2 Samuel 7:11

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.

2 Samuel 7:16

7:16 Your house and your kingdom will stand before me ⁵  permanently; your dynasty ⁶  will be permanent.’”

2 Samuel 7:26-29

7:26 so you may gain lasting fame, ⁷  as people say, ⁸  ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel!’ The dynasty ⁹  of your servant David will be established before you, 7:27 for you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have told ¹⁰  your servant, ‘I will build you a dynastic house.’ ¹¹  That is why your servant has had the courage ¹²  to pray this prayer to you. 7:28 Now, O sovereign Lord, you are the true God! ¹³  May your words prove to be true! ¹⁴  You have made this good promise to your servant! ¹⁵  7:29 Now be willing to bless your servant’s dynasty ¹⁶  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!” ¹⁷ 

¹ tn Or “rest.”

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.

³ tn Heb “the Lord.”

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.

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn Heb “throne.”

⁷ 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.

⁸ tn Heb “saying.” The words “as people” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

⁹ tn Heb “the house.” See the note on “dynastic house” in the following verse.

¹⁰ tn Heb “have uncovered the ear of.”

¹¹ 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.

¹² tn Heb “has found his heart.”

¹³ tn Heb “the God.” The article indicates uniqueness here.

¹⁴ 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.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “and you have spoken to your servant this good thing.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “house” (again later in this verse). See the note on “dynastic house” in v. 27.

¹⁷ tn Or “permanently”; cf. NLT “it is an eternal blessing.”