Commentary Par XII 136

'Nathan, the prophet, who was sent by God to reprove David for his sin in causing the death of Uriah the Hittite in order that he might take Bathsheba to wife' (Natàn).

For Nathan as figura Dantis and the question of why he, a relatively minor prophet, is given such high relief in this poem, see Sarolli (Saro.1971.1), pp. 189-246.  See also C.Par.XII.69.  And for a note that, apparently written without awareness of Sarolli's previous work, makes the venturesome claim that Dante thought of Nathan as 'a Judaic Orpheus or Thespis, the creator of an artistic mode,' that he serves as 'a biblical model for Dante the story-teller,' whose "handling of David is an allegory of the moral and epistemological relevance of literature' [i.e., telling truth to power indirectly, by means of a relevant fiction], see Weidhorn (Weid.1982.1), p. 91.