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.
Show the surrounding paragraph
2 Samuel 7:4-12 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
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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.
-
And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying,
Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.
In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?
Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:
And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.
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.
Show all 3 translations
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And it came to pass the same night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying:
'Go and tell My servant David: Thus saith the LORD: Shalt thou build Me a house for Me to dwell in?
for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.
In all places wherein I have walked among all the children of Israel, spoke I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people Israel, saying: Why have ye not built Me a house of cedar?
Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto My servant David: Thus saith the LORD of hosts: I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be prince over My people, over Israel.
And I have been with thee whithersoever thou didst go, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee; and I will make thee a great name, like unto the name of the great ones that are in the earth.
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.
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 (114)
- 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…
- 2 Samuel 5:10 (v9) David grew greater and greater; for Yahweh, the God of Armies, was with him.
- 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…
- 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,…
Show all 100 cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 17:8 (v9) I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. I will make you a name like the name of the…
- 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…
- 1 Samuel 16:11-12 (v8) Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your children here?” He said, “There remains yet the youngest. Behold, he is keeping the sheep.” Samuel said…
- 1 Samuel 18:14 (v9) David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and Yahweh was with him.
- 2 Samuel 6:21 (v8) David said to Michal, “It was before Yahweh, who chose me above your father, and above all his house, to appoint me prince over the people…
- 2 Samuel 8:6 (v9) Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. Yahweh gave victory to David…
- Psalms 18:37-42 (v9) I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them. I won’t turn away until they are consumed. I will strike them through, so that they will not…
- Psalms 78:70-71 (v8) He also chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes that have their young, he brought him to be the…
- 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…
- 2 Samuel 22:34-38 (v9) He makes his feet like hinds’ feet, and sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms bend a bow of bronze. You…
- 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 17:6 (v7) In all places in which I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd…
- 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.
- Psalms 113:7-8 (v9) He raises up the poor out of the dust. Lifts up the needy from the ash heap, that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his…
- 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…
- Genesis 12:2 (v9) I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.
- 2 Samuel 8:14 (v9) He put garrisons in Edom. Throughout all Edom, he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. Yahweh gave victory to…
- 1 Kings 8:16 (v6) ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name…
- 1 Chronicles 17:7 (v8) “Now therefore, you shall tell my servant David, ‘Yahweh of Armies says, “I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, to be…
- Leviticus 26:11-12 (v7) I will set my tent among you, and my soul won’t abhor you. I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you will be my people.
- 2 Samuel 5:2 (v7) In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel out and in. Yahweh said to you, ‘You will be shepherd of my people…
- 2 Samuel 7:1 (v11) When the king lived in his house, and Yahweh had given him rest from all his enemies all around,
- 2 Samuel 12:7 (v8) Nathan said to David, “You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you…
- 2 Samuel 22:30 (v9) For by you, I run against a troop. By my God, I leap over a wall.
- 1 Kings 2:1 (v12) Now the days of David came near that he should die; and he commanded Solomon his son, saying,
- Psalms 80:8 (v10) You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and planted it.
- Psalms 89:23 (v9) I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him.
- Luke 1:52 (v9) He has put down princes from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly.
- 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.
- 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 2:8 (v9) He raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifts up the needy from the dunghill to make them sit with princes and inherit the throne of…
- 1 Samuel 10:1 (v8) Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, “Hasn’t Yahweh anointed you to be prince over his…
- 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…
- 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…
- Jeremiah 18:9 (v10) At the instant I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
- Exodus 40:18-19 (v6) Moses raised up the tabernacle, and laid its sockets, and set up its boards, and put in its bars, and raised up its pillars. He spread the…
- 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…
- Joshua 18:1 (v6) The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The land…
- 1 Samuel 9:16 (v8) “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel.…
- 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…
- 1 Chronicles 17:3 (v4) That same night, the word of God came to Nathan, saying,
- 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…
- 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.
- Exodus 40:34-38 (v6) Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and Yahweh’s glory filled the tabernacle. Moses wasn’t able to enter into the Tent of Meeting,…
- Numbers 12:6 (v4) He said, “Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him…
- 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 Samuel 31:6 (v9) So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor bearer, and all his men, that same day together.
- 2 Samuel 22:1 (v9) David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand…
- 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…
- 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 9:7 (v12) 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…
- 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…
- John 21:15-17 (v7) So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” He said to him,…
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 23:14 (vv6–7) for Yahweh your God walks in the middle of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you. Therefore your camp shall be…
- 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…
- Exodus 33:14-15 (v6) He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Moses said to him, “If your presence doesn’t go with me, don’t carry us…
- Leviticus 26:23-24 (v6) “ ‘If by these things you won’t be turned back to me, but will walk contrary to me, then I will also walk contrary to you; and I will…
- Leviticus 26:27-28 (v6) “ ‘If you in spite of this won’t listen to me, but walk contrary to me, then I will walk contrary to you in wrath. I will also chastise you…
- Numbers 10:33-36 (v6) They set forward from the Mount of Yahweh three days’ journey. The ark of Yahweh’s covenant went before them three days’ journey, to seek…
- 1 Kings 5:3-4 (v5) “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of Yahweh his God because of the wars which were around him on every…
- 1 Kings 8:16-19 (v5) ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name…
- 1 Chronicles 17:4 (v5) “Go and tell David my servant, ‘Yahweh says, “You shall not build me a house to dwell in;
- 1 Chronicles 17:5-6 (v6) for I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tent to…
- 1 Chronicles 22:7-8 (v5) David said to Solomon his son, “As for me, it was in my heart to build a house to the name of Yahweh my God. But Yahweh’s word came to me,…
- 1 Chronicles 23:3-32 (v5) The Levites were counted from thirty years old and upward; and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand. David…
- Psalms 78:71-72 (v7) from following the ewes that have their young, he brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance. So he…
- Psalms 87:3-6 (v9) Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me. Behold, Philistia, Tyre,…
- Psalms 89:29 (v12) I will also make his offspring endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
- 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…
- Isaiah 40:11 (v7) He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who…
- Jeremiah 3:15 (v7) I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
- Jeremiah 23:4 (v7) I will set up shepherds over them, who will feed them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, neither will any be lacking,” says Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 34:2 (v7) “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and tell them, even the shepherds, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the…
- Ezekiel 34:15 (v7) I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 34:23 (v7) I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd.
- 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.
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (114 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (20 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv5, 7, 9, 10 Meaning, he should not: yet Nathan speaking according to…
Meaning, he should not: yet Nathan speaking according to man’s judgment and not by the spirit of prophecy, permitted him.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv4–12 2Sa 7:4 And it came to pass that night,…
2Sa 7:4 And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying,
Ver. 4. And it came to pass that night.] Post datum a Nathane intempestivum responsum. God will not suffer his dear children to lie long in error: but if in anything they be otherwise minded, he will reveal even this unto them. {Php 3:15}
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 vv4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 It came to pass that night: because David’s mistake…
It came to pass that night: because David’s mistake was pious, and from an honest mind, God would not suffer him to lie long in his mistake, nor to disquiet his mind, or run himself into inconveniencies, in order to the work, before he gave a stop to it.
The word of the Lord came unto Nathan; that the same person who had confirmed David in his mistake, might now rectify it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v4 We have here a full revelation of God's favour…
We have here a full revelation of God's favour to David and the kind intentions of that favour, the notices and assurances of which God sent him by Nathan the prophet, whom he entrusted to deliver this long message to him. The design of it is to take him off from his purpose of building the temple and it was therefore sent, 1. By the same hand that had given him encouragement to do it, lest, if it had been sent by any other, Nathan should be despised and insulted and David should be perplexed, being encouraged by one prophet and discouraged by another. 2. The same night, that Nathan might not continue long in an error nor David have his head any further filled with thoughts of that which he must never bring to pass. God might have said this to David himself immediately, but he chose to send it by Nathan, to support the honour of his prophets, and to preserve in David a regard to them. Though he be the head, they must be the eyes by which he must see the visions of the Almighty, and the tongue by which he must hear the word of God. He that delivered this long message to Nathan assisted his memory to retain it, that he might deliver it fully (he being resolved to deliver it faithfully) as he received it of the Lord. Now in this message,
I. David's purpose to build God a house is superseded. God took notice of that purpose, for he knows what is in man; and he was well pleased with it, as appears Kg1 8:18, Thou didst well that it was in thy heart; yet he forbade him to go on with his purpose (Sa2 7:5): "Shalt thou build me a house? No, thou shalt not (as it is explained in the parallel place, Ch1 17:4); there is other work appointed for thee to do, which must be done first." David is a man of war, and he must enlarge the borders of Israel, by carrying on their conquests. David is a sweet psalmist, and he must prepare psalms for the use of the temple when it is built, and settle the courses of the Levites; but his son's genius will better suit for building the house, and he will have a better treasure to bear the charge of it, and therefore let it be reserved for him to do. As every man hath received the gift, so let him minister. The building of a temple was to be a work of time, and preparation made for it; but it was a thing that had never been spoken of till now. God tells him, 1. That hitherto he had never had a house built for him (Sa2 7:6), a tabernacle had served hitherto, and it might serve awhile longer. God regards not outward pomp in his service; his presence was as surely with his people when the ark was in a tent as when it was in a temple. David was uneasy that the ark was in curtains (a mean and movable habitation), but God never complained of it as any uneasiness to him. He did not dwell, but walk, and yet fainted not, nor was weary. Christ, like the ark, when here on earth walked in a tent or tabernacle, for he went about doing good, and dwelt not in any house of his own, till he ascended on high, to the mansions above, in his Father's house, and there he sat down. The church, like the ark, in this world is ambulatory, dwells in a tent, because its present state is both pastoral and military; its continuing city is to come. David, in his psalms, often calls the tabernacle a temple (as Psa 5:7; Psa 27:4; Psa 29:9; Psa 65:4; Psa 138:2), because it answered the intention of a temple, though it was made but of curtains. Wise and good men value not the show, while they have the substance. David perhaps had more true devotion, and sweeter communion with God, in a house of curtains, than any of his successors in the house of cedar. 2. That he had never given any orders or directions, or the least intimation, to any of the sceptres of Israel, that is, to any of the judges, Ch1 17:6 (for rulers are called sceptres, Eze 19:14, the great Ruler is called so, Num 24:17), concerning the building of the temple, Sa2 7:7. That worship only is acceptable which is instituted; why should David therefore design what God never ordained? Let him wait for a warrant, and then let him do it. Better a tent of God's appointing than a temple of his own inventing.
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II. David is reminded of the great things God had done for him, to let him know that he was a favourite of heaven, though he had not the favour to be employed in this service, as also that God was not indebted to him for his good intentions, but, whatever he did for God's honour, God was beforehand with him, Sa2 7:8, Sa2 7:9. 1. He had raised him from a very mean and low condition: He took him from the sheep-cote. It is good for those who have come to great preferment to be often reminded of their small beginnings, that they may always be humble and thankful. 2. He had given him success and victory over his enemies (Sa2 7:9): "I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, to protect thee when pursued, to prosper thee when pursuing. I have cut off all thy enemies, that stood in the way of thy advancement and settlement." 3. He had crowned him not only with power and dominion in Israel, but with honour and reputation among the nations about: I have made thee a great name. He had become famous for his courage, conduct, and great achievements, and was more talked of than any of the great men of his day. A great name is what those who have it have great reason to be thankful for and may improve to good purposes, but what those who have it not have no reason to be ambitious of: a good name is more desirable. A man may pass through the world very obscurely and yet very comfortably.
III. A happy establishment is promised to God's Israel, Sa2 7:10, Sa2 7:11. This comes in in a parenthesis, before the promises made to David himself, to let him understand that what God designed to do for him was for Israel's sake, that they might be happy under his administration, and to give him the satisfaction of foreseeing peace upon Israel, when it was promised him that he should see his children's children, Psa 128:6. A good king cannot think himself happy unless his kingdom be so. The promises that follow relate to his family and posterity; these therefore, which speak of the settlement of Israel, intend the happiness of his own reign. Two things are promised: - 1. A quiet place: I will appoint a place for my people Israel. It was appointed long ago, yet they were disappointed, but now that appointment should be made good. Canaan should be clearly their own without any ejection or molestation. 2. A quiet enjoyment of that place: The children of wickedness (meaning especially the Philistines, who had been so long a plague to them) shall not afflict them any more; but, as in the time that I caused judges to be over my people Israel, I will cause thee to rest from all thy enemies (so Sa2 7:11 may be read), that is, "I will continue and complete that rest; the land shall rest from war, as it did under the judges."
IV. Blessings are entailed upon the family and posterity of David. David had purposed to build God a house, and, in requital, God promises to build him a house, Sa2 7:11. Whatever we do for God, or sincerely design to do though Providence prevents our doing it, we shall in no wise lose our reward. He had promised to make him a name (Sa2 7:9); here he promises to make him a house, which should bear up that name. It would be a great satisfaction to David, while he lived, to have the inviolable assurance of a divine promise that his family should flourish when he was dead. Next to the happiness of our souls, and the church of God, we should desire the happiness of our seed, that those who come of us may be praising God on earth when we are praising him in heaven.
1. Some of these promises relate to Solomon, his immediate successor, and to the royal line of Judah. (1.) That God would advance him to the throne. Those words, when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, intimate that David himself should come to his grave in peace; and then I will set up thy seed. This favour was so much the greater because it was more than God had done for Moses, or Joshua, or any of the judges whom he called to feed his people. David's government was the first that was entailed; for the promise made to Christ of the kingdom was to reach to his spiritual seed. If children, then heirs. (2.) That he would settle him in the throne: I will establish his kingdom (Sa2 7:12), the throne of his kingdom, Sa2 7:13. His title shall be clear and uncontested, his interest confirmed, and his administration steady. (3.) That he would employ him in that good work of building the temple, which David had only the satisfaction of designing: He shall build a house for my name, Sa2 7:13. The work shall be done, though David shall not have the doing of it. (4.) That he would take him into the covenant of adoption (Sa2 7:14, Sa2 7:15): I will be his father, and he shall be my son. We need no more to make us and ours happy than to have God to be a Father to us and them; and all those to whom God is a Father he by his grace makes his sons, by giving them the disposition of children. If he be a careful, tender, bountiful Father to us, we must be obedient, tractable, dutiful children to him. The promise here speaks as unto sons. [1.] That his Father would correct him when there was occasion; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? Afflictions are an article of the covenant, and are not only consistent with, but flow from, God's fatherly love. "If he commit iniquity, as it proved he did (Kg1 11:1), I will chasten him to bring him to repentance, but it shall be with the rod of men, such a rod as men may wield - I will not plead against him with the great power of God," Job 23:6. Or rather such a rod as men may bear - "I will consider his frame, and correct him with all possible tenderness and compassion when there is need, and no more than there is need of; it shall be with the stripes, the touches (so the word is) of the children of men; not a stroke, or wound, but a gentle touch." [2.] That yet he would not disinherit him (Sa2 7:15): My mercy (and that is the inheritance of sons) shall not depart from him. The revolt of the ten tribes from the house of David was their correction for iniquity, but the constant adherence of the other two to that family, which was a competent support of the royal dignity, perpetuated the mercy of God to the seed of David, according to this promise; though that family was cut short, yet it was not cut off, as the house of Saul was. Never any other family swayed the sceptre of Judah than that of David. This is that covenant of royalty celebrated (Psa 89:3, etc.) as typical of the covenant of redemption and grace.
2. Others of them relate to Christ, who is often called David and the Son of David, that Son of David to whom these promises pointed and in whom they had their full accomplishment. He was of the seed of David, Act 13:23. To him God gave the throne of his father David (Luk 1:32), all power both in heaven and earth, and authority to execute judgment. He was to build the gospel temple, a house for God's name, Zac 6:12, Zac 6:13. That promise, I will be his Father, and he shall be my Son, is expressly applied to Christ by the apostle, Heb 1:5. But the establishing of his house, and his throne, and his kingdom, for ever (Sa2 7:13, and again, and a third time Sa2 7:16. for ever), can be applied to no other than Christ and his kingdom. David's house and kingdom have long since come to an end; it is only the Messiah's kingdom that is everlasting, and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. The supposition of committing iniquity cannot indeed be applied to the Messiah himself, but it is applicable (and very comfortable) to his spiritual seed. True believers have their infirmities, for which they may expect to be corrected, but they shall not be cast off. Every transgression in the covenant will not throw us out of covenant. Now, (1.) This message Nathan faithfully delivered to David (Sa2 7:17); though, in forbidding him to build the temple, he contradicted his own words, yet he was not backward to do it when he was better informed concerning the mind of God. (2.) These promises God faithfully performed to David and his seed in due time. Though David came short of making good his purpose to build God a house, yet God did not come short of making good his promise to build him a house. Such is the tenour of the covenant we are under; though there are many failures in our performances, there are none in God's.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv4–12 And it came to pass that night,.... The same…
And it came to pass that night,.... The same night following the day in which David and Nathan had had the above conversation, that neither of them might continue long in their error and mistake, and especially lest David, in his great zeal and warm affection, should take an hasty and improper step:
that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan; the word of prophecy, as the Targum; before he was not under a prophetic influence, but spoke in his own words, and had not the word of God; but now it came to him:
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saying; as follows.
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 vv4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12 The word of the Lord came - Because David's…
The word of the Lord came - Because David's mistake was pious, and from an honest mind, God would not suffer him to lie long in it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv5, 7, 10, 11 Verse 5. Shalt thou build me a house] That…
Verse 5. Shalt thou build me a house] That is, Thou shalt not: this is the force of the interrogative in such a case.
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 vv4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 2Sa 7:4-6. That night the word of the Lord…
2Sa 7:4-6. That night the word of the Lord came to Nathan — Because David’s mistake was pious, and from an honest mind, God would not suffer him to remain long in it. Shalt thou build a house for me? — That is, How is it that thou hast formed this design? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house, &c. — I have not mentioned, nor has any one else thought of the building me one, from the time you have been a people. But I have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle — I have been content with a moveable house, in which I was always present to conduct and lead my people from place to place. By the tent may be meant the curtains and hangings within, which were of curious work, and by the tabernacle the frame of boards to which they were fastened, with the coverings upon it.
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 vv6, 7, 10, 12 Have walked - Implying the frequent moving of the…
Have walked - Implying the frequent moving of the tabernacle, in the times of the Judges, as opposed to a settled resting in one place. The word tent, refers especially to the outward covering of skins, etc.: the tabernacle denotes the framework of beards and bars. Observe the constant reference to the Exodus and to the details as given in the books of Moses.
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 vv7, 10, 11, 12 Tribes. 1 Paralipomenon xvii. 6, by the substitution of…
Tribes. 1 Paralipomenon xvii. 6, by the substitution of p for b, reads Shophete, "judges," which seems more natural. Some farther information is there given and we learn that the reason why David was denied the privilege of building a temple, was because he had been so much engaged in war. (Calmet)
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 vv4, 11, 12 GOD APPOINTS HIS SUCCESSOR TO BUILD IT. (Sa2 7:4-17)
GOD APPOINTS HIS SUCCESSOR TO BUILD IT. (Sa2 7:4-17)
it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan--The command was given to the prophet on the night immediately following; that is, before David could either take any measures or incur any expenses.
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 vv5, 7, 10, 11, 12 5. Shalt thou build me a house — Is…
5. Shalt thou build me a house — Is not such a purpose on thy part presumption? Nay, rather, I will make thee a house. Compare 2Sa_7:11. The question implies a negative answer, and in 1Ch_17:4, we have, “Thou shalt not build me a house.”
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 vv4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12 4. the word of the Lord came unto Nathan]…
4. the word of the Lord came unto Nathan] Observe the clear distinction between Nathan’s own judgment, which approved David’s resolution, and the divine message which he was commissioned to deliver to David.
4–17. The Lord’s message to David
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The connexion of thought in 2Sa_7:5-13 is as follows: “Thou shalt not build a house for Me (5–7), but I, who have chosen thee to be the ruler of my people, will build an house for thee (8–11), and thy son shall erect an house for me” (12, 13). The reasons why David’s zeal was thus checked must be carefully considered. The unsettled condition of the nation had made a fixed sanctuary impossible hitherto, and even now the time for it was not yet fully come. The house of David must be firmly established and peace secured, before this great step in the history of the national religion could be advantageously taken. Again, David was not to build the house “because he had shed much blood, and had made great wars” (1Ch_22:8; 1Ch_28:3).
Thus personally David was not the fitting man to build the temple, though he is not blamed for wars which were a necessity of the time; and the very fact that he had to wage these wars, shewed that the time for building the temple had not come, because the kingdom was not yet firmly established.
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 vv4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12 (4) That night.—The night following Nathan’s conversation with David,…
(4) That night.—The night following Nathan’s conversation with David, when the prophet’s mind would have been full of what he had heard, and thus prepared for the Divine communication. That communication is distinctly marked as coming from a source external to the prophet himself, by its being in direct opposition to his own view already expressed.
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 vv4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 The word of Jehovah came unto Nathan. Not every…
The word of Jehovah came unto Nathan. Not every word of a prophet was inspired, and only a very few of the prophets, and those only upon great and solemn occasions, spake under the direct influence of the Spirit of God. In his usual relations with the king, Nathan was simply a wise, thoughtful, and God-fearing man. In giving his approval he probably meant no more than that a permanent dwelling for Jehovah was what all pious men were hoping for. But from the days of Samuel to those of Ezra, there was never wanting one or even more holy men who were, on fit occasions, commissioned to bear a message from God to man; and as these generally belonged to the prophetic order, men too often now confound prophecy with prediction. So inveterate is this confusion that even in the Revised Version Amos is made to say, "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet"s son," whereas the Hebrew distinctly is, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet"s son that is, one trained in the prophetic schools, but I am a herdsman". (Amo_7:16) But though not a prophet by profession, yet Amos was discharging a prophet"s higher duty in testifying against wickedness and impiety, and was acting under a special Divine call. Still, he did not belong to the prophetic order, nor wear the garment of black camel"s hair, which was their professional dress. On the present occasion, Nathan, in approving, had spoken as a man, but now a Divine message comes to him. How we know not. but in ver. 17 it is called a "vision;" and it is also said that it came "that night.
Vers. 4-11 (ZION.) (1Ch_17:3-10)
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A forbidden purpose.
"Shalt thou build me a house for me to dwell in?" On reflection, the prophet, perhaps, felt some misgiving as to the wisdom of the counsel he had given to the king; and (in prayer) the same night (before any steps could be taken to carry it into effect) he received a Divine communication which he faithfully announced. The chief significance of this communication lies in the promise it contained with respect to "the house of David." But it was primarily and directly a prohibition of the king"s resolve. "Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in". (1Ch_17:4) The purpose of a good man is often "broken off"; (Job_17:11 Job_29:18) not always, however, because of the clearer knowledge of the mind of God vouchsafed to him, but more commonly because of the difficulty and opposition he meets with in seeking its accomplishment, and his inability to overcome them. Of the purpose of David (as illustrative of that of others) observe that
I ALTHOUGH FORBIDDEN IT WAS NOT ALTOGETHER DISAPPROVED. "Thou didst well that it was in thine heart"; (1Ki_8:18) spoken of:
1. The spirit, in which his purpose was formed grateful devotion and sincere desire of honourmg God and benefiting men. This is always the chief thing "in the sight of God, who searches the heart.
2. And the object toward which it was directed. It was not in itself displeasing to God, but received his sanction. (Deu_12:10, Deu_12:11; ver. 13) Yet:
3. How seldom is a human purpose, though in the main good, entirelyunmingled with human imperfection! The language in which the purpose of David was forbidden seems to indicate that "his generous impulse was outrunning God"s commandment, and that his ardour to serve was in some danger of forgetting his entire dependence on God, and of fancying that God would be the better for him" (A. Maclaren).
II IT WAS NOT FORBIDDEN WITHOUT SUFFICIENT REASON (vers. 7, 8), viz.:
1. The dealings of God with his people in past time; showing that it was his pleasure that his dwelling place should be adapted to their unsettled condition; and that "a house of cedar" was not indispensable to his presence and blessing. He was satisfied to share their wanderings.
2. The absence of a Divine direction to build a permanent house. "It was not because of any negligence on the part of the former leaders of the people that they had not thought of erecting a temple" (Keil). Until the "word" should be spoken, no one might enter upon such an undertaking.
1. The unsuitableness of the present time the still disturbed and warlike state of the kingdom (ver. 11). "Inasmuch as these wars were necessary and inevitable, they were practical proofs that David"s kingdom and
2. government were not yet established; and therefore that the time for the building of the temple had not yet come, and the rest of peace was not yet secured.
3. The incongruity of his career with the nature and design of the building. An abode of peace should be erected by a man of peace. "Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars; thou shalt not build a house to my Name," etc, (1Ch_22:8 1Ch_28:3; 1Ki_5:3) "From whence could so sublime a precept descend, amidst a people constituted as the Jews were, unless from the Father of love and mercy?" (Milman). "War, however necessary it may be in certain circumstances for the kingdom of God, is only something accidental, the result of human corruption. The true nature of the kingdom of God is peace" (Hengstenberg). Still other reasons appear in what was promised to David (vers. 11, 12), without which the accomplishment of what he purposed in his heart was impossible.
III IT WAS FORBIDDEN IN THE MOST GRACIOUS MANNER, (Vers. 8-11.) For God:
1. Assured him of the regard in which he was held by him. "David is here called God"s servant, who is King of kings the fairest flower in any king"s crown, and highest title he can claim" (Guild).
2. Reminded him of the great things which he had already done for him; and which were an earnest of "still greater things than these". (Psa_78:70-72)
3. Informed him of the safety and stability, the peace and prosperity, which( in continuance of his former mercies) he was about to grant to his people under his rule.
4. Promised to him rest from all his enemies, and an enduring dynasty (ch. 1:1, 2), "Jehovah telleth thee that Jehovah will make thee a house". (Psa_132:11) What an abundant compensation was thus afforded for any disappointment that might be at first experienced! "Our own plans, though well intended, are often fit for nothing but to be laid aside to make way for the Lord"s purposes respecting us, of which perhaps we had no conception" (Scott).
IV IT WAS FORBIDDEN ONLY THAT IT MIGHT BE MORE EFFECTUALLY FULFILLED. (Vers. 12, 13.) shalt not build a house for me" (vers. 5-7); but I, who have from the beginning till now glorified myself in thee and my people (vers. 8-11), will build a house for thee (ver. 11); and then thy son shall erect a house for me" (Thenius).
1. The purpose of man depends for its fulfilment upon the purpose of God.
2. The purpose which one man is unable to accomplish is often wroughtout by another, who comes after him, under more favourable circumstances.
3. Although the former is not permitted to see the execution of hispurpose, he may contribute greatly towards it, and does not go unrewarded.
4. Many a seeming failure is a real and glorious success; and "heaven ismade for those who fail in this world. D.
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 vv5, 8, 11 Shalt thou build me an house for me to…
2Sa_7:5-17
Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
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Folded hands
1. Let us understand that a purpose may be good, yet Providence may see fit to deny its accomplishment. That is to say, God may take the will for the deed. We may work up a sort of personal enthusiasm, and because the end appears right in our eyes, may expect that Providence will immediately accept it; but, the question is not whether the plan is good, but whether it is Gods plan for us in which to serve Him. These so-called crises of human existence are sometimes nothing more nor less than mere crises of human will, dictating to God what ought to be done.
2. Let us remember that a wish may be intense, and yet it is not on that account to be granted. We act so often from mixed motives that we are not always the ones to know whether wishes we cherish are not wiles of the devil. The day has been for many a child of God, when he struggled with some most eager and passionate desire of his heart; God denied it, and the believer has lived to thank Him on the bended knees of his grateful soul. God has promised to grant, not what we seek or crave or implore in set terms, but what we need (Php_4:19).
3. Let us acknowledge that sometimes a human heart is too full of unworthy feeling for success in high spiritual endeavour. Hence the Lord does not entrust this to such agents. This hard decision for David is not without its parallel in modern experience. Are none of us men of blood? It is related of Richard the Lion-hearted that for seven whole years he would not suffer himself to take the Sacrament, because he was conscious of real hatred in his heart towards the king of France. It is possibly a poignant experience, but it may be profitable to acknowledge, There are things I cannot do, because God is holier than I am. For this will leave the way open for fresh increases in holiness at once; and it also settles ones mind down to give over impossibilities, and take up what is legitimately within reach.
4. Let us admit freely, that an intention may be excellent, and yet have to be surrendered into anothers hands. This plan of David was good, but Solomon was to carry it out; that was all (1Ki_8:18). God may choose to have his work done by those whom he selects, and not by volunteers.
5. Let us believe that a human heart may be apparently broken, and yet remain full of joy. Every now and then we fall on some new chapter which shows King Davids frank delight in this lowly task permitted to him (1Ch_28:2-8). He rouses the whole nation with his enthusiasm; and yet his first sentence of address is a candid statement of his purpose which the Lord had thwarted the moment he mentioned it, and now of the purpose which had come in the place of it, making him as happy as a child. Now let us add only an illustration of this whole thought, and finish. Two boys, Franz Knigstein and Albrecht Durer, once lived together in Nuremberg; they were going to be artists, and had entered Michael Wohlgemuths study for instruction. The parents of both were poor, and were struggling to keep their sons at their work, until they should be able to care for themselves. Of these two pupils, the master knew that Albrecht possessed genius, but Franz would never make a painter of whom he should be proud. But both were industrious and frugal and affectionate. They loved each other tenderly, and were kind and faithful unto all at home. Years passed on: one went to Italy, the other continued study in Germany. Ere long Franz married, and, by and by, Albrecht; and the old people died, and times were hard, and art was dull. Albrecht feared that Franz had not the artist spirit, and could never succeed. Once they planned together to make an etching of the passion of our Lord; when they came to show each other what had been accomplished, the picture of Franz was cold and lifeless, while that of Albrecht was full of beauty. Franz himself saw it then. He was in middle life, and so far as he knew he had been a failure. He must give it up; he could not be successful as an artist. But he did not complain; only for a passionate moment he buried his face in his hands. Then he said in broken tones, though still full of courage: The good Lord gave me no such gift as this; but he has something yet for me to do; some homely work shall be found for me; I was blind so long, so much time I have lost; be you the artist of Nuremberg, and I O, Franz! be quiet an instant, exclaimed Albrecht; and a quick rush was made to the paper before him on the table. Only a few lines with a swift pencil: Franz thought he was adding another stroke to his etching, and waited patiently leaning over the mantel with his fingers twined and clasped. And then, next day. Albrecht showed his friend the sheet: Why, those are only my own hands, said Franz; where did you get them? And there was hardly need of an answer. I took them as you stood, making the sad surrender of your life so very, very bravely; and I murmured to myself, those hands that may never paint a picture, can now most certainly make one; I have faith in those folded hands, my brother-friend: they will go to mens hearts in the years to come! And, sure enough, the prophecy was true; for over the artistic world has gone the tale, and over the worlds of love and duty has gone the picture; and the Folded Hands, by Albrecht Durer, are but the hands of Franz Knigstein once folded in sweet, brave resignation, when he gave up his dearest wish, and yet believed the good Lord had a homely duty for him to do, worth the doing. That is the picture which hangs up over my table, and has hung there for years; a mere copy of an etching that belongs in the gallery of Vienna. What it means is, there are some things, my Christian friend, you and I can never do! But there are others we can do, and we can always do something towards accomplishing a preparation for some one else to finish; and what matters all the humiliation, if only the dear Lord gets the glory? (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
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.
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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.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v4 2 Samuel
2 Samuel
THE PROMISED KING AND TEMPLE-BUILDER
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2Sa 7:4 - 2Sa 7:16.
The removal of the ark to Jerusalem was but the first step in a process which was intended to end in the erection of a permanent Temple. The time for the next step appeared to David to have come when he had no longer to fight for his throne. Rest from enemies should lead to larger work for God, else repose will be our worst enemy, and peace will degenerate into self-indulgent sloth. A devout heart will not be content with personal comfort and dwelling in a house of cedar, while the ark has but a tent for its abode. There should be a proportion between expenditure on self and on religious objects. How many professing Christians might go to school to David! Luxury at home and niggardliness in God’s work make an ugly pair, but, alas! a common one.
Nathan approved, as was natural. But he knew the difference between his own thoughts and ‘the word of the Lord’ that came to him, and, like a true man, he went in the morning and contradicted, by God’s authority, his own precipitate sanction of the king’s proposal. Clearly, divine communications were unmistakably distinguishable from the recipient’s own thoughts.
The divine message first negatives the intention to build a house. In 1 Chronicles a positive prohibition takes the place of the question in 2Sa 7:5, but that is only a difference of form, for the question implies a negative answer. From David’s last words {1Ch 28:3} we learn that a reason for the prohibition was ‘because thou art a man of war, and hast shed blood.’ His wars were necessary, and tended to establish the kingdom, but their existence showed that the time for building the Temple had not come, and there was a certain incongruity in a warrior king rearing a house for the God whose kingdom was in its essence peace.
The prohibition rests on a deep insight into the nature of Jehovah’s reign, and draws a broad distinction between His worship and the surrounding paganism. But the reason given in the text is very remarkable. God did not desire a permanent Temple. If we may so say, He preferred the less solid Tabernacle, as corresponding better to the simplicity and spirituality of His worship. A gorgeous stone Temple might easily become the sepulchre, rather than the shrine, of true devotion. The movable tent answered to the temporary character of the ‘dispensation.’ The more fixed and elaborate the externals of worship, the more danger of the spirit being stifled by them. The Old Testament worship was necessarily ceremonial, but here is a caveat against the stiffening of ceremonial into stereotyped formalism.
The prohibition was accompanied by gracious and far-reaching promises, designed to assure David of God’s approbation of his motive, and to open up to him the vision of the future and the wonders that should be. We need say little about the retrospective part of the message {2Sa 7:8 - 2Sa 7:9}. God had been the agent in all David’s past, had lifted him from the quiet following of his sheep, had given him rule, which was but a delegated authority. Israel was ‘My people,’ and therefore he was but an instrument in God’s hand, and was not to govern by his own fancies or for his own advantage.
Every devout man’s life is the realisation of a plan of God’s, and we sin against ourselves as well as Him if we do not often let thankful thoughts retrace all the way by which the Lord our God has led us.
With 2Sa 7:9 the prophecy turns to the future. David personally is promised the continuance of God’s help; then a permanent, peaceful possession of the land is promised to the nation, and finally the perpetuity of the kingdom in the Davidic line is promised. The prophecy as to the nation, like all such prophecies, is contingent on national obedience. The future of the kingdom will stand in blessed contrast with the wild times of the Judges, if-and only if-Israel behaves as ‘My people’ should.
But the main point of the prophecy is the promise to David’s ‘seed.’ In form it attaches itself very significantly to David’s intention to build a house for Jehovah. That would invert the true order, for Jehovah was about to build a house, that is, a permanent posterity, for David. God must first give before man can requite. All our relations to Him begin with His free mercy to us. And our building for Him should ever be the result of His building for us, and will, in some humble way, resemble the divine beneficence by which it has been quickened into action. The very foundation principles of Christian service are expressed here, in guise fitted to the then epoch of revelation.
But the relation of the two things, God’s building and Solomon’s, is not exhausted by such considerations. The consolidation of the monarchy in David’s family was an essential preliminary to the rearing of the Temple. That work needed tranquil times, abundant resources, leisure, and assured dominion. So the prophet goes on to promise that David shall be succeeded by his ‘seed,’ who shall build the Temple.
Further, three great promises are given in reference to David’s seed,- a perpetual kingdom, a personal relation of sonship to Jehovah, and paternal chastisement, if necessary, but no such departure of Jehovah’s mercy as had darkened the close of Saul’s sad reign. Then, finally, the assurance is reiterated of the perpetuity of David’s house and throne. The remarkable expression in 2Sa 7:16, ‘established before thee’ {that is, David}, if it is the true reading, suggests a hint of the life after death, and conceives of the long-dead king as in some manner cognisant of the fortunes of his descendants. But the Septuagint reads ‘before Me,’ and that reading is confirmed by 2Sa 7:26 and 2Sa 7:29, and by Psa 89:36.
Now it is clear that these promises were in part directed to, and fulfilled in, Solomon. But it is as clear that the great promise of an eternal dominion, which is emphatically repeated thrice, goes far beyond him. We are obliged to recognise a second meaning in the prophecy, in accordance with Old Testament usage, which often means by ‘seed’ a line of successive generations of descendants. But no succession of mortal men can reach to eternal duration.
Apart from the fact that the kingdom, in the form in which David’s descendants ruled over it, has long since crumbled away, the large words of the promise must be regarded as inflated and exaggerated, if by ‘for ever’ is only meant ‘for long generations.’ A ‘seed,’ or line of perishable men, can only last for ever if it closes in a Person who is not subject to the law of mortality. Unless we can with our hearts rejoicingly confess, ‘Thou art the King of glory, O Christ! Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,’ we do not pierce to the full understanding of Nathan’s prophecy.
All the glorious prerogatives shadowed in it were but partially fulfilled in Israel’s monarchs. Their failures and their successes, their sins and their virtues, equally declared them to be but shadowy forerunners of Him in whom all that they at the best imperfectly aimed at and possessed is completely and for ever fulfilled. They were prophetic persons by their office, and pointed on to Him.
He has built the true Temple, in that His body is the seat of sacrifice and of revelation, and the meeting-place of God and man, and inasmuch as through Him we are built up into a spiritual house for an habitation of God. In Him is fulfilled the great prophecy of ‘My Servant the Branch,’ who ‘shall build the Temple of the Lord’ and ‘be a Priest upon His throne.’ In Him, too, is fulfilled in highest truth the filial relationship. The Israelitish kings were by office sons of God. He is the Son in ineffable derivation and eternal unity of life with the Father, and their communion is in closest oneness of will and mutual interchange of love. In that filial relation lies the assurance of Christ’s everlasting kingdom, for ‘the Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand.’
The prophecy is echoed in many places of Scripture, and is ever taken to refer to a single person. The angel of the annunciation moulded his salutation to the meek Virgin on it, when he declared that her Son ‘shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 8, 10, 12 did I ever say anything to any of Israel's…
did I ever say anything to any of Israel's leaders whom I appointed to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"
This has a quotation within a quotation. The direct quotation can be stated as an indirect quotation. AT: "did I ever ask any of Israel's leaders, whom I appointed to shepherd my people Israel, why they had not built me a house of cedar?" (See: Quotes Within Quotes and Direct and Indirect Quotations)
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did I ever say anything to any of Israel's leaders
Yahweh uses a question to emphasize that he never asked any of Israel's leaders to build him a house. AT: "I never said anything to any of Israel's leaders" (See: Rhetorical Question)
whom I appointed to shepherd my people Israel
Those who are leaders of the people of Israel are spoken of as if they were shepherds and the people were sheep. (See: Metaphor)
Why have you not built me a house of cedar?
If Yahweh had asked the leaders this question, he would have been using a question to scold them for not building him a house of cedar. But, Yahweh said previously that he did not ask them this question. AT: "You should have built me a house of cedar." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
people group
Israel
Egypt
tabernacle
appoint
shepherd
people of God
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 vv5–12 7:5 Are you the one? God wanted someone to…
7:5 Are you the one? God wanted someone to build him a house, but David wasn’t the right person.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.