2 Samuel 7:11-16

7:11 and during the time when I appointed judges to lead my people Israel. Instead, I will give you relief ¹  from all your enemies. The Lord declares ²  to you that he himself ³  will build a dynastic house ⁴  for you. 7:12 When the time comes for you to die, ⁵  I will raise up your descendant, one of your own sons, to succeed you, ⁶  and I will establish his kingdom. 7:13 He will build a house for my name, and I will make his dynasty permanent. ⁷  7:14 I will become his father and he will become my son. When he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with wounds inflicted by human beings. 7:15 But my loyal love will not be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 7:16 Your house and your kingdom will stand before me ⁸  permanently; your dynasty ⁹  will be permanent.’”

2 Samuel 7:25-29

7:25 So now, O Lord God, make this promise you have made about your servant and his family a permanent reality. ¹⁰  Do as you promised, ¹¹  7:26 so you may gain lasting fame, ¹²  as people say, ¹³  ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel!’ The dynasty ¹⁴  of your servant David will be established before you, 7:27 for you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have told ¹⁵  your servant, ‘I will build you a dynastic house.’ ¹⁶  That is why your servant has had the courage ¹⁷  to pray this prayer to you. 7:28 Now, O sovereign Lord, you are the true God! ¹⁸  May your words prove to be true! ¹⁹  You have made this good promise to your servant! ²⁰  7:29 Now be willing to bless your servant’s dynasty ²¹  so that it may stand permanently before you, for you, O sovereign Lord, have spoken. By your blessing may your servant’s dynasty be blessed on into the future!” ²² 

[7:11]  ¹ tn Or “rest.”

[7:11]  ² tn In the Hebrew text the verb is apparently perfect with vav consecutive, which would normally suggest a future sense (“he will declare”; so the LXX, ἀπαγγελεῖ [apangelei]). But the context seems instead to call for a present or past nuance (“he declares” or “he has declared”). The synoptic passage in 1 Chr 17:10 has וָאַגִּד (va’aggid, “and I declared”). The construction used in 2 Sam 7:11 highlights this important statement.

[7:11]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord.”

[7:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “house,” but used here in a metaphorical sense, referring to a royal dynasty. Here the Lord’s use of the word plays off the literal sense that David had in mind as he contemplated building a temple for the Lord. To reflect this in the English translation the adjective “dynastic” has been supplied.

[7:12]  ⁵ tn Heb, “when your days are full and you lie down with your ancestors.”

[7:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “your seed after you who comes out from your insides.”

[7:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “and I will establish the throne of his kingdom permanently.”

[7:16]  ⁸ tc Heb “before you.” A few medieval Hebrew mss read instead “before me,” which makes better sense contextually. (See also the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta.) The MT reading is probably the result of dittography (note the כ [kaf] at the beginning of the next form), with the extra כ then being interpreted as a pronominal suffix.

[7:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “throne.”

[7:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and now, O Lord God, the word which you spoke concerning your servant and concerning his house, establish permanently.”

[7:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “as you have spoken.”

[7:26]  ¹² tn Heb “and your name might be great permanently.” Following the imperative in v. 23b, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result.

[7:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “saying.” The words “as people” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[7:26]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the house.” See the note on “dynastic house” in the following verse.

[7:27]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “have uncovered the ear of.”

[7:27]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a house.” This maintains the wordplay from v. 11 (see the note on the word “house” there) and is continued in v. 29.

[7:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “has found his heart.”

[7:28]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the God.” The article indicates uniqueness here.

[7:28]  ¹⁹ tn The translation understands the prefixed verb form as a jussive, indicating David’s wish/prayer. Another option is to take the form as an imperfect and translate “your words are true.”

[7:28]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and you have spoken to your servant this good thing.”

[7:29]  ²¹ tn Heb “house” (again later in this verse). See the note on “dynastic house” in v. 27.

[7:29]  ²² tn Or “permanently”; cf. NLT “it is an eternal blessing.”