2 Samuel 7:4-17

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 say³ to any of the leaders⁴ whom I appointed to care for⁵ 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 shepherd⁶ to make you leader of my people Israel. 7:9 I was with you wherever you went, and I defeated⁷ 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 settle⁹ them there; they will live there and not be disturbed¹⁰ any more. Violent men¹¹ 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 relief¹² from all your enemies. The Lord declares¹³ to you that he himself¹⁴ will build a dynastic house¹⁵ 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. 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 me¹⁹ permanently; your dynasty²⁰ will be permanent.’” 7:17 Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him.²¹

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

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

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

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

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

⁶tn Heb “and from after the sheep.”

⁷tn Heb “cut off.”

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

⁹tn Heb “plant.”

¹⁰tn Heb “shaken.”

¹¹tn Heb “the sons of violence.”

¹²tn Or “rest.”

¹³tn 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.

¹⁴tn Heb “the Lord.”

¹⁵tn 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.

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

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

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

¹⁹tc 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.

²⁰tn Heb “throne.”

²¹tn Heb “according to all these words and according to all this revelation, so Nathan said to David.”