1 It happened, when the king lived in his house, and Yahweh had given him rest from all his enemies round about,
Yahweh gave them rest round about, according to all that he swore to their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; Yahweh delivered all their enemies into their hand.
It happened after many days, when Yahweh had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, and Joshua was old and well stricken in years;
It happened, when David lived in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of Yahweh [dwells] under curtains. Nathan said to David, Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you. It happened the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, Go and tell David my servant, Thus says Yahweh, You shall not build me a house to dwell in: for I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up Israel, to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from [one] tent [to another]. In all places in which I have walked with all Israel, spoke I a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar? Now therefore thus shall you tell my servant David, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel: and I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a name, like the name of the great ones who are in the earth. I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the first, and [as] from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel; and I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover I tell you that Yahweh will build you a house. It shall happen, when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my loving kindness away from him, as I took it from him that was before you; but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established forever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David. Then David the king went in, and sat before Yahweh; and he said, Who am I, Yahweh God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? This was a small thing in your eyes, God; but you have spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, Yahweh God. What can David [say] yet more to you concerning the honor which is done to your servant? for you know your servant. Yahweh, for your servant's sake, and according to your own heart, have you worked all this greatness, to make known all [these] great things. Yahweh, there is none like you, neither is there any God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. What one nation in the earth is like your people Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, to make you a name by great and awesome things, in driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeem out of Egypt? For your people Israel did you make your own people forever; and you, Yahweh, became their God. Now, Yahweh, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, be established forever, and do as you have spoken. Let your name be established and magnified forever, saying, Yahweh of Hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and the house of David your servant is established before you. For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build him a house: therefore has your servant found [in his heart] to pray before you. Now, Yahweh, you are God, and have promised this good thing to your servant: and now it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you: for you, Yahweh, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.
He built fortified cities in Judah; for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years, because Yahweh had given him rest.
When a man's ways please Yahweh, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
At the end of twelve months he was walking in the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling-place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Samuel 7
Commentary on 2 Samuel 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
2Sa 7:1-3. Nathan Approves the Purpose of David to Build God A House.
2. the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar—The palace which Hiram had sent men and materials to build in Jerusalem had been finished. It was magnificent for that age, though made wholly of wood: houses in warm countries not being required to possess the solidity and thickness of walls which are requisite for dwellings in regions exposed to rain and cold. Cedar was the rarest and most valuable timber. The elegance and splendor of his own royal mansion, contrasted with the mean and temporary tabernacle in which the ark of God was placed, distressed the pious mind of David.
3. Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart—The piety of the design commended it to the prophet's mind, and he gave his hasty approval and encouragement to the royal plans. The prophets, when following the impulse of their own feelings, or forming conjectural opinions, fell into frequent mistakes. (See on 1Sa 16:6; 2Ki 4:27).
2Sa 7:4-17. God Appoints His Successor to Build It.
4-17. it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan—The command was given to the prophet on the night immediately following; that is, before David could either take any measures or incur any expenses.
11. Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house—As a reward for his pious purpose, God would increase and maintain the family of David and secure the succession of the throne to his dynasty. [See on 1Ch 17:10].
12. I will set up thy seed after thee, &c.—It is customary for the oldest son born after the father's succession to the throne to succeed him in his dignity as king. David had several sons by Bath-sheba born after his removal to Jerusalem (2Sa 5:14-16; compare 1Ch 3:5). But by a special ordinance and promise of God, his successor was to be a son born after this time; and the departure from the established usage of the East in fixing the succession, can be accounted for on no other known ground, except the fulfilment of the divine promise.
13. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever—This declaration referred, in its primary application, to Solomon, and to the temporal kingdom of David's family. But in a larger and sublimer sense, it was meant of David's Son of another nature (Heb 1:8). [See on 1Ch 17:14.]
2Sa 7:18-29. David's Prayer and Thanksgiving.
18. Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord—Sitting was anciently an attitude for worship (Ex 17:12; 1Sa 4:13; 1Ki 19:4). As to the particular attitude David sat, most probably, upon his heels. It was the posture of the ancient Egyptians before the shrines; it is the posture of deepest respect before a superior in the East. Persons of highest dignity sit thus when they do sit in the presence of kings and it is the only sitting attitude assumed by the modern Mohammedans in their places and rites of devotion.
19. is this the manner of man, O Lord God?—that is, is it customary for men to show such condescension to persons so humble as I am? (See 1Ch 17:17.)
20. what can David say more unto thee?—that is, my obligations are greater than I can express.