2 Samuel 7:6

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. ¹ 

2 Samuel 7:1

The Lord Establishes a Covenant with David

7:1 The king settled into his palace, ²  for the Lord gave him relief ³  from all his enemies on all sides. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 8:1-2

David Subjugates Nearby Nations

8:1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah ⁵  from the Philistines. ⁶  8:2 He defeated the Moabites. He made them lie on the ground and then used a rope to measure them off. He put two-thirds of them to death and spared the other third. ⁷  The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute. ⁸ 

2 Samuel 2:6

2:6 Now may the Lord show you true kindness! ⁹  I also will reward you, ¹⁰  because you have done this deed.

2 Samuel 6:18

6:18 When David finished offering the burnt sacrifices and peace offerings, he pronounced a blessing over the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.

Isaiah 66:1-2

66:1 This is what the Lord says:

“The heavens are my throne

and the earth is my footstool.

Where then is the house you will build for me?

Where is the place where I will rest?

66:2 My hand made them; ¹¹ 

that is how they came to be,” ¹²  says the Lord.

I show special favor ¹³  to the humble and contrite,

who respect what I have to say. ¹⁴ 

Acts 7:44-50

7:44 Our ancestors ¹⁵  had the tabernacle ¹⁶  of testimony in the wilderness, ¹⁷  just as God ¹⁸  who spoke to Moses ordered him ¹⁹  to make it according to the design he had seen. 7:45 Our ²⁰  ancestors ²¹  received possession of it and brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors, ²²  until the time ²³  of David. 7:46 He ²⁴  found favor ²⁵  with ²⁶  God and asked that he could ²⁷  find a dwelling place ²⁸  for the house ²⁹  of Jacob. 7:47 But Solomon built a house ³⁰  for him. 7:48 Yet the Most High ³¹  does not live in houses made by human hands, ³²  as the prophet says,

7:49 ‘Heaven is my throne,

and earth is the footstool for my feet.

What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,

or what is my resting place? ³³ 

7:50 Did my hand ³⁴  not make all these things?’ ³⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “in a tent and in a dwelling.” The expression is a hendiadys, using two terms to express one idea.

² tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).

³ tn Or “rest.”

⁴ tn The translation understands the disjunctive clause in v. 1b as circumstantial-causal.

⁵ tn Heb “the bridle of one cubit.” Many English versions treat this as a place name because the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:1 reads “Gath” (which is used by NLT here). It is possible that “the bridle of one cubit” is to be understood as “the token of surrender,” referring to the Philistine’s defeat rather than a specific place (cf. TEV, CEV).

⁶ tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.”

⁷ tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”

⁸ tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”

⁹ tn Or “loyalty and devotion.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “will do with you this good.”

¹¹ tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.

¹² tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”

¹³ tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).

¹⁴ tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”

¹⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

¹⁶ tn Or “tent.”

¹⁷ tn Or “desert.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁹ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

²⁰ tn Grk “And.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

²¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

²² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

²³ tn Grk “In those days.”

²⁴ tn Grk “David, who” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.

²⁵ tn Or “grace.”

²⁶ tn Grk “before,” “in the presence of.”

²⁷ tn The words “that he could” are not in the Greek text, but are implied as the (understood) subject of the infinitive εὑρεῖν (Jeurein). This understands David’s request as asking that he might find the dwelling place. The other possibility would be to supply “that God” as the subject of the infinitive: “and asked that God find a dwelling place.” Unfortunately this problem is complicated by the extremely difficult problem with the Greek text in the following phrase (“house of Jacob” vs. “God of Jacob”).

²⁸ tn On this term see BDAG 929 s.v. σκήνωμα a (Ps 132:5).

²⁹ tc Some mss read θεῷ (qew, “God”) here, a variant much easier to understand in the context. The reading “God” is supported by א² A C E Ψ 33 1739 Ï lat sy co. The more difficult οἴκῳ (oikw, “house”) is supported by Ì⁷⁴ א* B D H 049 pc. Thus the second reading is preferred both externally because of better ms evidence and internally because it is hard to see how a copyist finding the reading “God” would change it to “house,” while it is easy to see how (given the LXX of Ps 132:5) a copyist might assimilate the reading and change “house” to “God.” However, some scholars think the reading “house” is so difficult as to be unacceptable. Others (like Lachmann and Hort) resorted to conjectural emendation at this point. Others (Ropes) sought an answer in an underlying Aramaic expression. Not everyone thinks the reading “house” is too difficult to be accepted as original (see Lake and Cadbury). A. F. J. Klijn, “Stephen’s Speech – Acts vii.2-53,” NTS 4 (1957): 25-31, compared the idea of a “house within the house of Israel” with the Manual of Discipline from Qumran, a possible parallel that seems to support the reading “house” as authentic. (For the more detailed discussion from which this note was derived, see TCGNT 308-9.)

³⁰ sn See 1 Kgs 8:1-21.

³¹ sn The title the Most High points to God’s majesty (Heb 7:1; Luke 1:32, 35; Acts 16:7).

³² sn The phrase made by human hands is negative in the NT: Mark 14:58; Acts 17:24; Eph 2:11; Heb 9:11, 24. It suggests “man-made” or “impermanent.” The rebuke is like parts of the Hebrew scripture where the rebuke is not of the temple, but for making too much of it (1 Kgs 8:27; Isa 57:15; 1 Chr 6:8; Jer 7:1-34).

³³ sn What kind…resting place? The rhetorical questions suggest mere human beings cannot build a house to contain God.

³⁴ tn Or “Did I.” The phrase “my hand” is ultimately a metaphor for God himself.

³⁵ tn The question in Greek introduced with οὐχί (ouci) expects a positive reply.