2 Samuel 7:4-14

7:4 That night the Lord told Nathan, ¹  7:5 “Go, tell my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord says: Do you really intend to build a house for me to live in? 7:6 I have not lived in a house from the time I brought the Israelites up from Egypt to the present day. Instead, I was traveling with them and living in a tent. ²  7:7 Wherever I moved among all the Israelites, I did not say ³  to any of the leaders ⁴  whom I appointed to care for ⁵  my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?”’

7:8 “So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd ⁶  to make you leader of my people Israel. 7:9 I was with you wherever you went, and I defeated ⁷  all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth. ⁸  7:10 I will establish a place for my people Israel and settle ⁹  them there; they will live there and not be disturbed ¹⁰  any more. Violent men ¹¹  will not oppress them again, as they did in the beginning 7:11 and during the time when I appointed judges to lead my people Israel. Instead, I will give you relief ¹²  from all your enemies. The Lord declares ¹³  to you that he himself ¹⁴  will build a dynastic house ¹⁵  for you. 7:12 When the time comes for you to die, ¹⁶  I will raise up your descendant, one of your own sons, to succeed you, ¹⁷  and I will establish his kingdom. 7:13 He will build a house for my name, and I will make his dynasty permanent. ¹⁸  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.

¹ tn Heb “the word of the Lord was [i.e., came] to Nathan.”

² tn Heb “in a tent and in a dwelling.” The expression is a hendiadys, using two terms to express one idea.

³ tn Heb “Did I speak a word?” In the Hebrew text the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question.

⁴ tn Heb “tribes” (so KJV, NASB, NCV), but the parallel passage in 1 Chr 17:6 has “judges.”

⁵ tn Heb “whom I commanded to shepherd” (so NIV, NRSV).

⁶ tn Heb “and from after the sheep.”

⁷ tn Heb “cut off.”

⁸ tn Heb “and I will make for you a great name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.”

⁹ tn Heb “plant.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “shaken.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the sons of violence.”

¹² tn Or “rest.”

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord.”

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ tn Heb, “when your days are full and you lie down with your ancestors.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “your seed after you who comes out from your insides.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “and I will establish the throne of his kingdom permanently.”