﴿ إِنَّ هَٰذَآ أَخِى لَهُۥ تِسْعٌۭ وَتِسْعُونَ نَعْجَةًۭ وَلِىَ نَعْجَةٌۭ وَٰحِدَةٌۭ فَقَالَ أَكْفِلْنِيهَا وَعَزَّنِى فِى ٱلْخِطَابِ ﴾

““Behold, this is my brother: he has ninety-nine ewes, whereas I have [only] one ewe - and yet he said, ‘Make her over to me,’ and forcibly prevailed against me in this [our] dispute.””

The two intruders presented their case before David. The case was in allegorical language and bore a reference to some incident in the life of David himself and was meant as an admonition to him. While David gave his decision, he recounted the incident from his life, having quickly understood the analogy. Realising his mistake, he immediately asked for forgiveness and prostrated himself before God. David enjoyed tremendous power at that time, but he did not punish or even scold the intruders. This is a sign of a true subject of God. He is never unduly stubborn and when his attention is drawn towards his shortcoming he readily accepts it and rectifies it, even if the person who pointed out the error does so in a rude manner.