2 Samuel 7:1-13

The Lord Establishes a Covenant with David

7:1 The king settled into his palace, ¹  for the Lord gave him relief ²  from all his enemies on all sides. ³  7:2 The king said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I am living in a palace made from cedar, while the ark of God sits in the middle of a tent.” 7:3 Nathan replied to the king, “You should go ⁴  and do whatever you have in mind, ⁵  for the Lord is with you.” 7:4 That night the Lord told Nathan, ⁶  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. ⁷  7:7 Wherever I moved among all the Israelites, I did not say ⁸  to any of the leaders ⁹  whom I appointed to care for ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  to make you leader of my people Israel. 7:9 I was with you wherever you went, and I defeated ¹²  all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth. ¹³  7:10 I will establish a place for my people Israel and settle ¹⁴  them there; they will live there and not be disturbed ¹⁵  any more. Violent men ¹⁶  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 ¹⁷  from all your enemies. The Lord declares ¹⁸  to you that he himself ¹⁹  will build a dynastic house ²⁰  for you. 7:12 When the time comes for you to die, ²¹  I will raise up your descendant, one of your own sons, to succeed you, ²²  and I will establish his kingdom. 7:13 He will build a house for my name, and I will make his dynasty permanent. ²³ 

[7:1]  ¹ tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).

[7:1]  ² tn Or “rest.”

[7:1]  ³ tn The translation understands the disjunctive clause in v. 1b as circumstantial-causal.

[7:3]  ⁴ tc Several medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta lack this word.

[7:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “all that is in your heart.”

[7:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “the word of the Lord was [i.e., came] to Nathan.”

[7:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “in a tent and in a dwelling.” The expression is a hendiadys, using two terms to express one idea.

[7:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “Did I speak a word?” In the Hebrew text the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question.

[7:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “tribes” (so KJV, NASB, NCV), but the parallel passage in 1 Chr 17:6 has “judges.”

[7:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “whom I commanded to shepherd” (so NIV, NRSV).

[7:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and from after the sheep.”

[7:9]  ¹² tn Heb “cut off.”

[7:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “and I will make for you a great name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.”

[7:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “plant.”

[7:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “shaken.”

[7:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the sons of violence.”

[7:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “rest.”

[7:11]  ¹⁸ 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.

[7:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the Lord.”

[7:11]  ²⁰ 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.

[7:12]  ²¹ tn Heb, “when your days are full and you lie down with your ancestors.”

[7:12]  ²² tn Heb “your seed after you who comes out from your insides.”

[7:13]  ²³ tn Heb “and I will establish the throne of his kingdom permanently.”