2 Samuel 7:18-28

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, ¹  that you should have brought me to this point? 7:19 And you didn’t stop there, O Lord God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family. ²  Is this your usual way of dealing with men, ³  O Lord God? 7:20 What more can David say to you? You have given your servant special recognition, ⁴  O Lord God! 7:21 For the sake of your promise and according to your purpose ⁵  you have done this great thing in order to reveal it to your servant. ⁶  7:22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God, for there is none like you! There is no God besides you! What we have heard is true! ⁷  7:23 Who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation ⁸  on the earth? Their God ⁹  went ¹⁰  to claim ¹¹  a nation for himself and to make a name for himself! You did great and awesome acts for your land, ¹²  before your people whom you delivered for yourself from the Egyptian empire and its gods. ¹³  7:24 You made Israel your very own people for all time. ¹⁴  You, O Lord, became their God. 7:25 So now, O Lord God, make this promise you have made about your servant and his family a permanent reality. ¹⁵  Do as you promised, ¹⁶  7:26 so you may gain lasting fame, ¹⁷  as people say, ¹⁸  ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel!’ The dynasty ¹⁹  of your servant David will be established before you, 7:27 for you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have told ²⁰  your servant, ‘I will build you a dynastic house.’ ²¹  That is why your servant has had the courage ²²  to pray this prayer to you. 7:28 Now, O sovereign Lord, you are the true God! ²³  May your words prove to be true! ²⁴  You have made this good promise to your servant! ²⁵ 

[7:18]  ¹ tn Heb “house.”

[7:19]  ² tn Heb “and this was small in your eyes, O Lord God, so you spoke concerning the house of your servant for a distance.”

[7:19]  ³ tn Heb “and this [is] the law of man”; KJV “is this the manner of man, O Lord God?”; NAB “this too you have shown to man”; NRSV “May this be instruction for the people, O Lord God!” This part of the verse is very enigmatic; no completely satisfying solution has yet been suggested. The present translation tries to make sense of the MT by understanding the phrase as a question that underscores the uniqueness of God’s dealings with David as described here. The parallel passage in 1 Chr 17:17 reads differently (see the note there).

[7:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “and you know your servant.” The verb here refers to recognizing another in a special way and giving them special treatment (see 1 Chr 17:18). Some English versions take this to refer to the Lord’s knowledge of David himself: CEV “you know my thoughts”; NLT “know what I am really like.”

[7:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “for the sake of your word and according to your heart.”

[7:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “to make known, your servant.”

[7:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “in all which we heard with our ears.” The phrase translated “in all” בְּכֹל (bÿkhol) should probably be emended to “according to all” כְּכֹל (kÿkhol).

[7:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “a nation, one.”

[7:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “whose God” or “because God.” In the Hebrew text this clause is subordinated to what precedes. The clauses are separated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:23]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is plural in Hebrew, agreeing grammatically with the divine name, which is a plural of degree.

[7:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “redeem.”

[7:23]  ¹² tn Heb “and to do for you [plural form] the great [thing] and awesome [things] for your land.”

[7:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “from Egypt, nations and their gods.” The LXX has “nations and tents,” which reflects a mistaken metathesis of letters in אֶלֹהָיו (e’lohav, “its gods”) and אֹהָלָיו (’ohalav, “its tents”).

[7:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and you established for yourself your people Israel for yourself for a people permanently.”

[7:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and now, O Lord God, the word which you spoke concerning your servant and concerning his house, establish permanently.”

[7:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “as you have spoken.”

[7:26]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and your name might be great permanently.” Following the imperative in v. 23b, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result.

[7:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “saying.” The words “as people” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[7:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the house.” See the note on “dynastic house” in the following verse.

[7:27]  ²⁰ tn Heb “have uncovered the ear of.”

[7:27]  ²¹ tn Heb “a house.” This maintains the wordplay from v. 11 (see the note on the word “house” there) and is continued in v. 29.

[7:27]  ²² tn Heb “has found his heart.”

[7:28]  ²³ tn Heb “the God.” The article indicates uniqueness here.

[7:28]  ²⁴ tn The translation understands the prefixed verb form as a jussive, indicating David’s wish/prayer. Another option is to take the form as an imperfect and translate “your words are true.”

[7:28]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and you have spoken to your servant this good thing.”