2 Samuel 23:5

23:5 My dynasty is approved by God, ¹ 

for he has made a perpetual covenant with me,

arranged in all its particulars and secured.

He always delivers me,

and brings all I desire to fruition. ² 

2 Samuel 23:2

23:2 The Lord’s spirit spoke through me;

his word was on my tongue.

2 Samuel 7:18

David Offers a Prayer to God

7:18 King David went in, sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, ³  that you should have brought me to this point?

2 Samuel 21:7

21:7 The king had mercy on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, in light of the Lord’s oath that had been taken between David and Jonathan son of Saul.

Psalms 89:34

89:34 I will not break ⁴  my covenant

or go back on what I promised. ⁵ 

Psalms 132:11-12

132:11 The Lord made a reliable promise to David; ⁶ 

he will not go back on his word. ⁷ 

He said, ⁸  “I will place one of your descendants ⁹  on your throne.

132:12 If your sons keep my covenant

and the rules I teach them,

their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”

Psalms 132:17

132:17 There I will make David strong; ¹⁰ 

I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 55:3

55:3 Pay attention and come to me!

Listen, so you can live! ¹² 

Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ¹³  you,

just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ¹⁴ 

Matthew 24:35

24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ¹⁵ 

Luke 1:69-70

1:69 For ¹⁶  he has raised up ¹⁷  a horn of salvation ¹⁸  for us in the house of his servant David, ¹⁹ 

1:70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, ²⁰ 

[23:5]  ¹ tn Heb “For not thus [is] my house with God?”

[23:5]  ² tn Heb “for all my deliverance and every desire, surely does he not make [it] grow?”

[7:18]  ³ tn Heb “house.”

[89:34]  ⁴ tn Or “desecrate.”

[89:34]  ⁵ tn Heb “and what proceeds out of my lips I will not alter.”

[132:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord swore an oath to David [in] truth.”

[132:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “he will not turn back from it.”

[132:11]  ⁸ tn The words “he said” are supplied in the translation to clarify that what follows are the Lord’s words.

[132:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “the fruit of your body.”

[132:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there I will cause a horn to sprout for David.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (cf. Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Pss 18:2; 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). In the ancient Near East powerful warrior-kings would sometimes compare themselves to a goring bull that used its horns to kill its enemies. For examples, see P. Miller, “El the Warrior,” HTR 60 (1967): 422-25, and R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 135-36.

[132:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I have arranged a lamp for my anointed one.” Here the “lamp” is a metaphor for the Davidic dynasty (see 1 Kgs 11:36).

[55:3]  ¹² tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.

[55:3]  ¹³ tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”

[55:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”

[24:35]  ¹⁵ sn The words that Jesus predicts here will never pass away. They are more stable and lasting than creation itself. For this kind of image, see Isa 40:8; 55:10-11.

[1:69]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and,” but specifying the reason for the praise in the psalm.

[1:69]  ¹⁷ sn The phrase raised up means for God to bring someone significant onto the scene of history.

[1:69]  ¹⁸ sn The horn of salvation is a figure that refers to the power of Messiah and his ability to protect, as the horn refers to what an animal uses to attack and defend (Ps 75:4-5, 10; 148:14; 2 Sam 22:3). Thus the meaning of the figure is “a powerful savior.”

[1:69]  ¹⁹ sn In the house of his servant David is a reference to Messiah’s Davidic descent. Zechariah is more interested in Jesus than his own son John at this point.

[1:70]  ²⁰ tn Grk “from the ages,” “from eternity.”