyond his association with David and Solomon should be treated as traditional rather than precise.

Geraldine Brooks’ The Secret Chord uses the prophet Nathan as its narrator and investigator of David’s life, making him both witness to the king’s rise and the moral voice that records victories alongside adultery, violence and dynastic breakdown. Angela Hunt’s Bathsheba brings Nathan into the aftermath of David’s relationship with Bathsheba, where his prophetic judgement forces the king to confront responsibility for Uriah’s death and helps frame the later struggle over Solomon’s succession.