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.” ’ ”
Show the surrounding paragraph
2 Samuel 7:8-16 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
-
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.” ’ ”
-
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.
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:
But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
Show all 3 translations
-
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.
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;
but My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made sure for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for ever.'
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 (138)
- 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…
- 2 Samuel 5:10 (v9) David grew greater and greater; for Yahweh, the God of Armies, was with him.
Show all 100 cross-references
- Luke 1:32-33 (v16) He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign…
- Psalms 89:36-37 (vv13, 16) His offspring will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me. It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in…
- Revelation 3:19 (v14) As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.
- 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,…
- 2 Samuel 7:13 (v16) He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
- 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…
- Isaiah 9:7 (vv12, 13, 15, 16) 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…
- 2 Samuel 7:16 (vv13, 15) Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever.” ’ ”
- Deuteronomy 8:5 (v14) You shall consider in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so Yahweh your God disciplines you.
- 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 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.
- 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…
- 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.
- 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.
- Genesis 49:10 (v16) The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the…
- 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 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…
- Psalms 45:6 (v16) Your throne, God, is forever and ever. A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom.
- 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…
- Daniel 2:44 (v16) “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, nor will its sovereignty be left to…
- Daniel 7:14 (v16) Dominion was given him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an…
- 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…
- 1 Samuel 15:23 (v15) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected Yahweh’s word, he has…
- 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,
- 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…
- 1 Chronicles 17:13-14 (v16) 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;…
- 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.
- Revelation 11:15 (v16) The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and…
- 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 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 Samuel 15:28 (v15) Samuel said to him, “Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.
- 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 89:28 (v15) I will keep my loving kindness for him forever more. My covenant will stand firm with him.
- 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.”
- Hebrews 1:8 (v16) But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom.
- 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 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 Samuel 16:14 (v15) Now Yahweh’s Spirit departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Yahweh troubled him.
- 2 Samuel 7:14 (v15) 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…
- 1 Kings 11:13 (v15) However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake…
- 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…
- 2 Kings 19:34 (v16) ‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’ ”
- 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…
- John 12:34 (v16) The multitude answered him, “We have heard out of the law that the Christ remains forever. How do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted…
- 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 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…
- 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…
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (138 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 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 vv9, 10, 14, 16 I have made thee famous through all the world.
I have made thee famous through all the world.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–16 2Sa 7:8 Now therefore so shalt thou say unto…
2Sa 7:8 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:
Ver. 8. Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David.] God signified his good acceptance by calling him his servant David: for at another time, when he had offended, it was plain David. {2Sa 24:12} So when the people had set up an idol, God fathereth them upon Moses; {Exo 32:7} he would own them no longer.
Read full note →
I took thee from the sheepcote.] So that thou needest not to doubt of my love, though I use not thy service in this particular.
To be ruler over my people, over Israel.] Do this well, and thou needest not be idle.
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 vv8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 So shalt thou say unto my servant David: lest…
So shalt thou say unto my servant David: lest David should be too much discouraged, or judge himself neglected and forsaken of God, as one thought unworthy of so great an honour, God here gives him the honourable title of his servant, thereby signifying that he accepted of his service, and of his good intentions, which also was expressed at this time, as it may seem from 1Ki 8:18, though not in this place.
I took thee from the sheep-cote, to be ruler over my people; I advanced thee, and I do not repent of it.
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 vv8–16 Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant…
Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David,.... For it was taken well at his hands, in part, that it was in his heart, and he had a desire to build an house for God, though he was wrong in determining upon it without seeking the Lord; and lest he should be discouraged by the prohibition of him from building, the following things are observed to assure him it was not from disregard unto him, or displeasure at him, that he would not be employed in this service; since the Lord had given sufficient tokens of his favour to him, and with which he should be content, as having honour enough done him; it was enough that God had raised him up from a low estate to great grandeur and dignity:
thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel; for that was his employment, to keep his father's sheep, before he was taken into Saul's court, and married his daughter, when after his death he came to have the crown, of Israel: now this is said, not to upbraid him with his former meanness, but to observe the goodness of God unto him, and what reason he had for thankfulness, and to look upon himself as a favourite of God, who of a keeper of sheep was made a shepherd of men, to rule and feed them; so Cyrus is called a shepherd, Isa 44:28; and Agamemnon, in Homer (w), is called "the shepherd of the people".
Read full note →
(w) Iliad. 2.
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 vv8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 My servant - Lest David should be too much…
My servant - Lest David should be too much discouraged, or judge himself neglected of God, as one thought unworthy of so great an honour, God here gives him the honourable title of his servant, thereby signifying that he accepted of his service, and good intentions.
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, 15 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 vv8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 2Sa 7:8. So shalt thou say unto my servant…
2Sa 7:8. So shalt thou say unto my servant David — Lest David should be discouraged, or judge himself neglected of God, as one thought unworthy of so great an honour, God here gives him the honourable title of his servant, thereby signifying that he accepted of his service and good intentions.
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, 15 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, 16 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 vv10–16 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 vv8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 8. from the sheepcote] Rather, from the pasture. Cp.…
8. from the sheepcote] Rather, from the pasture. Cp. Psa_78:70-71.
to be ruler] Cp. ch. 2Sa_5:2, 2Sa_6:21.
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 vv8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16 (8) Sheepcote.—Better, pasture.
(8) Sheepcote.—Better, pasture.
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 vv8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 I took thee from the sheepcote. There is in…
I took thee from the sheepcote. There is in Nathan"s message a marked advance upon the words of all previous prophecies. Hitherto God"s promises had been general, and no tribe, and much less any special person, had been chosen as the progenitor of the Messiah. The nearest approach to the selection of a tribe had been the prediction of Judah"s supremacy until Shiloh came; (Gen_49:10) but it was not even there expressly declared that Shiloh should be of Judah"s race. But now David is clearly chosen. Jehovah takes him from the sheepcote; Hebrew, "the meadow". (see Psa_78:70) It was in the meadows, the Naioth, round Ramah, that Samuel had gathered the young men of Israel to study their ancient records, and raise their country to a sense of its high calling. In those meadows David had been formed for his high vocation; but he had returned from them to Bethlehem, to feed his father"s sheep. And now, "from following the ewes that gave suck," Jehovah takes him to be "his servant," a word of high dignity, applied to but few persons in the Old Testament. It signifies the prime minister, or vicegerent of Jehovah, as the theocratic king, and is the special title of Moses among God"s people, and, among the heathen, of Nebuchadnezzar, as one summoned to do a great work for God. But it is in the last twenty-seven chapters of Isaiah that the title reaches its full grandeur. For there, first of all, Israel is called Jehovah"s servant, because it was Israel"s office to be the witness for the oneness of God amidst the debasing polytheism of all the nations round. And then, finally, the servant is Messiah, as being the personal Representative of God upon earth. The title is now given to David as the type of Christ"s kingly office, and also as the sweet singer, who added a new service to the worship of God, and made it more spiritual, and more like the service of angels round God"s throne.
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 vv8, 11, 14, 15, 16 I took thee from the sheepcote.
2Sa_7:8
I took thee from the sheepcote.
Read full note →
Gods making of a life
Though he was a born king by nature and character, David was not born a king. His father was a simple farmer, and his childhood was spent in the quiet scenes of a humble village. Jesus was born in the same Judean village-city, little Bethlehem. It is exactly thus that God ever carries out His mighty programme of action in creation, providence, and grace. The Rev. W. L. Watkinson says that, on visiting an art gallery recently, he noticed that some of the greatest pictures had not a splendid thing in them. The ordinary artist, when he wants to be effective, paints in a breadth of golden harvest, or be portrays a kingfisher or some other iridescent bird, or a tree in bloom, or that captivating thing, a rainbow. But you will notice that some of the greatest painters that ever lived never touch these things. They take common things--a railway cut, a ploughed field--no conspicuous object, only the black earth, the brown earth, the red earth; but their touch is a supreme touch, so that you can see the blossom in the dust and the rainbow in the cloud; and the picture, although it contains not a brilliant thing, is bathed in imagination, poetry, and beauty. So Christ can take the most common human plants in His garden and develop them into the most indescribable beauty and interest. God can take our poor humble lives and crown them with dignity and glory, as He honoured David the shepherd boy, if we fall into the royal line of the servants of righteousness. Before honour is humility. David was not a self-exalted king. He was called to rule, and he followed the Divine call wherever it led him, whether into the desert or into the palace.
Filling present limits
If a man be not signally successful in his present field he cannot reasonably hope to be more successful in a larger field. He must first fill out to his existing limits before he will be able to expand into the area of larger boundaries. A man may indeed have abilities beyond the sphere he is in at present, but in every such case the first indication of this is his filling that sphere satisfactorily. If he lacks where he is, he ought not to feel that he could do better, or even as well, if he were in a larger place. It were folly to expect that there is milk enough for a gallon measure when it cannot fill a pint pot. (Great Thoughts.)
God the Giver of power
That God is the Giver of power and dominion is a truth which has always been recognized in the unchangeable East. Thus, in the inscription of Darius on the rock at Behistun, the ninth paragraph reads: Says Darius the king:--Ormazd [the god] granted me the empire. Ormazd brought help to me so that I gained this empire. By the grace of Ormazd, I hold this empire. Substitute Jehovah for Ormazd, and David might truthfully have written that inscription. Again, in the Annals of Assurbanipal which are preserved on terra-cotta cylinders, now in the British Museum, it is said: I am Assurbanipal, the seed of [the gods] Assur and Beltis, son of the great king of the North Palace, whom [the gods] Assur and Sin the lord of crowns, raised to the kingdom, prophesying his name from the days of old; and in his birth have created him to rule Assyria. [The gods] Shamas, Vul, and Ishtar, in power most high, commanded the making of his kingdom. (Sunday School Times.)
From obscurity to eminence
For purposes of sober illustration or intense appeal to the unselfish and heroic, nothing can surpass the life of David Livingstone, whom Florence Nightingale called the greatest man of his generation. The vision of the boy placing his book on the spinning-jenny and studying amid the roar of the machinery at Blantyre, or sitting contentedly down before his fathers door to spend the night, upon arriving after the hour for locking it; the old coat, eleven years behind the fashion, which he wore when he emerged at Cape Town after Kolobeng had been pillaged; the sadness of the scene when he buried his little daughter in the first grave in all this country, he wrote to his parents, marked as the resting-place of one of whom it is believed and confessed that she stall live again; his jocular letters to his daughter Agnes about his distorted teeth, so that my smile is like that of a hippopotamus; the meeting with Stanley when he was a mere ruckle of bones; the indomitable grit of the man whose last words in Scotland were, Fear God, and work hard--this life is full of such things as these, capable of use, inviting it. And when, before or since, has this world been swayed by eloquence comparable with that of his death? No pulpit has ever spoken with such power. The worn frame kneeling by the bedside at Ilala, pulseless and grill, while the rain dripped from the eaves of the hut, dead in the attitude of prayer, solitary and alone, sent a thrill through the souls of men which, thank God, is vibrating still, and is working out the redemption wrought once for Africa by the worlds Redeemer. (W. G. Blaikie.)
2Sa_7:8-17
Go, do all that is in thine heart.
Divine correction of a prophets mistake and Divine denial of a kings desire
1. It is pleasant to glance at the circumstances which gave birth to Davids desire to build the temple. The regal position into which he passed on the death of Saul was no bed of roses. The land was still over-run by the Philistines, who held many of its strongest fortresses. Jerusalem was in the hands of the Jebusites. There was hard and long-lasting work to be done, but David gave himself to it with full purpose of heart; and his God who had called him to it did not suffer him to labour in vain. Victory after victory crowned his arduous struggles, until, at last, the Philistines were for ever banished; the Land of Promise was fully possessed by the Israelites; and Davids unresisted rule extended over all the twelve tribes. It was a happy time for the king and his people. Peace had come into the land, and prosperity was in her train. The king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies. We can scarcely enter into the joy which all this created, and the thankfulness it inspired; not because we know nothing of such circumstances, but because we have-always lived in them. Those who have never mourned on account of the deep darkness of midnight, cannot appreciate the beauty of the dawn and the splendours of the noon like men who through long hours of thick gloom have watched and waited for the morning. How can we estimate the blessedness of peace and security, as it was estimated by the Hebrews after nearly a life-time of constant disquiet and bloody strife, and well-grounded dread of national annihilation and of individual slavery or death? It may be asked, if David were so joyous and thankful, could he not have taken his harp of sweet and solemn sound, and have expressed his new-born praise in some new-born psalm? Doubtless he did this, but it was not enough to satisfy his gratitude. The truly thankful heart is glad to put on its singing robes, and lift its exultant strains to heaven; but it cannot be contented with words and music alone, even though another David should pen the hymn, and an inspired Handel should compose the melody. It will want to express its emotion in works, to put on the garb of a willing servant, and, in addition to saying great things about God, to do right and good and noble things for God. Let us be assured that if we know and believe the love that God hath to us--if His love have enkindled ours--we too shall be eager to embody our living thankfulness in deeds of truth, and kindness, and purity. The praise that expresses itself in action is not only the most acceptable to God, it is also the only praise which can give relief to the spirit burdened with a sense of what it owes to Him, whose mercy is like Himself--without beginning of days or end of years.
2. We must turn from the origin and nature of Davids purpose to Nathans mistaken sanction of it. A sympathetic heart is a great quickener of the brain. If your spirit be in unison with that of another man, how readily you and he can understand each other. Half words are enough, and either of you can fully discern the others desire or purpose long before his language has fully disclosed it. It is this taw of our nature which makes it so much easier for a man to find out the Divine Will when his heart is brought into living sympathy with God. Then his faculty of discernment is so perfect that to him God can say, I will guide thee with Mine eye. Between Nathan and David there was this sympathy, so that the latter had scarcely begun to speak about his purpose before the former divined all that be intended. Here is a most instructive case of the fallability of an always good and ofttimes inspired man! It is frequently difficult to distinguish between the inclinations of our own wills and the guidance of Gods hand. It is so easy to mistake the bent of our own desires for the intimations of Providence; and when our own hearts are in favour of a thing it requires little argument to convince us that God is in favour of it too. No matter how wise or right any course may appear to be, if we would be always safe we must always distrust our own unaided judgments, and cherish the dependent and teachable spirit, which cries, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? Nathan went home to his evening prayer, and his nightly rest, and was speedily made aware of his error.
3. We have now to look at the denial of Davids desire, and at the facts and promises which were set before him to reconcile him to his disappointment. There was neither disdain of his gratitude nor condemnation of his idea that the prospered nation ought to have a better house for holy service. The Lord in His great kindness was careful so to convey the denial that it could not possibly impair Davids faith in the Divine love, nor excite his hostility to the Divine plan. He testified that Gods gentleness had made him great. Of that gentleness he seldom had richer experience than on this occasion.
(1) The first words in the message were calculated to pacify Davids conscience, which had been troubled about the poverty of the place wherein God was worshipped. He was reminded that the matter which had distressed him had called forth no complaint from the Lord.
(2) Having referred to the forbearance which others had met with, the Divine message proceeds to speak of what had been done for David. The Lord spake as if He feared that by thwarting Davids purpose He might expose His love to unjust suspicion; and therefore He was careful to show that He had already done so much for His servant that, whatever course He might see it best to pursue, His love ought not to be suspected for a moment. Surely He had placed that beyond the shadow of a doubt! The way in which Davids doubts were prevented is the way in which ours must be checked and cured. If Gods nay to our requests should tempt us to distrust His love, we must meet the temptation with memories of the many times and the manifold ways wherein He has heard our prayer and enriched us with His blessing. There is great significance in the fact that in refusing David the coveted honour of building the temple, the Lord reminded him of the glory as well as the mercy already bestowed upon him. Was it not telling David that the fame he had secured was enough for any one mans lawful ambition? Why should he want to add to that the glory of being the greatest temple-builder the world had seen? He must not aspire to that crown too. God would reserve it for another. Men righteously denounced Napoleon for his desire to make a French empire of all Europe. There is too often a Napoleonism in commerce which is not a whit more admirable. Instead of vigorously and contentedly pursuing their own proper business, men have sought profitable pecuniary connection with ten or twenty other totally distinct enterprises. In how many cases this vaulting ambition has overleaped itself!
(3) From another part of the inspired history we learn that the character of Davids preceding work was given as one reason why the present purpose was to be laid aside. It should not be supposed that this implies censure of Davids warlike course. Had he not been qualified for it, and called be it, by God? Was it not a necessary work, and had he not Divine succour in it? It was both lawful and expedient; and yet it had unfitted him for the new kind of work to which he wanted to put his hands. In our present imperfect state, ability for one thing may involve disability for another thing. As no one man is intended to gain everything, so no one man is endowed with all the talents. Happy is he who finds out what he is fit for, and devotes himself to it; and is either so wise or so busy that he does not attempt numerous other achievements.
(4) Another way in which the Lord sought to reconcile David to the denial of his desire was by promising that his purpose should not perish, but be carried out by his own son. It is no wonder that Gods message checked all murmuring all rebellion in Davids heart. He did more than cheerfully submit; he exulted in the decision and purpose of the Lord. Instead of weeping and wailing, because his plan had not been adopted, he broke out into an impassioned and sublime strain of thanksgiving. Let it be remembered to the honour of his piety that such was-his confidence in the wisdom and love and faithfulness of God that one of the most fervent songs he ever sung was inspired by the very message in which he was told he was not to do what he had asked to do. It ought to be easier for us to imitate Davids hearty acquiescence, because we know that subsequent events proved how wise it was. According to Gods promise, Solomon succeeded to the throne, and was in every way fitted for the task assigned to him. It was a magnificent testimony to the truth that Gods Nay and Gods Yea are only two different forms in which the same everlasting love and infinite wisdom are expressed. (C. Vince.)
Nathans mistake
Davids proposal was so generous and so religious that the prophet Nathan didnt have a question that its prompting was from the Lord. He was ready to bid the king God-speed, without a doubt as to the propriety of the thing proposed. But the sequel showed that Davids plan didnt have the Lords approval. Nor was this the last time that a man of God made a mistake in supposing that because a proposition was a religious one it necessarily had the Lords approval. A young man comes to his pastor, and says that he has decided to give up everything else and study for the ministry. It doesnt follow that the minister ought to say, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee. It is still a question whether this well-intentioned proposal is really of the Lord. So again, it may be, when a man comes with a proposition as to the use of his property, in establishing a local fund for the support of the ministry, in founding another college, or in building a new hospital. To show a religious purpose is one thing. To be sure that that purpose has the Lords approval, or that just as it is it deserves the approval of the Lords ministers, is quite another thing. Other men of God need to learn caution from the experience of Nathan. (H. C. Trumbull.)
A noble purpose unrealised
I. A conception of a noble purpose. It was a great thought that came to David. It was in part suggested by the exigencies of the situation. After the ark had come to its new home, Asaph and others had been appointed to celebrate, and thank, and praise the Lord, and minister before Him (1Ch_16:4-37); and it is supposed that, at this period, the twenty-four courses of priests were appointed, an arrangement which lasted to the time of our Lord. It is thus, especially in young life, that great conceptions visit the soul; ideals of surpassing beauty cast a light forward upon the future; resolves of service for God and man brace the soul as the air from the glaciers does the dwellers in the plains; and all life assumes a nobler aspect, and is set to a higher key. Secretly that lad resolves to be a preacher, missionary, or philanthropist; and that girl, to be queen in an ideal home, or to go far hence to the zenanas of India. I will do this great thing for God, the young heart says to itself, altogether heedless of sacrifice, tears, blood. The bugle-notes of lofty purpose ring out gladly, summoning the soul to noble exploit; and it is saved from the low levels which satisfy others by the immortal hope that has already gone forward to occupy the future. Young people, never surrender your ideal, nor act unworthily of it, nor disobey the heavenly vision. Above all, when you come to the house of cedar, and God has given you rest, be more than ever careful to gird yourselves, and arise to realize the purpose that visited you when you kept your fathers sheep.
II. The ideal is not always realized. There is no definite No spoken by Gods gentle lips. He presses His promises and blessings upon us, and leads us forward in a golden haze of love, which conceals this negative. The plant is conscious of a great possibility throbbing within it; but somehow the days pass, and it does not come to a flower. The picture which is to gain immortality is always to be painted; the book which is to elucidate the problem of the ages is always to be written; the immortal song is always to be sung. The young man is kept at his desk in the counting-house instead of going to the pulpit; the girl becomes a withered woman, cherishing a faded flower; the king hands on to his son the building of the house.
III. God explains his reasons afterwards. What we know not now, we shall know hereafter. The blood-stained hand might not raise the temple of peace. It would have wounded David needlessly to have been told this at the time. It was enough to wrap up the Divine No in a promise of infinite blessing; but, as the years passed, the reason for Gods refusal grew clear and distinct before him. Meanwhile, David possessed his soul in patience, and said to himself: God has a reason, I cannot understand it; but it is well.
IV. An unrealized conception may yet be fraught with immense blessing. Solomon completes the story. David was a better man because he had given expression to the noble purpose. Its gleam left a permanent glow on his life. The rejected candidate to the missionary society stands upon a higher moral platform than those who were never touched by the glow of missionary enthusiasm. For a woman to have loved passionately, even though the dark waters may have engulfed her love before it was consummated, leaves her ever after richer, deeper, than if she had never loved, nor been loved in return. God will credit us with what we would have been if we might. In the glory David will find himself credited with the building of the temple on Mount Zion.
V. Do the next thing. The energy which David would have expended in building the temple wrought itself out in gathering the materials for its construction. If you cannot have what you hoped, do not sit down in despair and allow the energies of your life to run to waste; but arise, and gird yourself to help others to achieve. If you may not build, you may gather materials for him that shall. If you may not go down the mine, you can hold the ropes. There is a fact in nature known as the law of the conservation of force. The force of the accumulating velocity of the falling stone passes into heat, of which some is retained by the stone, the rest passes into the atmosphere. No true ideals are fruitless; somehow they help the world of men. No tears are wept, no prayers uttered, no conceptions honestly entertained in vain. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Our hearts the measure of our work
Think much about intentions. Give, and it shall be given you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. After which Bengel acutely annotates that it is by our hearts that we both mete out to others and have it meted out to ourselves. It would have gone hard with-the poor widow if she, had only had a farthing meted out to her in her Lords judgment on her. But her Lord looked on her heart. And thus it is that she sits in heaven to-day among the queens who sit there on their thrones of gold, because she had such a queenly heart that day in the temple porch. Both from Davids intended temple, from the poor widows actual collection at the door of Davids temple, and from Bengels spiritual annotation let us learn this spiritual lesson, that our hearts are the measure both of our work and of our wages in the sight of God. You cannot build and repair all the churches and mission-houses and manses at home and abroad you would like to build and repair. You cannot endow all the chairs of sacred learning you would like: You cannot contribute to the sustentation of the Christian ministry as you would like. You cannot visit and relieve all the fatherless and widows in their affliction as you would like. You cannot stop all the sources of sin and misery in this world as you would like. You cannot make the reading, or the religion, or the devotional life of your people what your heart is full of. You wish you could. So did David. David had magnificent dreams about the temple. He built the temple every night in his sleep. And had he been permitted he would not have slept with his fathers till he had dedicated a most magnificent house to the name of the Lord. But it stands in Gods true and faithful Word, that it was all in Davids heart. And He who looks not so much on the action as on the intention, He saw in this also a man after His own heart. May all Davids good intentions, and generous preparations be found in all our rich people, and may all the widows love and goodwill be found in all our poor people. For the heart is the measure. And as we measure our good words, and good wishes, and good purposes, and good preparations, and good performances in our heart, so will it be measured back to us by Him who sees and weighs and measures the heart and nothing but the heart. (Alex. Whyte, 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.
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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv15–16 2Sa 7:14-15 state the principle of judgment within the…
mercy
2Sa 7:14-15 state the principle of judgment within the family of God. (See Scofield "1Co 11:31"). It is always remedial, not penal Heb 12:5-11.
Read full note →
Judgment of the wicked is penal, not remedial.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8, 10, 12, 15 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh describes his promises to King David through the prophet Nathan.
Read full note →
Now
This does not mean "at this moment," but is used to draw attention to the important point that follows.
tell my servant David, "This is what Yahweh of hosts says: 'I took you ... your name great, like the names of the great ones of the earth.
This has quotations within quotations. It may be necessary to translate the direct quotations as indirect quotations as in the UDB. AT: "tell my servant David that I took him ... his name great, like the names of the great ones of the earth" (See: Quotes Within Quotes and Direct and Indirect Quotations)
tell my servant David
Yahweh is still telling the prophet Nathan what he should tell David.
I took you from the pasture
David's job as a shepherd is referred to by the place he watched his sheep. AT: "I took you from your job as a shepherd" (See: Metonymy)
I have been with you
Here "with you" means that Yahweh has helped and blessed David. (See: Idiom)
I have cut off all your enemies
Yahweh destroying David's enemies is spoken of as if Yahweh cut them off, as one would cut a piece of cloth or cut a branch from a tree. (See: Metaphor)
make your name great
Here "name" represents a person's reputation. (See: Metonymy)
the great ones
The phrase "great ones" means famous persons.
translationWords
Yahweh of hosts
ewe
rule
people of God
cut off
adversary
name
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 vv8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 7:8-17 Instead of David’s building God a house, God…
7:8-17 Instead of David’s building God a house, God promised to build David a house, a permanent dynasty of kings from David’s descendants.
7:8 tending sheep: Kings in the ancient Near East were often called shepherds (see 1 Kgs 22:17; Isa 44:28; Ezek 34:2; 37:24; Nah 3:18; Zech 10:3). David, who had been a shepherd, called the Lord his shepherd (Ps 23:1).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.