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2 Samuel 7

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David Proposes Building a Temple 1–3

1
And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies; ​
2
That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. ​
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And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee. ​

God Rejects the Temple Plan 4–7

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And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, ​
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Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? ​
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Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. ​
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In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?

The Everlasting Davidic Covenant 8–17

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Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: ​
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And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.
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Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,
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And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. ​
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And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. ​
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He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. ​
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I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: ​
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But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. ​
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And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. ​
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According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

David's Prayer of Thanksgiving 18–29

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Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? ​
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And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord GOD; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD? ​
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And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord GOD, knowest thy servant.
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For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them. ​
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Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ​
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And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? ​
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For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God.
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And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said. ​
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And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.
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For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee. ​
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And now, O Lord GOD, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:
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Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Samuel 7

Verse 1

rest round about — Nuach, to rest. It is the rest promised for the time Israel would 'dwell in safety' and the LORD would choose 'a place… to cause his name to dwell' (Deut 12:10–11). Solomon speaks of the same gift, 'the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side' (1 Kgs 5:4).

Verse 2

an house of cedar — Cedar had come from Tyre, sent by Hiram to build David's house (5:11). The ark dwelt 'within curtains' (yeri'ah, the tent-hangings of Ex 26:1), in the tabernacle David had pitched for it (6:17). David's concern is the contrast, and Acts 7:46 says he 'desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob'.

Verse 3

do all that is in thine heart — Nathan answers as a man, before 'the word of the LORD' reaches him (v.4). The desire itself is not rejected: 'thou didst well that it was in thine heart' (1 Kgs 8:18), although the building is given to David's son (v.13).

Verse 4

that night — The word (davar) comes the same night (1 Chr 17:3). The prophet who had spoken for himself in v.3 now delivers the LORD's reply, and v.17 closes it: 'According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.'

Verse 5

Shalt thou build me an house? — The LORD begins by calling David 'my servant'. In 1 Chr 17:4 the same message is put as a plain denial, 'Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in.' Solomon later asks, 'will God indeed dwell on the earth?… how much less this house that I have builded?' (1 Kgs 8:27).

Verse 6

in a tent and in a tabernacle — Ohel, tent, and mishkan, dwelling place. 'Walked' is the verb of Lev 26:12, 'I will walk among you, and will be your God'. The LORD has gone with Israel from Egypt 'to this day', and v.7 adds that he never asked any tribe, 'Why build ye not me an house of cedar?'

Verse 8

from the sheepcote — Naveh is a pasture or fold. The word for 'ruler' is nagid, a leader: the title given to Saul (1 Sam 9:16; 13:14) and now to David. Ps 78:70–71 tells the same account: the LORD 'took him from the sheepfolds… to feed Jacob his people'.

Verse 11

make thee an house — 'House' (bayith) runs through the chapter: David's own house (v.1), the house he would build for the LORD (v.5), and here the house the LORD will make him, a line of descendants. The word occurs in fourteen verses of the chapter. 'Judges' recalls the period after Joshua, when 'the LORD raised up judges' (Judg 2:16).

Verse 12

sleep with thy fathers — The promise is made to David while he lives, for 'after thee'. Peter applies it at Pentecost: 'God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne' (Acts 2:30). 'Set up' (qum) is the verb David returns to in v.25.

Verse 13

an house for my name — The son is named in 1 Chr 22:9–10, 'his name shall be Solomon'; the LORD told David, 'thy son… shall build the house unto my name' (1 Kgs 8:19). The second clause reaches past him: 'the throne of his kingdom for ever'. Gabriel uses it of Jesus: 'the throne of his father David… of his kingdom there shall be no end' (Luke 1:32–33).

Verse 14

I will be his father — Heb 1:5 quotes this verse beside Ps 2:7 to show what was never said to any of the angels ('unto which of the angels said he at any time'). The discipline is stated beside the sonship ('the rod of men'), and Ps 89:30–32 repeats it: 'Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.'

Verse 15

my mercy — Chesed, loyal covenant love. The verb sur stands three times in the verse ('depart away', 'took', 'put away'), once of the mercy and twice of Saul, from whom the Spirit 'departed' (1 Sam 16:14). Ps 89:33 repeats it: 'my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him'.

Verse 16

for ever — House, kingdom and throne are each promised. 'Established' is first aman (to be sure, the root of 'amen'), then kun (to set firm). Ps 89:35–37 grounds it in an oath: 'Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.' Isa 9:7 gives it to 'the throne of David… from henceforth even for ever'.

Verse 18

sat before the LORD — David's 'Who am I?' is the question he asked Saul about marrying into the king's family (1 Sam 18:18), now asked of a house. In this prayer the name is written 'Lord GOD' in vv.18, 19, 20, 28 and 29. The parallel prayer begins at 1 Chr 17:16.

Verse 19

the manner of man — The Hebrew is torah, rendered 'manner' only here in the KJV. The phrase follows 'a great while to come' (rachoq, far off in time): David has been told of his house for the distant future, and responds with a question rather than a request.

Verse 21

for thy word's sake — The 'word' is the davar of v.4. 'Great things' is gedullah, the word David uses again of Israel's redemption in v.23. 'According to thine own heart' recalls the LORD's description of David as 'a man after his own heart' (1 Sam 13:14).

Verse 22

there is none like thee — David uses the language of the Exodus song, 'Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?' (Ex 15:11), and of Moses' charge, 'the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him' (Deut 4:35). 'Heard with our ears' echoes Ps 44:1, 'We have heard with our ears, O God'.

Verse 23

what one nation — David names what the LORD did for Israel in Egypt: 'redeem' (padah, Deut 9:26), 'great things and terrible' (compare 'these great and terrible things', Deut 10:21), echoing Moses on 'a nation from the midst of another nation' (Deut 4:34). 'To make him a name' recalls Isa 63:12, 'to make himself an everlasting name'.

Verse 25

establish it for ever — 'Establish' is qum, the verb of 'I will set up thy seed' in v.12. David asks the LORD to 'do as thou hast said' (literally, 'as thou hast spoken'), holding his own word before him as Jacob did: 'thou saidst, I will surely do thee good' (Gen 32:12).

Verse 27

hast revealed to thy servant — Literally, 'hast uncovered the ear': the idiom of 1 Sam 9:15, 'the LORD had told Samuel in his ear'. David 'found in his heart' to pray this prayer because the promise had first been spoken.

Verse 29

let it please thee to bless — The root barak occurs three times in the verse ('bless', 'blessing', 'be blessed'). 'For ever' (olam) stands in six verses of the chapter (vv.13, 16, 24, 25, 26, 29), twice each in vv.16 and 29. The final words rest on the LORD's speaking: 'thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken it'.