2 Samuel 7:1-17
Context7:1 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 7:14 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 me 24 permanently; your dynasty 25 will be permanent.’” 7:17 Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him. 26
[7:1] 1 tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).
[7:1] 3 tn The translation understands the disjunctive clause in v. 1b as circumstantial-causal.
[7:3] 4 tc Several medieval Hebrew
[7:3] 5 tn Heb “all that is in your heart.”
[7:4] 6 tn Heb “the word of the
[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] 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] 16 tn Heb “the sons of violence.”
[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] 20 tn Heb “house,” but used here in a metaphorical sense, referring to a royal dynasty. Here the
[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.”
[7:16] 24 tc Heb “before you.” A few medieval Hebrew
[7:17] 26 tn Heb “according to all these words and according to all this revelation, so Nathan said to David.”