I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more. The children of wickedness will not afflict them any more, as at the first, and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Moreover Yahweh tells you that Yahweh will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled, and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up your offspring after you, who will proceed out of your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;
Show the surrounding paragraph
2 Samuel 7:10-14 sits inside this longer paragraph.
That same night, Yahweh’s word came to Nathan, saying, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Yahweh says, “Should you build me a house for me to dwell in? For I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought the children of Israel up out of Egypt, even to this day, but have moved around in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all places in which I have walked with all the children of Israel, did I say a word to any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ ” ’ Now therefore tell my servant David this, ‘Yahweh of Armies says, “I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people, over Israel. I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. I will make you a great name, like the name of the great ones who are in the earth. I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more. The children of wickedness will not afflict them any more, as at the first, and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Moreover Yahweh tells you that Yahweh will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled, and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up your offspring after you, who will proceed out of your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; but my loving kindness will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you. Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever.” ’ ” Nathan spoke to David all these words, and according to all this vision.
Parallel Translations
-
I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more. The children of wickedness will not afflict them any more, as at the first,
and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Moreover Yahweh tells you that Yahweh will make you a house.
When your days are fulfilled, and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up your offspring after you, who will proceed out of your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;
-
Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,
And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.
And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
Show all 3 translations
-
And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disquieted no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as at the first,
even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will cause thee to rest from all thine enemies. Moreover the LORD telleth thee that the LORD will make thee a house.
When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, that shall proceed out of thy body, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
I will be to him for a father, and he shall be to Me for a son; if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Messianic Prophecies (1)
Passages read as foretelling the Messiah, with the fulfillment reading and the counter-reading set side by side.
Cross-references (85)
- Amos 9:15 (v10) I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,” says Yahweh your God.
- 1 Chronicles 17:9 (v10) I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more. The…
- Luke 1:31-33 (v13) Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and shall name him ‘Jesus.’ He will be great and will be called the Son of…
- Hebrews 1:5 (v14) For to which of the angels did he say at any time, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father?” and again, “I will be to him a…
- Revelation 3:19 (v14) As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.
Show all 83 cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 17:13 (v14) I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not take my loving kindness away from him, as I took it from him that was before you;
- 1 Chronicles 28:6 (v14) He said to me, ‘Solomon, your son, shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.
- Jeremiah 24:6 (v10) For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. I will build them, and not pull them down. I will plant…
- 1 Kings 8:19 (v13) Nevertheless, you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come out of your body, he shall build the house for my name.’
- Isaiah 60:18 (v10) Violence shall no more be heard in your land, nor desolation or destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls Salvation,…
- Ezekiel 37:25-27 (v10) They will dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived. They will dwell therein, they, and their…
- Deuteronomy 8:5 (v14) You shall consider in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so Yahweh your God disciplines you.
- 2 Samuel 7:16 (v13) Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever.” ’ ”
- 2 Samuel 7:27 (v11) For you, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has…
- 1 Kings 5:5 (v13) Behold, I intend to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on…
- 1 Kings 8:20 (v12) Yahweh has established his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as…
- 1 Chronicles 22:9-10 (v13) Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of peace. I will give him rest from all his enemies all around; for his name shall…
- Psalms 89:4 (v13) ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build up your throne to all generations.’ ”
- Psalms 89:22-23 (v10) No enemy will tax him. No wicked man will oppress him. I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him.
- Ezekiel 28:24 (v10) “ ‘ “There will be no more a pricking brier to the house of Israel, nor a hurting thorn of any that are around them that scorned them. Then…
- Acts 2:30 (v12) Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he…
- 1 Corinthians 11:32 (v14) But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
- Isaiah 9:7 (vv12–13) Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold…
- Psalms 89:20-37 (v14) I have found David, my servant. I have anointed him with my holy oil, with whom my hand shall be established. My arm will also strengthen…
- Psalms 94:12-13 (v14) Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah, and teach out of your law, that you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the…
- Jeremiah 30:11 (v14) For I am with you, says Yahweh, to save you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make…
- Hebrews 12:5-11 (v14) You have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor…
- 2 Samuel 7:1 (v11) When the king lived in his house, and Yahweh had given him rest from all his enemies all around,
- 1 Kings 2:1 (v12) Now the days of David came near that he should die; and he commanded Solomon his son, saying,
- 1 Kings 6:12 (v13) “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in my statutes, and execute my ordinances, and keep all my commandments to…
- Psalms 80:8 (v10) You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and planted it.
- Psalms 89:36-37 (v13) His offspring will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me. It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in…
- Acts 13:36 (v12) For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, was laid with his fathers, and saw decay.
- Psalms 89:29 (vv12–13) I will also make his offspring endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
- Exodus 15:17 (v10) You will bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, the place, Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell…
- Judges 2:14-16 (v11) Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of…
- 1 Samuel 12:9-11 (v11) “But they forgot Yahweh their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the…
- 1 Chronicles 17:10 (v11) and from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover I tell you that Yahweh will…
- 1 Chronicles 17:11 (v12) It will happen, when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your offspring after you, who…
- 1 Chronicles 17:11-12 (v13) It will happen, when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your offspring after you, who…
- Psalms 89:3-4 (v11) “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant, ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build up your…
- Psalms 132:11-12 (v12) Yahweh has sworn to David in truth. He will not turn from it: “I will set the fruit of your body on your throne. If your children will keep…
- Proverbs 3:11-12 (v14) My son, don’t despise Yahweh’s discipline, neither be weary of his correction; for whom Yahweh loves, he corrects, even as a father…
- Jeremiah 18:9 (v10) At the instant I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
- Zechariah 6:13 (v13) even he shall build Yahweh’s temple; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his…
- Matthew 3:17 (v14) Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
- Deuteronomy 31:16 (v12) Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. This people will rise up and play the prostitute after the strange gods…
- 1 Kings 11:38 (v11) It shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that which is right in my eyes, to keep my…
- Job 5:17 (v14) “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
- Isaiah 5:7 (v10) For the vineyard of Yahweh of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but,…
- Hosea 2:18 (v10) In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of…
- Matthew 22:42-44 (v12) saying, “What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “Of David.” He said to them, “How then does David in the…
- Hebrews 3:3 (v13) For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house.
- 1 Peter 2:5 (v13) You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God…
- Revelation 21:4 (v10) He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The…
- Exodus 1:21 (v11) Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
- 1 Samuel 25:28 (v11) Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For Yahweh will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights Yahweh’s battles.…
- 1 Kings 1:21 (v12) Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered criminals.”
- 1 Kings 2:24 (v11) Now therefore as Yahweh lives, who has established me, and set me on my father David’s throne, and who has made me a house as he promised,…
- 1 Chronicles 22:10 (v11) He shall build a house for my name; and he will be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over…
- 1 Chronicles 28:6-7 (v13) He said to me, ‘Solomon, your son, shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. I will…
- 1 Chronicles 28:10 (v13) Take heed now; for Yahweh has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong, and do it.”
- Job 5:18-19 (v11) For he wounds and binds up. He injures and his hands make whole. He will deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven no evil will touch you.
- Job 34:29 (v11) When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? He is over a nation or a man alike,
- Psalms 46:9 (v11) He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.
- Psalms 127:1 (v11) Unless Yahweh builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain.
- Isaiah 5:2 (v10) He dug it up, gathered out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in the middle of it, and also cut out a wine press…
- Isaiah 11:10 (v12) It will happen in that day that the nations will seek the root of Jesse, who stands as a banner of the peoples; and his resting place will…
- Isaiah 49:8 (v13) Yahweh says, “I have answered you in an acceptable time. I have helped you in a day of salvation. I will preserve you and give you for a…
- 1 Corinthians 15:51 (v12) Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
- 1 Thessalonians 4:14 (v12) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
- Genesis 15:4 (v12) Behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.”
- Exodus 1:13-14 (v10) The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve, and they made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and in brick, and…
- Psalms 89:21 (v13) with whom my hand shall be established. My arm will also strengthen him.
- Psalms 106:42 (v11) Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought into subjection under their hand.
- Proverbs 14:1 (v11) Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
- Isaiah 11:1-3 (v12) A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit. Yahweh’s Spirit will rest on him: the spirit of…
- Daniel 12:2 (v12) Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
- Matthew 16:18 (v13) I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
- Exodus 1:22 (v10) Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”
- Judges 4:3 (v10) The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed the children of Israel for…
- 1 Samuel 13:17 (v10) The raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned to the way that leads to Ophrah, to the land of…
- Psalms 44:4 (v10) You are my King, God. Command victories for Jacob!
83 distinct cross-references across this passage (85 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv10, 14 He promiseth them quietness, if they will walk in…
He promiseth them quietness, if they will walk in his fear and obedience.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv10–14 2Sa 7:10 Moreover I will appoint a place for…
2Sa 7:10 Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,
Ver. 10. Moreover I will appoint,] q.d., For thy further comfort and encouragement, I do thee to know, that I will settle and felicitate thy subjects: who shall sit still and see golden days under thine and thy son’s government.
Read full note →
Neither shall the children of wickedness.] A fit description of tyrants and persecutors; brats of wickedness, that hell-hag; as Job calleth sparks the sons of fire, being engendered by it upon fuel.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv10–14 I will appoint a place, i.e. I will make…
I will appoint a place, i.e. I will make room for them; whereas hitherto they have been much constrained and distressed by their enemies, Or, I will establish (for so that verb sometimes signifies)
a place for them, i.e. I will establish them in their place or land. Some learned men render the verse thus, and the Hebrew words will bear it: And I have appointed (or assigned, or given) a place for my people Israel, (to wit, the land of Canaan,) and have planted them in it, that they may dwell in their own place, and be no more driven to and fro; or rather, and they shall dwell in their own place, &c.; i.e. as I did long ago appoint it to them, and afterwards planted them, or put them into actual possession; so now they shall continue or dwell in it, in spite of all their enemies.
Read full note →
For my people Israel. Among the favours which God had vouchsafed, and would vouchsafe to David, he reckons his blessings to the people of Israel, because they were great blessings to David; partly because the strength and happiness of a king consists in great part in the multitude and happiness of his people; and partly because David was a man of a pious and public spirit, and therefore no less affected with Israel’s felicity than with his own.
In a place of their own, i.e. in their own land, not in strange lands, nor mixed with other people.
As beforetime; either, first, As in the land of Egypt; and so he goes downward to the judges. Or, secondly, As in Saul’s time; and so he ascends to the judges.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv10–14 Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people…
Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel,.... The land of Canaan: this the Lord had of old appointed to them, and had introduced them into and settled them in it, but not entirely and alone; in many places the Canaanites had inhabited; but now they should be expelled, and the Israelites should have the place to themselves:
and will plant them; so that they shall take root and flourish, and continue:
Read full note →
that they may dwell in a place of their own; and not as they dwelt in Egypt, in a land that was not theirs; or "under themselves" (x); under their own rulers and governors:
and move no more; as they did in the times of the judges, when, sinning against God, they were often delivered into their enemies' hands, and carried captives:
neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime; when in Egypt, and in the times of the judges; all which is supposed, provided they did not depart from the Lord, but abode by his word, worship, and ordinances, and obeyed his will; for it was by their obedience they held their tenure of the land of Canaan, see Isa 1:19; or all this may respect future times, when they shall be converted to the Messiah, and return to their own land, and ever continue in it, and never more be harassed and distressed, Jer 32:41.
(x) "sub se", Montanus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv10–13 Appoint - That is, I will make room for…
Appoint - That is, I will make room for them, whereas hitherto they have been much distressed by their enemies. Or, I will establish a place for them, that is, I will establish them in their place or land. My people - Among the favours which God had vouchsafed, and would vouchsafe to David, he reckons his blessings to Israel, because they were great blessings to David; partly, because the strength and happiness of a king consists in the multitude and happiness of his people; and partly, because David was a man of a public spirit, and therefore no less affected with Israel's felicity than with his own. Before time - Namely in Egypt.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 13, 14 Verse 10. I will appoint a place] I have…
Verse 10. I will appoint a place] I have appointed a place, and have planted them. See the observations at the end. 2Sa 7:25.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv11–14 2Sa 7:11. And as since the time that I…
2Sa 7:11. And as since the time that I commanded judges — In whose days they were sorely afflicted by the Moabites, Canaanites, Midianites, and others. But all this, as the event showed, was intended to be understood with a condition, except they should notoriously forsake God, which they did, and therefore this promise was not fulfilled in that extensive and absolute sense which the words here seem to convey. And have caused thee to rest, &c. — Have given thee a quiet possession of the whole kingdom of Israel, which was never in so happy a condition as now. But these words, though according to our translation they are enclosed in the same parenthesis with the foregoing clauses, may be better put without it, and taken by themselves. For the foregoing words in this verse, and in 2Sa 7:10, all concern the people of Israel; but these words concern David alone, to whom the speech returns, after a short digression concerning the people of Israel. And they may be rendered thus: And I will cause thee to rest, &c., more fully and perfectly than yet thou dost. He will make thee a house, &c. — For thy good intentions to make him a house, he will make thee a house, a sure house; that is, he will increase and uphold thy posterity, and continue the kingdom in thy family.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv10, 12, 13, 14 Moreover I will appoint ... - It should be:…
Moreover I will appoint ... - It should be: And I have appointed a place, etc., and have planted them, etc. This was already done by the consolidation of David’s kingdom. The contrast between this and 2Sa 7:11 is that of the troubled, unsettled times of the Judges and the frequent servitudes of Israel in those times, with the settled prosperity and independence of the kingdom of David and Solomon.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 12, 14 Before, provided they be faithful. These promises are conditional.
Before, provided they be faithful. These promises are conditional.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make…
Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house--As a reward for his pious purpose, God would increase and maintain the family of David and secure the succession of the throne to his dynasty. [See on Ch1 17:10].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv10–14 10. I will appoint — All the versions have,…
10. I will appoint — All the versions have, with strange unanimity, translated שׂמתי, I have appointed, as if it were in the future tense. All difficulty is removed and the sense made plain when it is properly translated as the preterit: I have appointed a place, etc., namely, the land of Canaan.
Will plant — Rather, have planted.
Read full note →
As beforetime — When in the bondage of Egypt.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv10, 12, 13, 14 10. Moreover I will appoint] It is probably best…
10. Moreover I will appoint] It is probably best to take the verbs here as perfects: And I have appointed … and have planted them, and they dwell in their own place. For the metaphor of planting, comp. Exo_15:17; Psa_44:2.
and move no more] Better, and shall not be disturbed any more.
Read full note →
the children of wickedness] Sons of wickedness = wicked men. Cp. Psa_89:22.
10, 11. as beforetime, and as since the time] It is best to connect the first clause of 2Sa_7:11 with 2Sa_7:10. Beforetime refers to the beginning of the nation’s history in Egypt; since, &c. to the various oppressions they had suffered from the beginning of the period of the Judges down to the present.
and have caused thee to rest] And have given thee rest, as in 2Sa_7:1; to be connected with the verbs at the beginning of 2Sa_7:10, I have appointed … and have planted them.
Also, &c.] Or, And the Lord hath told thee, referring to the communications made to David by Samuel. Cp. 1Sa_25:28.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv10, 12, 14 (10) Will appoint . . . will plant.—There is…
(10) Will appoint . . . will plant.—There is no change of tense in the original; read, have appointed, . . . have planted.
(11) And as since the time.—These words are connected with the last clause of the verse before. The Lord says that He had now given His people rest under David, not allowing “the children of wickedness to afflict them any more as before time,” when they were in Egypt, nor as in the troubled period of the judges, “since the time that I commanded judges,” &c.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv10, 12, 13, 14 Vers. 10, 11. Moreover I will appoint... will plant.…
Vers. 10, 11. Moreover I will appoint... will plant. For "moreover," the Hebrew has "and." The tenses also continue the same: "And I have appointed and have planted." It is all part of the same act. As regards the second verb, the past tense alone makes sense. Jehovah was not about to plant Israel in a place of their own, hut had just done so completely. For David"s kingdom had given them security, and with it the power of doing for God that duty which was Israel"s special office in the world. Had the anarchy of the times of the judges continued, and the energies of the nation been spent in a hard struggle for existence, that rapid advance in literature which followed upon the institution of Samuel"s schools, and which filled David"s court with poets and chroniclers, never could have existed, and prophecy would have been impossible. The age of Hezekiah was apparently the culminating period of Hebrew civilization, after which came the depressing influences of the Assyrian invasions, and then long exile, followed by a second weary struggle for existence. If writing was at first a mystery and an art known only to priests, it became throughout the monarchy the possession especially of the prophets, who were Israel"s learned men. At the head of their roll stands the matchless Isaiah, and to render it possible for his genius to display itself, not only Samuel"s schools, but the security of David"s era of conquest, and the long peace and magnificence of Solomon"s reign, were all necessary. When "God had given David rest from his enemies round about," he had thereby finally appointed a place for Israel and had planted them there. There is, perhaps, some difficulty in the verb forms at the end of ver. 11, but none in the meaning. The reign of David marks an era in the national life. Under him Israel obtained secure possession of the place appointed for it; and now, having no longer to waste its energies in perpetual fighting, the national life grows upwards, and attains to culture, to thought, and civilization. Canaan is now their own, and instead of being mere warriors, they develop national institutions and a national character. What could men do that belongs to a higher and nobler life who were in daily fear of being swept away by Canaanites and Midianites, by Philistines and Ammonites? This miserable period is described as "beforetime," and as "since the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel." And here a colon should be placed; and the Hebrew will then proceed, "But now I have caused thee to rest from thine enemies, the anarchy and its attendant weakness is over; "and Jehovah telleth thee that Jehovah will make thee a house." Rest has been given; the establishment of David"s family as the Messianic lineage is to follow (see on this promise,. (1Sa_2:35)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv11, 14 The Lord telleth thee that he will make thee…
2Sa_7:11-16
The Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house.
Read full note →
Gods covenant with David
1. This narrative is an interesting illustration of the truth that God will honour the man who seeks to honour Him. David wanted to build a house for the Lord, and he was moved to it, we have reason to believe, by the highest considerations. He determined that he would build a house for the Lord, and as far as possible make it worthy of Him. But David, because he had been a man of war, was not permitted to carry out the high resolve. But while the Lord did not allow David to build the house, He permitted him to make all the necessary preparations for it. He was permitted to gather the materials and provide the gold and the silver. And this preparatory work does not stand as high with us as it should. It is the man who reaps the harvest, who brings the sheaves to the garner, who gets all the honour, while the man who did the still harder work of clearing the land and preparing the soil for the seed is scarcely thought of. Perhaps just here it might be well to remind ourselves that our gracious Master put a far higher value on this preparatory work than we are accustomed to do. He placed John the Baptist above all the prophets, above all who had gone before him, and yet Johns work from first to last was a preparatory one. After he had gone to his rest and reward, if any one had asked, What did John do while he dwelt among us? the only answer could have been, He prepared the way of the Lord; he made His path straight before Him. That was his mission, that was his life-work, and yet it was that mission and that short life-work which lifted him to as high a place as man had ever reached before.
2. Then, again, while David was not allowed to build the house of the Lord, he was called to do a still greater work for the Church. David was to write the songs of the sanctuary, and the Lord of hosts, it would seem, had been fitting him for this greater work from his childhood up. It is a fact to which our attention has been called by one of Englands greatest preachers that the life of David is constantly cropping out in the psalms--that they are so woven together and so essential to each other that we never could have had the psalms but for the life. Now, I have spoken of this contribution to the worship of Jehovah as a more important work than the one on which David had set his heart--as a more important work than to build the house of the Lord. Has not the result made the statement good? Where is the magnificent house which Solomon built, and where the Shekinah, the terrestrial throne of Jehovah? And where is the house built at such a fabulous cost that took its place? Not one stone is left standing on another. But the psalms are still ours; the sacred songs of David are still a part of our spiritual patrimony. We are marching still to the inspired and inspiring music. They are growing daily dearer to us, like the water from the rock which grew the sweeter the longer it flowed. But Davids covenant God was so well pleased with that which he had it in his heart to do that he went one step farther. If David might not build the house of the Lord, his son might do it in his stead. And this, I think, is just what David would have chosen for himself. If it had been left for the king of Israel to decide, I think he would have said, Let my son build the house; let him have all the glory of it; let it evermore be associated with his name. We cannot doubt that this is what such a man as the sweet singer of Israel was would have chosen. We live in our children. We rise up early, we sit up late, we eat the bread of sorrow, we wear ourselves out prematurely, we reach the grave before it is ready for us, and all: that it may be better for our children after we are gone. And yet, strong and tenacious as our affections are, there have been but few men among us who could love as David the king did. He was the man who left his throne, and fasted and wept and lay all night on the earth, and refused to be comforted, because the life of his little child was hanging by a thread. He was the man who uttered the bitterest cry save one that ever came from a breaking heart: O, my son Absalom! my son! my son! would God that I had died for thee! O, Absalom, my son! my son! The honour of the son is the honour of the father multiplied a hundred-fold. At all events, so it is with every man who can love as David did.
3. Because this work was not hurried on, because it was delayed, no one was robbed, no one was oppressed, no one was oppressively taxed. The bed of the poor man was not sold from under him to build the house of the Lord; the stones were not cemented together with tears and blood, and when the majestic edifice was dedicated no curses mingled with the alleluias. And that, no doubt, was one reason why the work was thus delayed, our heavenly Father is so considerate for the poor. And yet the building of that house in the way in which it was done was the best thing up to that time that Israel ever did for the poor. Next to God himself, the poor and needy, the widow and the fatherless, have no such friend as Gods house. Building a church in any place makes it sure that the sick will have a hospital, and the orphan a home, and the dead a burial-place where they may sleep in peace. From beneath the sanctuary flow those streams which carry health and life whithersoever they may go.
4. Now we have reached the climax. Davids covenant God went far beyond his thoughts, far beyond his highest aspirations, and gave him that which David would never have ventured to ask for. He promised to establish his throne for ever: And when thy days be fulfilled, etc. Look heavenward, and see how wonderfully this promise has been fulfilled. The Son of David is now at the right hand of the Majesty on high; the Son of David is now seated on that throne which has a rainbow round about it, and all power in heaven and on earth has been committed to His hands (J. B. Shaw, D. D.)
Gods covenant with David
I. The religious use of prosperity. In the hour of his greatest success the heart of the king was upon a plan for the building of Gods house. In his times of trial he had called upon God, and now in his triumph he did the same. The question as to the comparative helpfulness of adversity and prosperity in fixing the heart on sacred things admits of but one answer; if it fails in the one condition, it proves to have been a deception in the other.
II. The subjection of material prosperity to the spiritual. The supreme idea of David was to build a house for the Lord. This old-fashioned idea is the right one for to-day--the best belongs to God. It is also true that our gifts are largely in material form. The cup of cold water, the loaf of bread, the new garment for the needy--these are made sacred in Christs name. Practical religion means more than mere prayer, so-called. The cup of cold water in the name of a disciple of Christ, for aught we can see, is a factor in a real prayer. The gift of a garment to one shivering with cold is itself a factor in the religion that prompts one to say, Be ye warmed. The gift in Christs name is really the expression of our prayer to Him for His blessing upon the one on whom that gift is bestowed.
III. The divine veto on human plans. The resolution of many an ode, like David, may seem to be best even to the best men, and yet be out of Gods plan. But one great purpose of one great master mind can ever succeed. King David never even dreamed that his plans would miscarry; and Nathan the prophet declared the Lord is with thee. Every prophecy has been a special revelation. Not because a recognized prophet spoke was it certain that he would declare the mind of God. Nathan spoke without inspiration, and made a mistake. Disappointment filled the kings heart upon the Divine decree, but his royal hands were-stayed. His plan was not Divine. Scarce a man since but has winced under the Divine veto. We make splendid plans, but under the veto those plans become mere castles in the air. The same shadow darkens the palace and the cottage alike. We plan for health, and the veto brings sickness; we plan for success, and the veto brings failure; we plan for long life, and the veto brings death. It is ever so, and ever shall be; disappointments will never cease until from the heart we shall all say, Thy will, not mine, be done.
IV. The divine leadership in our personal history. What was true in Davids life is true in every life. We live under the Divine sovereignty. A personal God deals with His children. Events no human brain has foreseen shape our lives. The experience of the past gives hope for the future. He who has been with us in the days of youth will be with us in the valley of shadows. The future of each life brightens in our assurances of the Divine help in the past. This is the law. Because God had been with David in his struggles all the way, therefore He would be with him in all the days to come.
V. The great covenant. The Divine promises are better than our fears. To the disappointed king there came a covenant message of surpassing power. The disappointment arose because in this day of his greatness he was not permitted to carry out his chosen designs. The disheartened king heard the prophets message that Jehovah needed no house; but a greater declaration was awaiting his attention. It was a far-off vision the prophet has seen: The Lord telleth thee that He will make thee an house. This whole theme reveals the ever-recurring fact of the true spiritual meaning that lies beneath all Scripture history. Four thousand years before the star shone over Bethlehem, the expectation of the Messiah was cherished by the friends of God. The promise to Abraham was not of seeds, as of many, but of one which is Christ. Jacob could bless his sons without discerning Shiloh. Moses choice took into account the reproach of Christ. So in our text, David plans for a house that shall bear Jehovahs name; and immediately there is revealed to him the covenant, no man can break, that the anointed shall spring from his line; and further yet, that the importance of the spiritual kingdom far exceeds any importance of the earthly. This was the great consolation of the centuries that Messiahs kingdom should appear in the earth. They lived and they died in so grand a hope, founded upon the unshaken revelation of the Word of God--a word of the everlasting covenant. (Monday Club Sermons.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v12 2Sa_7:11. “And as since,” etc. The first clause of…
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES—
2Sa_7:11. “And as since,” etc. The first clause of this verse should be connected with 2Sa_7:10, thus, neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as before and as since, or from the day, etc.
Read full note →
2Sa_7:8-11. “The connection between these verses and 2Sa_7:5-7 is as follows: Thou shalt not build a house for Me, but I, who have from the very beginning glorified myself in thee and my people, will build a house for thee.… The kingdom of God in Israel first acquired its rest and consolation through the efforts of David … and the conquest of Zion and the elevation of this fortress into the palace of the king formed the commencement of the establishment of the kingdom of God. But this commencement received its first pledge of perpetuity from the Divine assurance that the throne of David should be established for all future time. And this the Lord was about to accomplish. He would build David a house, and then his seed should build the house of the Lord. No definite reason is assigned why David himself was not to build the temple; we learn this first from 1Ch_22:8.… But this did not involve David in any blame … but inasmuch as these wars were necessary and inevitable, they were practical proofs that David’s kingdom and government were not yet established, and therefore that the time for the building of the temple had not yet come.” (Keil.)
2Sa_7:12. “Thy seed.” “Not the whole posterity, as is clear from the explanatory words in 1Ch_17:11, nor merely a single individual, but a selection from the posterity.” (Erdmann.)
2Sa_7:14. “A father,” etc. This denotes in the first place the most cordial mutual love, which attests its enduring character by fidelity, and demonstrates its existence towards the Lord by active obedience. But besides this ethical relation of David’s seed to God we must, from the connection, note—first, the origin, or descent of the son from the father. The seed of David, entrusted with everlasting kingly dignity, has, as such, his origin in the will of God—owes his origin to the Divine choice and call (comp. Psa_2:7; Psa_89:27-28). Secondly, in the designations father and son is denoted community of possession. The seed as son receives dominion from the father as heir, and as this dominion is an everlasting one he will, as son and heir, reign for ever in the possession of the kingdom. The father’s kingdom is an unlimited one, embracing the whole world; so in the idea of sonship there lies, along with everlastingness, the idea of all-embracing-world-dominion.” (Erdmann.)
2Sa_7:14. “With the rod of men,” etc. Such punishments as are inflicted on all men when they sin. Grace is not to release David and the Davidic line from this universal human lot, is not to be for them a charter to sin,” (Hengstenberg.)
2Sa_7:15. “As I took it from Saul,” etc. “The contrast is between the punishment of sin in individuals and the favour that remains permanently with the family, whereby the Divine promise becomes an unconditional one.” (Hengstenberg.)
2Sa_7:16. “For ever.” It is obvious that this promise related primarily to Solomon, and had a certain fulfilment in him and in his reign.… At the same time, the substance of the promise is not fully exhausted in him. The threefold repetition of the expression “for ever,” the establishment of the kingdom and throne of David for ever, points incontrovertibly beyond the time of Solomon, and to the eternal continuance of the seed of David.… We must not reduce the idea of eternity to the popular notion of a long incalculable period, but must take it in an absolute sense as it is evidently understood in Psa_89:30. No earthly kingdom, and no posterity of any single man, has eternal duration like the heaven and the earth; but the different families of men become extinct as the different earthly kingdoms perish. The posterity of David, therefore, could only last for ever by running out in a person who lives for ever; i.e., by culminating in the Messiah.… The promise consequently refers to the posterity of David, commencing with Solomon and closing with Christ; so that by the seed we are not to understand Solomon alone, with the kings who succeeded him, nor Christ alone to the exclusion of the earthly kings of David’s family; nor is the allusion to Solomon and Christ to be regarded as a double allusion to two different objects.” (Keil.)
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—2Sa_7:12-16
THE MESSIANIC PROMISE TO DAVID
This promise—
I. Reveals the special purpose of God in the election of David. As the king now sits in his palace of cedar, God takes him back to the days when as a youth he followed the sheep. During all the years that had intervened, and in all the manifold experiences through which he had passed, he had been the object of special Divine care and guidance. His life had been such that, however he might have sometimes yielded to despair in the past, he must have now felt deeply conscious, upon looking back, that he had been highly favoured above all the men of his nation. Doubtless he was more gifted than most—perhaps than any,—but the gifts that fitted him for the throne were from the same Divine giver, and only increased his obligation. But he is here reminded that he had not been made thus great for his own sake alone, or chiefly. He was to use all that had been bestowed upon him for the people over whom he had been called to rule, and was to be the founder of a race through whom not only Israel but all the families of the earth were to be blessed. This is always the purpose of God’s electing grace, whether of the individual or the nation. Men receive special favours that they may dispense special blessings, and are intended to be, not like those lakes in which a mighty river is ever emptying itself, and yet from which no stream ever flows, but like the fountain-head of that river which, as fast as it is fed by the mountain snows, sends forth its waters and becomes a channel of blessing to all around. The spirit of many of David’s psalms reveal that he entered fully into the Divine purpose of his election, but the spirit of many, both of his immediate and remote descendants, shows that they utterly failed to discern it.
II. It reveals the progressive nature of the Divine dispensations in relation to man. A dim outline is here given to Nathan by prophetic vision of a kingdom far more glorious than that which David founded. We, who live after the earthly sceptre has departed from Judah, can fill in the details, and recognise in David’s Lord the only Son who could establish his house for ever. In the kingdom of God under the Old Testament, the name of David takes a high place, and among the kings of Israel he holds a deserved pre-eminence, on account of the great national blessings which attended his powerful and beneficent rule. But One who descended from him according to the flesh has, by the majesty of His person, and the excellence of His character, and the transcendent glory of His kingdom, caused the name of David to sink into nothing in comparison. The kingdom of Christ endures because it is founded upon a purely spiritual basis; it knows no limit of time or place because its laws have their origin in the eternal moral necessity of the universe. For its King rules always and everywhere because His throne is in the heart of each of His subjects “He shall judge the poor of the people, He shall save the children of the needy, and break in pieces the oppressor;” and therefore “He shall be feared as long as the sun and moon endure.” “He shall spare the poor and needy” and “redeem their soul from deceit and violence,” and the name of such a King must “endure for ever” and “be continued as long as the sun” (Psalms 62). His name is called “Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins,” and as a necessary consequence, “He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” (Luk_2:33). David was elected by God to shepherd Israel, and his reign was upon the whole fraught with blessing to his subjects. But the dispensation in which he ministered was, in comparison with that of the New Testament, only as the acorn to the oak, and he could as little conceive of the glory of these latter days as we could picture to ourselves some monarch of the forest, if we had never seen anything more than the tiny seed which enfolds its germ. And God has yet more in reserve for the race for whom the Great Shepherd laid down His life. We as little comprehend what wonders of grace and glory are yet to be unfolded under the reign of Christ, as David comprehended all that was included in the word of the Lord which came to Nathan. We have the King of whom it spake, and who can never be succeeded by another; but we have no conception of the infinite possibilities yet hidden in God in connection with that kingdom which can never be removed but abideth for ever. “Eye hath not” yet “seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him” (1Co_2:9).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
In considering this prophecy we need to bear in mind the peculiar form of the revelations respecting Messiah which God communicated to David. To other prophets, revelations of the Messiah were made objectively—apart from themselves; they were shown Christ and His day afar off; they had no more personal relation to the thing revealed than other believers around them. But when revelations of Messiah were made to David, they were usually connected with something in his own life, history, or experience; they had a shadowy foundation in something subjective or pesonal to himself; that thing enlarged, purified, glorified, constituted the revelation of Christ. This was in keeping with the typical relation which David and his kingdom had to Christ and His kingdom. As this was the character of the revelations made to David respecting Christ, so also was it the character of many of his prophetic songs.… Melting and shading insensibly into each other as the two classes of objects do, it is often extremely difficult to say which of them is meant.—Blaikie.
It is plain that the building of a house of rest for the ark was designed to stand out prominently in the sight of Israel as a great and mighty undertaking—as a work of sufficient magnitude and importance to form the one great enterprise of a king who could give himself to it without distraction or disturbance. Such was obviously the impression which the Divine appointment, regarding the building of a house for the name of God, must have made upon the minds of the people of Israel—the church of that day; and the reason why David was forbidden and Solomon permitted to build that house is still more clearly unfolded to us now that the promises and predictions connected with that work have been and are in the way of being fulfilled.… David was honoured to be an eminent type of the Messiah, inasmuch as, by his trials, his conflicts, and his conquests, he did very significantly prefigure a suffering, but at the same time, a triumphant Saviour. This however, was only one aspect of Christ’s kingly office … there is another view—even the relation in which, as king, He stands to His church.… This view God was also graciously pleased to typify or prefigure in the kingly office as it had been established in Israel; and we cannot fail to perceive the wisdom which provided that this should be done, not in the person of the same king who was employed to represent Christ in His conflict and His victory, but in that of another who should be pre-eminently a peaceful king.—Gordon.
The fulfilment of the great and gracious promise of God to David in Christ the Son of David.
1. In His person, He is not merely David’s seed—seed of the woman—Abraham’s seed, but also God’s Song of Solomon 2. In His office, He is King over the kingdom of God, King of all Kings.
3. In His possession of power, He has an everlasting kingdom, to Him is given all power in heaven and on earth.
4. In His work. He builds for the name of God the Father a house, a spiritual temple in humanity, out of living stones. (Comp. Joh_2:19.)—Lange’s Commentary.
Why is there this frequent repetition in this promise? (2Sa_7:13; 2Sa_7:16). Three times is the perpetuity declared. Why is this? It is to meet the difficulties of our faith, arising from the lengthened suspension of the promise, and the apparent improbability of Christ’s everlasting monarchy.—Bickersteth.
We have seen that David was himself a prophecy of Christ. It follows from that, therefore, that the Temple which he so desired to build is a prophecy of the Church. With all its grandeur under Solomon, that stately building was, after all, only a type of that more glorious spiritual fabric which is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth into an holy temple in the Lord.” Now, in the erection of this living temple we may all take part. When by faith in Jesus Christ we become united to Him, and receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts, we, as it were, build ourselves, or, in another aspect of it, are built by God, as living stones into that glorious edifice which Jehovah through the ages is rearing for His own eternal abode. When, again, by our instrumentality, either directly in the efforts which we put forth at home, or indirectly through the labours of those whom we sustain abroad, we work for the conversion of others, we are engaged as under-builders, on the same spiritual edifice, David would have counted it the highest privilege of his life if he had been permitted to build the Temple on Moriah; and even after the prohibition came by the mouth of Nathan, it was the joy of his latter years to collect materials wherewith Solomon, his son, might raise a house worthy of Jehovah’s worship. Nay, more, in the days of Solomon himself, after the gorgeous structure had been raised, everyone who had done anything, however small, in the way of helping on its erection, was invested with a peculiar honour in the eyes of his fellow-countrymen. As the Psalm expresses it: “A man was famous according as he had lifted axes upon the thick trees.” But a higher privilege, and a more lasting renown, will be the portion of him who assists in the most humble capacity in the uprearing of that Church which is to be “for a habitation of God through the Spirit.” “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”—Taylor.
2Sa_7:13. Where Jesus reigns in power men must yield obedience of some sort. His kingdom, moreover, is no house of cards or dynasty of days; it is as lasting as the lights of heaven; days and nights will cease before He abdicates His throne. Neither sun nor moon as yet manifest any failure in their radiance, nor are there any signs of decrepitude in the Kingdom of Jesus, it is but in its youth, and is evidently the coming power, the rising sun.… Throughout all generations shall the throne of the Redeemer stand. Humanity shall not wear out the religion of the Incarnate God. No infidelity shall wither it away, nor superstition smother it; it shall rise immortal from what seemed its grave; as the true phœnix, it shall revive from its ashes. As long as there are men on earth Christ shall have a throne among them. Instead of the fathers shall be the children. Each generation shall have a regeneration in its midst, let Pope and devil do what they may. Even at this hour we have the tokens of His eternal power; since He ascended to His throne eighteen hundred years ago, His dominion has not been overturned, though the mightiest of empires have gone like visions of the night. We see on the shores of time the wrecks of the Cæsars, the relics of the Moguls, and the last remnant of the Ottomans. Charlemagne, Maximilian, Napoleon, how they flit like shadows before us! They were and are not; but Jesus for ever is. As for the houses of Hohenzollern, Guelph, or Hapsburg, they have their hour; but the Son of David has all hours and ages as His own.—Spurgeon.
2Sa_7:16. The advantages of civil government contrasted with the blessings of the spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ.
1. The first and primary advantage expected from every well constituted human government is security, and the sense of security.… Whatever may be the imperfections attaching to various modes of government, the worst is preferable to a state of society destitute of public authority and law; in such a state there can exist not only no security, but no tranquillity.… But the utmost that can be enjoyed under any form of civil power is a most imperfect shadow of the safety which Jesus Christ bestows upon the subjects of His spiritual reign …
2. The second benefit expected from human government is liberty. So far as this advantage is consistent with the former, the more largely it is enjoyed the better. Every diminution of our liberty, except such as is necessary to our protection from evils which might otherwise be apprehended, is itself just so much redundant evil.… Restraint that cannot be justified by the production of some greater benefit than could be attained without it, is not imperfection, it is injustice.… But suppose the utmost degree of civil liberty to be enjoyed, what is that in comparison with that real spiritual freedom which Jesus Christ confers?… From the moment the Christian enters into the kingdom of grace and truth, he leaves his bonds behind; invigorated with a Divine strength he purposes and it stands fast; he triumphs over himself; is victorious over the world.… tramples upon the greatest tyrants—the powers of darkness.…
3. The next advantage from a good government is plenty. To secure this is sometimes beyond human power and policy.… In general it may be asserted that human laws should not interfere too much … Everyone should be left at liberty, as far as possible, to choose his own way in pursuing his prosperity.… Under the best systems of government there must remain many cases of want and distress; but in the kingdom of Jesus Christ there exists an infinite plenty for all the wants of the soul.…
4. A tendency to improvement in its social institutions ought to accompany every well-ordered government. The best of those institutions are such as will be at once permanent and progressive by their intrinsic wisdom and excellence—by their adaptation to all the varying circumstances of the nation—by their power of providing for possible emergencies—they will gradually rise from security to convenience, and then exalt convenience into ornament—into just refinement and diffused illumination.… The gospel empire possesses within itself interminable energies and tendencies to benefit its subjects.… All those elysian images of prophecy which paint with so much beauty the latter days of the world, are nothing in their substantial fulfilment but the impress of Jesus Christ on the minds and manners of mankind—the image of Christianity embodied in society, and righteousness dwelling in the new-created universe.…
5. The fifth and last element is stability; this is the crown of all its other advantages. Nothing can be wanting to such a reign but that it should last; and this is what the text emphatically expresses.—Robt. Hall.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv10, 12 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues describing his promises to King David through the prophet Nathan.
Read full note →
I will appoint a place
"I will choose a place"
will plant them there
Yahweh causing the people to live in the land permanently and securely is spoken of as if he would plant them in the land. (See: Metaphor)
be troubled no more
This can be stated in active form. AT: "no one will ever trouble them" (See: Active or Passive)
from the days
"from the time"
I commanded judges
After the people of Israel entered the land of Canaan and before they had kings to rule them, God appointed leaders called "judges" to lead them in times of trouble.
to be over my people Israel
To be in authority is referred to as being over someone. AT: "to rule my people Israel" (See: Idiom)
Now I will give you rest from all your enemies ... declare to you that I will make you a house
If in 2 Samuel 7:8-9 you translated the direct quotations as indirect quotation, then here you may need to translate "you" as "him" or "his." AT: "Now I will give him rest from all his enemies ... declare to him that I will make him a house" (See: Quotes Within Quotes and Direct and Indirect Quotations)
I will give you rest from all your enemies
"I will give you safety from all your enemies." Here "rest" is an abstract noun. AT: "I will make all your enemies stop attacking you" (See: Abstract Nouns)
I will make you a house
Here the metonym "house" refers to David's ancestors continuing on as the rulers of Israel. In 2 Samuel 7:4 Yahweh asked David if he would be the one to build a house for Yahweh. There "house" represented a temple. If your language has a word that can express both ideas, use it here and in 2Sa 7:4. (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
appoint
trouble
evil
oppress
command
judge, judges
rest
house
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv10, 11, 12, 14 7:10-11a never be disturbed: Through David and his heirs,…
7:10-11a never be disturbed: Through David and his heirs, a lasting peace would engulf the land, in contrast with the intermittent and temporary periods of peace during the days of the judges, when one predatory nation after another shattered Israel’s well-being. God’s promise of rest from all your enemies was first mentioned by Joshua (Josh 1:13, 15; 22:4), and later realized in the ministry of some of the judges (Judg 3:11, 30; 5:31; 8:28).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.