Outline of Chapter 7:

         vv.     1–3           David speaks to Nathan, and Wants to Build a Permanent House for the Ark of God

         vv.     4–17         God speaks to Nathan, and Gives Him the Davidic Covenant

         vv.    18–29         David’s Great Prayer of Faith in Response to the Davidic Covenant

Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines:

         Introduction         Gill Outlines 2Samuel 7

         Introduction         The Word House in 2Samuel 7

         v.       1              When Did God Give David the Davidic Covenant?

         v.       1              Other Opinions on the Timeline

         v.       1              A Brief Old Testament Dictionary

         v.       1              Online Bible Doctrines and Theological Dictionaries

         v.       2              What Happened When?

         v.       5              An Outline of God’s Words to David

         v.       7              Why Doesn’t God Allow David to Build a Temple for Him?

         v.       8              God’s Unconditional Covenant to David and the Suzerain-Vassal Treaty

         v.      10              A Timeline of Israel

         v.      11              Translations of 2Samuel 7:10–11

         v.      11              How Some Translations Broke up the Middle of 1Samuel 7

         v.      11              A New Approach to Vv. 8–11

         v.      12              Two Interpretations of 2Samuel 7:12

         v.      14              “I Will Be a Father to Him and He Will Be a Son to Me” Summarized

         v.      15              The Divine Dynasphere

         v.      15              Pertinent Information on the Divine Dynasphere

         v.      15              Accessing the Power System

         v.      15              The Doctrine of the Divine Dynasphere

         v.      15              Ancient Language Versions of 2Samuel 7:15

         v.      16              4 Approaches to 2Samual 7:16

         v.      16              Summary: All that God Told David—the Davidic Covenant

         v.      16              Scofield Analyses the Davidic Covenant

         v.      17              David’s Question

         v.      17              God’s Promises to David and his Son

         v.      17              God’s Other Promises to David

         v.      17              God Fulfills these Promises to David in Jesus Christ

         v.      18              Other Statements of Genuine Humility

         v.      19              Four Readings of 2Samuel 7:19

         v.      19              Opinions Concerning This is the Law of Man [or, Adam]

         v.      20              God Knows What Is in Our Hearts

         v.      21              God Fulfills His Word

         v.      22              The Exclusive Nature and Being of God

         v.      23              God’s Great Blessings to Israel

         v.      23              2Samuel 7:23a–c Compared

         v.      23              God Redeems Israel, which Typifies His Redemption of Mankind

         v.      23              2Samuel 7:23d–g Compared

         v.      23              What Do We Learn from Verses with Textual Problems?

         v.      23              2Samuel 7:23 Text from the Greek Septuagint

         v.      24              God’s Eternal Relationship with Israel

         v.      25              The Covenants of God to Israel

         v.      26              Various Translations of 2Sam. 7:25–26a

         v.      27              Lists of the Promises of God

         v.      27              David Finds the Heart to Pray this Prayer to God

         v.      28              The Name Jehovah is Applied to All Three Members of the Trinity

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of 2Samuel 7

         Addendum          New Testament Fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant in Jesus

I ntroduction: In the previous chapter, and in 1Chron. 15–16, I discussed how David is doing nothing to unite the Ark of God (which he just moved into Jerusalem) with the Tabernacle of God (which is in Gibeon). 2Sam. 7 explains why. What David has in mind is building a Temple—a permanent structure—within which to place the Ark of God, and as a place where God may be worshiped. David first suggests this to Nathan the prophet and Nathan says, “Sounds like a good idea; go ahead and get things started.” However, God speaks to Nathan that night and tells Nathan that David is not going to build a Temple. Then God lays on Nathan the Davidic Covenant. The Davidic Covenant promises David that he will have a son who will build a Temple for God and that this son would sit on to the throne forever. What is going on is, God gives David a set of prophecies which may be applied both to Solomon and to Jesus Christ, both of whom will sit on the throne of David. Obviously, Jesus Christ will reign over all forever.

Zodhiates: David’s desire to build a house for the Lord sets the stage for one of the key passages in Scripture relating to the coming Messiah...God’s message through Nathan (vv. 8–16) is called the Davidic Covenant. It is both an expansion and a clarification of God’s promises to Abraham. It represents an unconditional promise to David that he would be the head of an everlasting kingdom (v. 16). David is also promised that his son would reign over Israel (v. 12) and that this son (Solomon) would be the one to build a house for the Lord (v. 13).

Although the bulk of this psalm is the Davidic Covenant, it begins with David speaking to the prophet Nathan about building a Temple for God. David refers to the Temple in Psalms 5 27 29 65 138, which suggests to me that, during the time of moving the Ark, David entered into a time of great creativity. He wrote several psalms which are associated with moving the Ark (which psalms we have studied). One author simply suggests that David is calling the Tabernacle a temple. This word is found elsewhere in the psalms, but in most instances, the reference appears to be to the Throne Room of God in heaven (Psalm 11:4 18:6) or to a palace, unrelated to the Jewish religious traditions (Psalm 45:8, 14–15 144:12).

David is sitting at home, in his newly build cedar home (2Sam. 5:11). God has given him rest from his enemies (2Sam. 7:1). David looks around, and sees how greatly he has been blessed, sitting in his cedar home, and it occurs to him that he ought to build a permanent home for God. So, David goes to Nathan the prophet and suggests this (v. 2). Nathan tells David to go ahead and put his plans into motion (v. 3).

God comes to Nathan at night (probably in a dream or a night vision), and tells him what Nathan needs to say to David. Vv. 5b–16 are the words which God says to Nathan, and which Nathan says to David. God first asks David, “Are you the one who will build a house for Me?” (v. 5b). Then God reminds David that He has always been in a tent ever since He bought the children of Israel out of Egypt (v. 6). No matter where God traveled with Israel, at no time did He suddenly speak to a leader, to tell him to build a house for Him (v. 7). God then reminds David of his own humble beginnings, and how God took him from being led around by sheep to leading all Israel (v. 8). In v. 9, God goes from what He has already done (giving David’s enemies in his hand—v. 9a) to what He would do for David in the future (beginning with making David renown in v. 9b). God then speaks of Israel as being planted in a place where they will not be disturbed again (v. 10). God then promises to make a dynasty of David’s kingship (v. 11), after which God launches into a dual prophecy, of Solomon and of Christ Jesus to come (vv. 12–16). After David has died, God would raise up his descendant (Descendant) and God would established his (His) kingdom (v. 12). This descendant would build a Temple for God (v. 13). This descendant would be like a son (Son) to God and God would be a Father to him (Him) (v. 14). God’s grace would not depart from him (Him) and David’s dynasty would be thus established in him (Him) forever (vv. 15–16).

David then goes before God and prays to Him (vv. 18–29). He goes before God and asks who he is for God to have taken him this far (v. 18). He recognizes the insignificance of himself and his own life (v. 19) and is at a loss for words (v. 20). David recognizes that this is within God’s Word and character and that there is no other God besides Him (vv. 21–22). David recognizes that there is no other nation which is like Israel insofar as what God has done for that nation (vv. 23–24). David then implores God to bring these things to pass so that He might be glorified (vv. 25–26). David finds the courage to pray such a prayer, as it is based upon God’s promises to him and that God’s Word is truth (vv. 27–28). Finally, David asks for God’s continued blessings upon him and his house (v. 29).

One of the keys of this chapter is the word house. David is sitting in his house (the palace) and he is thinking about God’s house (right now, only a tent, but David would prefer to make it into a Temple). God tells David, “No, you will not build a house for Me, but I will build a dynasty [house] for you.”

The primary theme of this chapter is the Davidic Covenant. Apart from the New Covenant spoken of in Jeremiah, this is the final covenant made by God to a particular man. God will not make a similar covenant with Solomon, Josiah or Hezekiah. This covenant is so important that we will find Jesus called the son of David 16 times in the New Testament. Jesus is called the son of Abraham only twice in the New Testament, and those two times within the genealogical records. This is the final and most important covenant, one which is far-reaching with great revelation for the people of Israel.

It is also important in this way: David will, primarily in his psalms, tell us about his Son in a number of ways. Many of David’s psalms deal with the Messiah, Who is David’s Greater Son, indicating to us that God the Holy Spirit revealed a great deal of information to David. In the psalms, the Messiah is portrayed as the Suffering Servant (Psalm 22) and as entering into His Kingdom of Glory (Psalm 2 24). He is called the Son of God (Psalm 2:7); God (Psalm 45:6–7 102:24–25 110:1); the Son of Man (Psalm 8:4–6); and the Son of David (Psalm 89:3–4, 27, 29). He is seen as a priest (Psalm 110:4), a prophet (Psalm 40:9–10), a king (Psalm 2 24). As a priest, He offers Himself as a sacrifice (Psalm 22 40:6–8; compare with Heb. 10:5–12); as a prophet, He proclaims the name of the Lord as Father (Psalm 22:22 and John 20:17); and, as king, He fulfills the Davidic Covenant (Psalm 89) and He restores man’s dominion over the earth (Psalm 8:4–8 and Rom. 8:17–21). His very inner thoughts are revealed in the psalms (Psalm 16:8–11 22:1–22 40:1–17).

God sees the Davidic Covenant to be so important as to place it in the Bible 3 times (2Sam. 7 1Chron. 17 Psalm 89). The Davidic Covenant is alluded to many times in the New Testament. David wrote most of the psalms cited above, indicating that he understood more about the Messiah, his Greater Son, than any man who came before him. Therefore, we ought to study and understand the Davidic Covenant.

Speaking of the Davidic Covenant, there are things which we ought to understand about God’s prophecies. God often tells us about two or more future events within the same verse. God, in the Old Testament, would often seem to be telling us about this or that, and then, suddenly, we find ourselves in the midst of information which is quite different (e.g., there are two passages about Satan, which are not preceded by the words, let me tell you a few things about Satan). Jesus, who is God, did this exact same thing—He spoke in parables. He would tell us a story which made perfect sense, yet behind it (or, more accurately, along side of it) would be a greater truth. In the Davidic Covenant, there will be times we are speaking of Solomon, times we are speaking of David’s Greater Son, the Messiah, and times where the verse is reasonably applied to both. This may sound complex, but it really is not. Particularly now, long after these prophecies and promises have been laid out, they are fairly easy to navigate.

In retrospect, such promises seem quite weighty and profound. David himself recognizes this, being intensely awed that God is making such promises to him (2Sam. 7:18–21). What is the key? It certainly was not David’s sinless life, as he made mistakes over and over again (which he confessed to God). The key is, David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). He sought to know and understand God, and God vindicated His Word in David. Do you want blessing from God? Endeavor to know, understand and believe His Word.

The bulk of this chapter is about the Davidic Covenant, where God gives David a litany of promises. Concerning the prophetic nature of these promises, Tholuck observes, it can be proved, with all the evidence which is ever to be obtained in support of historical testimony, that David actually received a prophetic promise that his family should sit upon the throne for ever, and consequently an intimation of a royal descendant whose government should be eternal. Anything like a merely subjective promise arising from human combinations is precluded here by the fact that Nathan, acting according to the best of his knowledge, gave his consent to David's plan of building a temple; and that it was not till afterwards, when he had been instructed by a divine vision, that he did the very opposite, and assured him on the contrary that God would build him a house...there is no reason for assuming, as De Wette has done, that Nathan's prophecies were not composed till after the time of Solomon;” that “their historical credibility is attested by Psalm 89 (Psalm 89:4–5, 20–38, and especially Psalm 89:20), Psalm 132:11–12, and Isa. 55:3; and that, properly interpreted, they are also Messianic. The point is that, even if we want to say that someone during the time of Solomon wrote these prophecies down and pretended that the were prophetical, these are Messianic prophecies which would not be fulfilled for another 1000 years.

People who do not like Christianity (who are negative toward God at God consciousness) absolutely hate the idea of prophecy and they try to denigrate it whenever possible. Here, some like De Wette, try to minimize the prophetical aspect of this chapter and claim, “No one said this to David; Solomon (or someone during his time or later) wrote this down and pretended that it was prophetical.” Since this was written so long ago and since the unbeliever does not recognize any other corroborating evidence, we must give some weight to their argument. However, because of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it is clear that this was written prior to the time of our Lord, and the prophetical statements about Him are more important and more dramatic. So, even if you try to throw out a portion of the prophetical impact of this chapter, you cannot dismiss it entirely.

Critics of the Bible disparage it in any way that they can. Even though Moses is clearly the writer of books 2–5 of the Old Testament, critics claim that these books are the composition of 4 sets of people. They have to claim that prophecy was written after the events take place; but they have to ignore the greatest prophecies of Jesus Christ, which prophecies were written down before our Lord walked this earth (again, the Dead Sea Scrolls—this was a library which preceded our Lord by about 100 years). I have heard the most absurd theories suggesting that Jesus studied these prophecies and then wandered around trying to fulfill them. What makes such a theory absurd is twofold: where He was born and the events of His earliest years are things which He could not fulfill by doing something; and, the actual crucifixion are given in greater detail in the Old Testament than in the New. Furthermore, such an opinion is fraught with logical holes. If Jesus was anything like we believe Him to be, how can His most basic essence be completely and totally fraudulent? Why would He and His followers go through such incredible persecution for something that they all knew was a lie. These would not be religious types who just got caught up in some religion; critics would have them just making this religion up, and therefore, know that their beliefs are fraudulent because they themselves are making these things up. I don’t doubt that there are some Christian leaders today whose entire ministry is fraudulent, but they receive approbation, power and wealth, so they stay with it. Our Lord and His Apostles received poverty, persecution and death. If much of our Lord’s life was simply made up, why don’t we have many anti-Christ books written by a population who were both literate and hated Christianity? If you keep following these things out to their logical conclusions, the theories are riddled with holes. Furthermore, we have books written by dozens of authors, over a period of over a thousand years (even by the harshest of critics) who all speak of a Lamb without spot or blemish Whose death is efficacious. How is it possible to have such agreement, from the earliest books (Gen. 3–4) to the prophecies (Psalm 18 Isa. 53) to the actual fulfillment of these prophecies (the crucifixion in all 4 gospels) with confirmation by Paul and the other Apostles on the theological implications of our Lord’s crucifixion? How do you get dozens of people, most of whom never knew one another as they were separated in time by hundreds of years, to agree on such a theology which is completely foreign to all other world religions? In other religions, almost all of them work from the premise, be good and God will be good to you; which premise is rejected completely by Christian theology. How do you get so many people over such a vast period of time to agree to the tenets of a religion which is contrary to every other religion of man? How do you get them to agree to develop and reveal this religion a piece at a time, so that, when viewed holistically, we see how the whole puzzle fits together, but we do not get this complete view from any of the Old Testament books individually. That is, many parts of Genesis are fulfilled, and fleshed out, and explained in greater detail as we go along. We can look back at the animal skins of Gen. 3 or the offerings of Cain and Abel in Gen. 4 or Abram offering up his own son in Gen. 18 and understand their meaning with much more depth today. At the time that these were written and for hundreds of years, we could not entirely get what was being said. In the light of the gospels, it all fits together and makes sense. How did authors writing thousands of years ago know what to write so that this would be fulfilled and fleshed out hundreds of years later? You can disparage the Bible and you can make up the most absurd theories about it; but none of these theories pan out logically and every theory which denigrates Scripture leaves more unexplained than the theory explains.

There are other theological theories about this chapter—that it is not prophetical, but that is simply expresses the hopes and dreams of David. However, that approach does not explain how these things just happened to come to pass; nor does that explain how we can have such words which speak of Solomon and also speak of our Lord in His 1^st and 2^nd Advents. Nor does this explain just how neatly David is a shadow image of our Lord in His 1^st and 2^nd Advents and how neatly Solomon is a shadow image of our Lord in the Millennium.

You have to bear in mind that, at the heart of these theories is, the Bible cannot be the Word of God; the Bible must be simply the writings of men and it cannot be prophetic. These assumptions must shape the theories of the critic. Now, this does not mean that the believer should not look at the Bible critically and said, what if Jesus put all the Scriptures in a suitcase and meandered around trying to fulfill everything that He read? And then you follow such an hypothesis to its logical end, which ends up being a complete rejection of what we know about human nature. Paraphrasing what I read in Josh McDowell many years ago, you can figure Christ for a lunatic or a charlatan or the Lord and Savior of us all; but you cannot call Him simply a good and moral man, because that is an illogical hypothesis which is not borne out by any of the historical evidence. So, it is okay to think about and logically pursue this or that hypothesis, as long as you do this in the pursuit of truth as opposed to giving yourself and excuse to turn away from the Word of God.

The time frame of this chapter: because of the way the writers of Scripture were, one chapter does not necessarily following another chapter chronologically. One commentator suggests that this chapter may have taken place long after chapter 6. However, I think that it is reasonable to place this immediately after 2Sam. 5–6. In this chapter, David makes reference to his cedar palace (2Sam. 5) and to building a permanent cedar structure for the Ark of God (from 2Sam. 6). So, it does make sense for this to occur in close conjunction with the previous two chapters. Furthermore, it is found in this order in both Samuel and Chronicles. To place this in time before the previous chapters would make little sense; and to place this a decade or so after the previous chapter would be possible, but only after a lot of explaining. Therefore, it is reasonable to place this chapter close in time to the building of David’s palace and the moving of the Ark into Jerusalem. That would also provide a ready explanation as to why David did not make any attempt to bring the Tabernacle to Jerusalem—there would be no need to if he built a Temple for the Ark. There is no pressing reason to set up the time frame any differently (there is one phrase where David is said to be at peace and not dealing with his enemies, and some use this phrase to propose that this chapter occurred much later in time; we will cover that phrase when we come to it).

To sum up this chapter with a few words: it is not what we do for God but what God does for us which is important.

This chapter closely parallels 1Chron. 17 and it is always interesting to see if there is something to be found in a parallel passage which is not found in the original. At the end of this study, I will recommend that you examine 1Chron. 17 next.

David speaks to Nathan, and Wants to Build a Permanent House for the Ark of God

1Chronicles 17:1–2

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so he is that dwells the king in his house and Y^ehowah causes rest to him from round about from all his enemies.

Septuagint                              And it is when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him an inheritance on every side free from all his enemies round about him;...

Significant differences:           It is unclear what God has given to David in the Greek. An inheritance is really part of the verb in the Greek (as to rest is part of the verb in the Hebrew). The Greek translators may be looking at the same Hebrew verb that we look at, but they chose to translate it with a verb which has a slightly different emphasis. The Latin and Syriac agree with the Hebrew.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       King David moved into his new palace, and the LORD let his kingdom be at peace.

Good News Bible                   King David was settled in his palace, and the LORD kept him safe from all his enemies.

NET Bible®                             The king settled into his palace [Heb "house" (also in the following verse)], for the Lord gave him relief [Or "rest"] from all his enemies on all sides [The translation understands the disjunctive clause in v. 1b as circumstantial-causal.].

New Century Version             King David was living in his palace, and the Lord had given him peace from all his enemies around him.

New Life Version                    King David lived in his house. The Lord had given him rest from all those around him who hated him. At this time,...

New Living Translation           When King David was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all the surrounding enemies,...

Revised English Bible            Once the king was established in his place and the Lord had given him security from his enemies on all sides,...

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         While King David was living in his house, the LORD gave him peace with all his enemies around him.

HCSB                                     When the king had settled into his palace and the LORD had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,...

JPS (Tanakh)                         When the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had granted him safety from all the enemies around him,...

New Intl. Readers Version     The king settled down in his palace. The Lord had given him peace and rest from all of his enemies who were around him.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                WHEN KING David dwelt in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,...

English Standard Version      Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies...

New King James Version       Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies all around,...

Young’s Updated LT             And it comes to pass, when the king sat in his house, and Jehovah has given rest to him round about, from all his enemies,...

What is the gist of this verse? V. 1 sets the initial scene; David is given rest from his enemies and he is sitting in his house.

Translation: And it is, when the king lived in his [royal] home... The first phrase, and so it is,... often implies chronological order. It implies a natural following from what has gone before. I will be discussing the time frame for these events in greater detail later on in this verse, but these words often affix these events either chronologically or logically to what has come before.

When we examined the previous couple of chapters, I suggested that we do not really know when David fought against the Philistines. It was clear that he fought against them early on, and possibly even before moving to Jerusalem; however, this verse here indicates that David did enjoy a period of time wherein he enjoyed peace from his enemies. This began when he moved into his royal home. I think the idea is, David had his palace built for him by Hiram and once David moved in, he enjoyed some peace. We are not told exactly how long, but apparently for a period of a few years.

It is interesting to note that the verb yâshab (יָשַב) [pronounced yaw-SHAH^BV] is found a half-dozen times in this chapter and bayith (בַּיִת) [pronounced BAH-yith] is found 15 times, and the name YHWH (יהוה) [pronunciation is possibly yhoh-WAH] is found about 12 times. These words mean to live, to dwell, to stay; house, Temple, dynasty; Jehovah. Not coincidentally, part of this chapter will be about the house (or Temple) where Jehovah will stay. However, the even greater topic of this chapter is the dynasty of David which will remain on this earth forever, which dynasty is David’s Greater Son, Jehovah God.

Translation: ...that Y^ehowah give him rest from every side from all of his enemies. After moving into his palace in Jerusalem, the one built for him by Hiram, king of Tyre, David enjoyed a period of peace in his life. Recall that, for much of his life, David has been on the run from Saul, and on both sides of that, he was at war regularly with the Philistines. At this point, David gets a little R and R.

Application: As growing believers, we are going to face a variety of circumstances. There will be times in our lives when God gives us rest from our enemies round about. David takes this opportunity to ponder some spiritual decisions. When God gives you some R and R, what do you do with it? Is doctrine put on the back burner while you fly off to Mexico, New Orleans, SF or wherever? Do you get so involved with your day-to-day activities (doing the yard, cleaning the house, shopping) that you neglect Bible doctrine? When God trusts you with some downtime, use it wisely. Continue your intake of doctrine. Consider your life options. Consider your plans for the future. But, make certain that you still allot the proper amount of time to doctrinal intake. In fact, with downtime, most of the time, you can increase your intake.

Application: This is an aspect of our lives which few of us appreciate. There will be periods of relative calm in our lives (Joshua 21:44 23:1 2Sam. 7:1 1Kings 5:4). We have this or that problem, but, for the most part, we are at peace with our family, in our workplace, and, when we go off to Bible class, we do not have a myriad of financial or physical problems weighing upon us, so that we may take in the teaching of the Word of God without being mentally distracted by our problems. If this is your life at this point in time, you need to appreciate it and thank God for it. It is nice to have a time that we can rest. We need to wisely use the time which God has given us. Redeeming the time, for the days are evil (Eph. 5:16). God did not leave you here on this earth after salvation just to take up space; and most of the time, not so you can repeat and embellish your glowing testimony.

Application: In this time that we have on earth, we need to realize 2 things: (1) we need to grow spiritually and (2) we are not alone on this earth. We are going to interact with believers and unbelievers alike; that is part of our life; and we ought to interact with them with doctrine in our souls. We should not look at Charlie Brown, whom God has put in our path, and try to figure out what we can get from him. It is better to ascertain why God placed that person in our lives and how we can interact honorably with him.

It is this sentence which causes many commentators to place these events farther down the road in David’s reign. Keil and Delitzsch write From the words “when the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies round about,” it is evident that David did not form the resolution to build the temple in the first years of his reign upon Zion, nor immediately after the completion of his palace, but at a later period. The idea is, this portion of v. 1 indicates that David has been at war with his enemies for awhile, and now is enjoying some peace.

Let me offer up a different perspective. Israel has always been surrounded by enemies—in some ways, this is the point the book of the Judges. So, for God to give David rest from every side of his enemies can imply that this follows a set of battles, but such an implication is not absolutely necessary. The writer of Samuel (probably David or Nathan) is not necessarily recording these things a few days after these incidents occur. In fact, back in 2Sam. 5, we have already listed David’s wives and sons and the length of time which he reigned over Israel. If these words were not inserted several years after David’s death into this narrative, then it means that the writer was looking at this point in David’s life from an historical perspective. Let’s say that someone like Nathan the prophet writes these words and records this information all at once. In 2Sam. 5, the writer of Samuel gives us an overall view of David’s kingship, including the number of years that he reigned, as well as the wives and children he fathered. If we have such an overall view as far back as 2Sam. 5, then the author recognizes that there were periods of time in David’s life when he was at war and there were times when he enjoyed peace. This is a period of peace, and so designated by this writer does not mean that it follows immediately on the heels of lots of fighting. It makes just as much sense for such a writer, taking the long view, to simply recognize this as a period of peace.

Let me present a slight tweaking to my theory that someone wrote this at the end of David’s life: at the beginning of any reign of a king, the official record keeper would write down something like, And King Charlie Brown reigned over all of Israel ___ years and he slept with his fathers after living ___ years. His wives were Missy, Prissy, Sissy, and ___; and his children were ___. As time goes on, these blanks are filled in by either the same writer, or someone who comes along later. This could possibly explain 2Sam. 13:1, which reads: Saul was ___ years old when he began to reign, and he reigned ___ and two years over Israel. The problem with my approach is, we should not find the words and two in this passage if the numbers were supposed to be added later. Furthermore, we would have known his age at the beginning of his reign. It is a nice theory, but there is no real corroboration for it. An explanation which is just as reasonable is, after much of this had been written, someone went back and inserted the basic king information at the very beginning. This is called a gloss and it does not mean that it does not belong in the Bible; it simply means that someone wrote it down after some of the historical information had been written down.

In any case, in order for the writer to say that David was enjoying peace from his enemies from all around does not require that David has just returned from battling 3 or 4 enemies over a period of a decade; it could also mean that the author had a wider scope of David’s life and wars, and recognized that this was a period of peace.

Why do I make any sort of a deal out of when did these events occur? The narratives in the Word of God are often like a jigsaw puzzle and we must figure out how to put the pieces together so that they fit and make sense. It is possible that David has spent the previous 10 years in war, and now, during a respite, starts thinking about his palace and about the Ark of God. It is also possible—and more likely, in my opinion—that this simply is an event which takes place in the order that we find 2Sam. 1–7—an event which takes place after David has taken Jerusalem and united all of Israel; and after he has moved the Ark of God into Jerusalem.

So, David has just moved the Ark into Jerusalem with great fanfare and celebration. As we have studied, this action was extremely important, as bringing the Ark into Jerusalem—but outside of the Tabernacle—represents Jesus coming into Jerusalem at His 1^st Advent. Generations of Israelites never actually saw the Ark of God. It was inside a compartment inside of the Tabernacle (called the Holy of Holies), and only the High Priest saw the Ark. The High Priest went into the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement to sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat of the Ark (if you do not know what I am talking about, see the doctrine Ark of God or refer back to the previous few chapters where it is discussed in much greater detail). In fact, we may reasonably assume that there may have even been some Israelites who did not know even that the Ark of God existed and where it was. After all, we have people in the United States who do not know the gospel of Jesus Christ, even though they may live in a city of 1000 churches or in a household where some have believed in Jesus Christ. But, my point is, inside the Tabernacle, the Ark represents Jesus Christ to come. However, when the Ark was carried into Jerusalem, visible to everyone, this represents our Lord Jesus Christ at His 1^st Advent coming into Jerusalem.

In the celebration, all of those interested in Israel could see the Ark move by them, carried by Levites. Then it was placed inside of a tent, which represents Jesus in His human body. Those with positive volition who have come to Jerusalem for this celebration represent believers at the time of our Lord, who recognized Him as the Messiah (the Christ).

2Sam. 7:1 (And it just so happened that, when the king was living in the royal palace, Jehovah gave him rest on every side from all of his enemies) is in stark contrast to 2Sam. 11:1–2, where David is restless, it is night, and he should be with his men at war. David, in 2Sam. 7, is at peace and legitimately at home. His mind is on spiritual things, which explains his conversation with Nathan (to follow in the next verse). However, when we get to 2Sam. 11, David will be at home when he should not be; and therefore, his mind goes to more carnal things. The idea is, when you are out of the geological will of God, then this messes you up with regards to living the Christian life.

Application: One of the simplest things in the world is divine guidance, and this throws most believers into a tizzy. Where should I be? What should I be doing? These are not difficult concepts. First of all, you need to be in fellowship. That means, when you sin, then you immediately name that sin to God. Not that very day, but that very second. When it is time to go to work, you ought to go to work. When your church opens the doors for Bible class, you ought to go to listen to Bible doctrine. On your off days, when church is not in session, you need about an hour’s worth of doctrine and you fit it in at the most opportune time. For me, I had to start getting up early in the morning for doctrine. I found that, if I waited until the end of the day, most of the time, I just fell asleep or could not concentrate. As a morning person, Bible doctrine is best for me in the morning. You ought not to go to places which essentially encourage you to sin (strip clubs, bars, if drinking too much and/or chasing women is a personal weakness, etc.). You need to order your time so that legitimate activity does not overwhelm your spiritual growth (you may be in love with this little missy, but you cannot spend every extra moment with her if that keeps you from God’s Word). You also need to sleep and eat. Now, I have pretty much taken care of 23 hours of your day, and maybe more.

Application: What if I need to move, marry, change jobs? What do I do? Flip a coin? 1Cor. 7:20 tells us, Let each man remain in the condition in which he was called. Do not make life-changing decisions. If God moves you, then you move; if God requires you to change jobs, then you change jobs. However, wherever you are called, you remain where you are called, until you have good and clear doctrinal reasons for doing otherwise. I have personally been in a particular situation at my previous job, and the first 4 or 5 times it occurred, I stayed at the job. The last time it occurred, 15 years later, I left that job. In all of these decisions, I made the correct decision. We are not to simply leave a job because it is difficult or we have one or two difficult co-workers or a difficult boss; we hang in there and do our jobs as unto the Lord. Quite obviously, if you are recently saved and are in a job which requires you to sin as a part of the job, then that is reason to find new employment. However, if you can continue working there without sinning, then you do that. If your boss requires you to perform some dishonest activity, whether lying to customers, clients or the government, then you have reason to leave. If you can discontinue that approach and still do your job, then you no longer have a reason to leave.

Application: Once you become a believer, God is not going to just bless whatever it is that you do. If you marry the wrong person, there will be hell to pay, even if that other person is a believer. So your decisions as a believer become important to your own peace of mind. Bad decisions will increase the difficulties and unhappiness in your life. That is why Paul suggests that, you remain in whatever state you are when called. Do not think that, you are a believer and whatever thing you do, God is going to make it all swell. Now, in a sense, He does. He can take your life, your sins, your bad decisions, and make it all good (Rom. 8:28), but your sins and bad decisions will have unpleasant repercussions. You cannot make a bad decision, and then turn around and say, “Why did God let me marry this guy? What did God let me change jobs?” Part of the Christian life is learning how to make good decisions. That requires doctrine in the soul. If you have just become a Christian or if you have just realized that doctrine is absolutely necessary to your Christian life, then you put off the life-changing decisions until you have some doctrinal sense.

David is a man with doctrine in his soul. He has been making a series of good decisions. At this point, he has made an extremely important decision. He begins to express this decision in v. 2.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                          He said to Nathan the prophet, "Do you see that I dwell in a house of cedar, and the ark of God is lodged within skins?"

Masoretic Text                       And so says the king unto Nathan the prophet, “Look, please: I am dwelling in a house of cedar [trees] and the Ark of Elohim is dwelling in a midst of the curtain.”

Septuagint                              ...that the king said to Nathan the prophet, Behold now, I live in a house of cedar, and the ark of the Lord dwells in the midst of a tent.

Significant differences:           Both the Greek and Syriac have see now rather than look please; however, that is a legitimate translation of the Hebrew particle. The Greek has that the Ark is inside of a tent; the Hebrew and Syriac have curtains instead (which would be the flaps of the tent). It is possible that the Greek translators were taking a minor liberty with the text.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Then one day, as David was talking with Nathan the prophet, David said, "Look around! I live in a palace made of cedar, but the sacred chest has to stay in a tent."

Good News Bible (TEV)         Then the king said to the prophet Nathan, "Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but God's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!"

New Century Version             Then David said to Nathan the prophet, "Look, I am living in a palace made of cedar wood, but the Ark of God is in a tent!"

NJB                                        ...the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘Look, I am living in a cedar-wood palace, while the ark of God is under awnings.’

New Life Version                    the king said to Nathan, the man who spoke for God, "See now, I live in a house of cedar wood. But the special box of God stays within tent curtains."

New Living Translation           ...the king summoned Nathan the prophet. "Look," David said, "I am living in a beautiful cedar palace,[a] but the Ark of God is out there in a tent!"

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Easy English (Pocock)           One day, David said to Nathan, the *prophet, `I am living in a palace. And my palace has the best wood, from trees called cedars. But the *ark of God is still in a tent.'

God’s Word™                         So the king said to the prophet Nathan, "Look, I'm living in a house made of cedar, while the ark of God remains in the tent."

HCSB                                     ...the king said to Nathan the prophet, "Look, I am living in a cedar house while the ark of God sits inside tent curtains."

New Intl. Readers Version     Then the king spoke to the prophet Nathan. He said, "Here I am, living in a palace that has beautiful cedar walls. But the ark of God remains in a tent."

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                ...The king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains.

LTHB                                     The king said to Nathan the prophet, See, now, I am living in a house of cedar, and the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.

NASB                                     ...that the king said to Nathan the prophet, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains."

Young’s Updated LT             ...that the king says unto Nathan the prophet, “See, I pray you, I am dwelling in a house of cedars, and the ark of God is dwelling in the midst of the curtain.”

What is the gist of this verse? After moving the Ark to Jerusalem, and after his palace had been built, David spoke to Nathan the prophet, commenting on how he (David) lived in a palace, but the Ark of God was just inside of a tent.

Translation: The king then said to Nathan the prophet,... This is the first time that we hear of Nathan the prophet (this is not one of David’s sons born to him in Jerusalem; that would make little sense, timewise ). He is introduced here without any fanfare. We do not know how he and David met, at which point David began asking his advice, or anything else. This does represent a change or an addition to David’s entourage. Prior to this, David would inquire of the High Priest via the Ephod to determine what to do. Here, there is no Ephod, and, as far as we can tell, no other things used in determining God’s will. It is also interesting to note that Nathan will give his first best guess to David's proposition, and later, God will speak to Nathan and straighten him out, which means that Nathan will go back to David and give a new opinion.

Nathan will show up at 3 key points in David’s life: here, where David desires to build a temple for the Ark of God; when David sins by taking Bathsheba and killing her husband (2Sam. 12); and, at the very end of David’s life, Nathan was a key player in seeing that Solomon be placed on the throne as David’s successor (1Kings 1). Just as important, Nathan’s writings are one of the sources for the history from this period of time (1Chron. 29:29 2Chron. 9:29). It is possible that he is the principle author of Samuel and the first portion of Kings.

Translation:...“Look [here], please: I live in a house [made of] cedar [trees]... This most assuredly places us after Hiram, king of Tyre, builds a house for David out of cedar. From what follows, it will be obvious that these events take place after David brought the Ark of God into Jerusalem.

David recognizes that God has blessed him greatly. He looks around and he recognizes all that God has done for him (which is something you ought to do yourself); and he becomes concerned about the Ark which he brought to Jerusalem.

Application: A decade or so ago, I opened my eyes and looked around and realized just how much God had blessed me. Do I have each and every thing that I want? Not necessarily. Do I have a better life and more blessings than anyone on my street? I have no idea. But what I do know is, God has given me a great deal in this life by way of material possessions, time, health, and, of course, stunning good looks. Could I have a newer car, a larger house, more time, better health, and be even more ruggedly handsome? A definite yes to most of those, and a possible yes to the final thing (I’ll admit that Russell Crowe or Brad Pitt may have something on me). But, I recognize that I am in a good place enjoying the wonderful benefits which God has given me. I have a reason for still being alive, and it is not simply to pursue hedonistic pleasures. David also recognizes the great blessings which God has bestowed upon him, and he wants to do something, anything, to show his gratitude and his respect.

We do not know the size of David’s palace. My guess is, there were several sets of rooms for his wives and families; however, I don’t know that it was as large as the castles we read about in the British Isles. I would suspect that some reading this actually have a house which is larger than David’s and is more pleasant to live in, with all the modern conveniences that we have. Our air conditioning, heating, dishwashers, ovens, stoves and refrigerators are things which David, at best, could only dream about; and most of us take these things for granted. I would suspect that had David stepped into the average American home, he would have been completely blown away by what we have. However, for him, as King over all Israel, what David had and where he lived was quite fabulous, given that day and age.

Application: Now, I mention this because you may live in a 30 year old house which is ho-hum average; and you know so many people who live in nicer houses. You may drive a car which is also a bit worn and now considered a late-model car; and you may think that God ought to give you more. What you have is every bit as much as what David had. In his day, what David had may have seemed to be quite impressive; but what we have today by way of modern American housing would simply blow him away. You should not discount your own blessings if God has given you the same thing as He has given your next door neighbors. You should not discount your blessings if you just happen to know 20 other families who live in a lot nicer house than you do. You let God deal with them and you deal with you own relationship with Him as directed by Bible doctrine. Your eyes need to be on God, not on other people and not on things. How do you look toward God? Bible doctrine. You learn Bible doctrine from your right pastor-teacher.

Application: Given that you probably have more by way of conveniences than David did, should indicate to you that an abundance of material possessions is not all that there is to life. I see tons of kids who have far more material possessions than I had as a kid. I have been in the homes of poor people who have more things than I had when I was growing up, yet some of them think that they have been short-changed (I do not, by the way). The key is your capacity for life, and David had a great capacity for life.

Application: You may think, I just want to have more than everyone else; or, I want my fair share; or, I just want these additional items and I will be happy. It isn’t like that. Happiness comes from within; happiness does not depend upon material blessings, happiness depends upon your capacity for life. I don’t care what you have and how much more stuff that you have than Charley Brown down the street; you will not be happy consistently apart from spiritual growth.

Matthew Henry contrasts the thinking of Nebuchadnezzar with David: [David] was not called out to serve God and Israel in the high places of the field, instead, he would employ his thoughts, and time, and estate, in serving him another way, and not over-indulge himself in ease, much less in luxury. When God, in his providence, gives us rest, and finds us little to do of worldly business, we must spend this time wisely. How different were the thoughts of David when he sat in his palace from Nebuchadnezzar's when he walked in his! Daniel 4:29–30 reads: At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?" That proud man thought of nothing but the might of his own power, and the honour of his own majesty; David’s humble soul is concentrating on how to glorify God, and give honour to Him. David’s life reveal how God resists the proud, and gives grace and glory to the humble. David considered the stateliness of his own habitation (I dwell in a house of cedar), and compared with that the modest habitation of the Ark (the Ark dwells within curtains), thinking this to be incongruous, that he should dwell in a palace and the Ark in a tent.

Translation: ...and the Ark of Elohim is living in the midst of a curtain.” David brought the Ark of God into Jerusalem and he had set up a tent for it. We do not know any of the specifics of this tent, as they are not important. One might think that David simply refers here to the tent itself; and I suspect that there were cloth partitions (curtains) within the tent, wherein the Tent of God could be found. This is my hypothesis, but whether the Ark of God is within a partitioned area marked by curtains in a tent, or whether it is simply inside a tent, is not important.

Now you may wonder why does David use the curtains of a tent rather than speak of the tent itself. This is done for emphasis; David wants to cast this inequity is the worst possible light. Certainly there are times when you favored one political candidate over another; so when speaking of your preferences, you cast one man in the absolute worst light possible, for dramatic emphasis. Davie here speaks of his home being build from cedar wood and the Ark of God is essentially under a tarp. He compares the two residences this way for dramatic emphasis and to make a strong contrast.

To David, this is a distinct point of inequity: he enjoys a semi-permanent cedar house, yet the Ark of God—which is infinitely more important than David—is just inside a cloth partition which is inside a tent. It does not make sense, nor does it seem right.

So David has come to a point of calm in his life, and he looks around and notices all that God has done for him. He is living in a palace in the city which he chose to live in, but the Ark of God is in a tent. This relative calm allows David to think and to plan, and his mind goes to spiritual things. So he has chosen to built a permanent Temple for the Ark of God, as Jerusalem is a permanent capital city for all Israel. The only problem here is, David has a limited view of things, and God sees and comprehends all of human history at once. Therefore, what seems like a good idea to David and Nathan, two spiritually mature individuals, is not God’s plan.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so says Nathan unto the king, “All that [is] in your heart, go [and] do, for Y^ehowah [is] with you.”

Septuagint                              And Nathan said to the king, Go and do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.

Significant differences:           There is an additional conjunction in the Greek.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Nathan replied, "The LORD is with you, so do what you want!"

Easy English (Pocock)           Nathan replied to the king, `You should do whatever you have decided to do. The *Lord is with you.'.

Good News Version (TEV)     Nathan answered, "Do whatever you have in mind, because the LORD is with you."

NET Bible®                             Nathan replied to the king, "You should go [Several medieval Hebrew manuscripts and the Syriac Peshitta lack this word] and do whatever you have in mind, [Heb "all that is in your heart."] for the Lord is with you."

New Century Version             Nathan said to the king, "Go and do what you really want to do, because the Lord is with you."

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Nathan told the king, "Do everything you have in mind, because the LORD is with you."

New Intl. Readers Version     Nathan replied to the king, "Go ahead and do what you want to. The Lord is with you."

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

MKJV                                     And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart, for Jehovah is with you.

NASB                                     Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that is in your mind, for the LORD is with you."

Young’s Updated LT             And Nathan says unto the king, “All that is in your heart—go, do, for Jehovah is with you.”

What is the gist of this verse? Nathan encouraged David to do what is in his mind.

Translation: Then Nathan said to the king, “All that [is] in your heart, go [and] do,... Nathan has apparently become David’s trusted spiritual advisor, although we have no idea as to what events led to this. Out of the blue, David calls Nathan in and poses this question to him: “Why should the Ark of God stay in a tent when I live in a house made out of cedar wood?” We do not know if there was more to this conversation than that; we simply know that David is concerned about this issue of inequity. David may or may not have said, “And so, I want to build a more permanent structure in which to house the Ark of God.” However, we are not told that. Nathan tells David to go and do whatever he is thinking about (whether David expressed these thoughts to Nathan or not). It is reasonable to suppose that Nathan pretty much figured out what David had in mind, even if he did not say it directly. Nathan’s non-specific answer implies that Nathan knows that David wants to produce a more permanent structure for the Ark, and implies that David has not stated this.

This simply tells us the Nathan can read David and that Nathan can give spiritual advice apart from first checking in with God directly.

Application: Why do you think that after all of this time that God puts someone in authority over David? David has come up through the ranks and he has shown great authority orientation and great humility. Why does God insert Nathan at this point, with the idea that Nathan knows what's up more than David? We need authority orientation throughout our lives; we need someone over us so that we do not become a law unto ourselves. One place where we find this in the Christian life is, we are supposed to attend a local church. It does not make any difference whether we are the president of the United States or the business CEO who works 90 hours a week. We need to be under a pastor's authority. I was a taper for a long time and there was suddenly a taper's church in my area. I had a choice—I could sit at home and play the series which I wanted to hear, without having to get into my car and drive, or I could go to this taper's church, which involved being under some limited authority. I attended the church of a handful of people, and, in the long run, it turned out to be a very good thing. During these several years before I moved to the Promised Land (Texas), I saw a lot of tapers come and go. I saw a number of people with no authority orientation (which is easy for me to spot, because I have always had authority problems). These people came and went; there was no consistency; and I can guarantee you, there was no consistency with their walk. If you can't get it together enough to attend Bible class 2–4 times a week, then your life is going to be a mess.

Application: We function as a team. Now, I say these things as a person who prefers to go it alone; in my profession, the last thing I wanted when I was teaching was to be put on this or that teaching team. However, when I exegete a verse, I am standing on the shoulders of hundreds of men who have prepared the way for me. These men have done work in the Greek and Hebrew; they have put together concordances, they have written commentary, they have developed translations. If I just opened the Bible and started writing, I can guarantee you, I would get next to nothing done.

Application: There is also the end result of my own work. I have no idea what will happen to it. Will it be carefully read and studied by 2 or 3 men or what? I am a link in the chain of God’s plan. A great example of this is Lewis Sperry Chafer and R. B. Thieme Jr. Chafer wrote Systematic Theology and founded Dallas Theological Seminary, where Bob went. Chafer, in his day, was well-known to a few in Christendom in his day; but his theology was the basis for what Thieme taught his congregation for the next 50 years. Chafer’s students also include Jim Rayburn, founder of Young Life (as well as many of Young Life's first staff members), Ken Taylor, author of The Living Bible translation, and numerous future Christian educators and pastors, including Howard Hendricks, J. Dwight Pentecost, Charles Ryrie, and John Walvoord,

Translation: ...for Y^ehowah [is] with you.” Nathan does promise David that God is with him in his endeavors. Nathan knows enough about David and David’s thinking to realize that David is pursuing this genuinely, and not for show and not to gain points with God. David’s thinking seems to be straight; David himself seems to be straight; therefore, there is no reason for Nathan to assume otherwise or to assume that David’s ideas are out of line. However, we are going to find out that God has a time and place for everything.

Application: This is what we want to hear. This is what we want to be confident of. We want to know that God is with us. Do you know how most Christians function? God, what are you going to give me today? God, make it stop hurting. This is the thrust of their spiritual life. Have you ever had a child, and all that child understood of your relationship was, will you buy me this? When God entrusts you with a child, you want to raise that child to think for himself and to do for himself. When he is high school, you do not want him to call you on the phone to come and tie his shoelaces. When he is 21 or 22, you want him to naturally choose to get a job and to begin paying his share of the way; and—better yet—move out and begin his independent life. This is what God wants for us. Thieme calls this being spiritually self-sustaining. You grow to a point where you can make spiritual decisions; you don't have to call your best friend or your pastor to figure out what to do. And, as you grow spiritually, God is with you. As you grow spiritually, you are able to figure out what to do with your life.

Application: As you grow spiritually, you do not need someone else to give you feedback, attention, encouragement and/or guidance. In fact, there will be times here you are just out there alone, all by yourself, making spiritual decisions (I mean, all by yourself by way of human interaction). You have to know, from the doctrine which is in your soul (from your inventory of ideas, as Joe Griffin puts it) what to do with your life. Although God is with us, He is not sitting on our shoulder barking out orders: “Turn left, advance forward; halt; at ease!”

Application: As you examine how you were raised; as you examine how you raise your own son—this should help you to understand how God is raising you. God teaches us through analogous situations all of the time (Jesus constantly spoke in parables). You do not train up your son to run to you for each and every problem. You do not teach your son to whine and complain when things aren’t going his way. You do not teach your son to be dependent upon you for everything that he does. Now, if he comes to you and asks your advice now and again, that’s alright. If he keeps you on speed-dial so that he can figure out when to turn left and when to turn right, that is a whole other thing. So should be our relationship with God. He has given us His Word and He has given us a mind which is more powerful and more complex than any computer. He has given us a human spirit where we may store spiritual information and He has given us the ability to understand the Word of God taught by a pastor-teacher. God expects there to be a union and an interaction between our minds and His Word.

David has an idea: to build a Temple for the Ark of God. He asks Nathan the prophet about it (although, I do not believe that David is specific here, given Nathan’s answer), and Nathan gives him the go-ahead. What David has is an interesting idea, which did not come straight out of the Bible, but was extrapolated from the doctrine in his soul and the blessings which God had given him. Now, even though God will tell David no, suddenly, the idea of building a Temple for the Ark of God becomes a new spiritual thing. God did not command Moses to do this; God did not say to Moses, “Okay, once Israel is fully settled into the land, I want you to replace the Tabernacle with a Temple.” Yet, not only will this come to pass, but this will be God’s will, and there will be a Temple in the land of Israel longer than there was a Tabernacle. All of this proceeds from the doctrine in David’s soul. He is sitting on his throne and he looks around at the marvelous cedar palace in which he lives; and then he thinks about the tent where the Ark of God is, and David realizes that this is not as things should be. Here, David’s own thinking, his own spiritual maturity, intersect with God’s sovereignty in a place unchartered by Scripture.

From the thinking of David’s soul, as well as from his life, God paints a picture of the 1^st and 2^nd Advents of our Lord. In the 1^st Advent, God comes to us as a man, in a humble tent. He will return and wipe out all of the enemies of Israel, just as David will do throughout his life. Then, David’s son, Solomon, will reign, and he will reign over a great period of peace and prosperity, just as our Lord will reign over this earth in the Millennium. At that time, God the Son will dwell in a more permanent way on the earth, just as the Temple will be a more permanent structure build by Solomon. It is amazing how God ties all of this together, continually giving us shadows of things to come.

You may now be thinking, this is Nathan, he is a prophet of God, and he is giving David the go–ahead; but I have read ahead, and God will tell David not to build Him a Temple; what gives? Matthew Henry answers this: Nathan spoke this, not in God's name, but as from himself; not as a prophet, but as a wise and good man; it was agreeable to the revealed will of God, which requires that all in their places should lay out themselves for the advancement of religion and the service of God, though it seems His will was otherwise, that David should not do this. It was Christ's prerogative always to speak the mind of God, which He perfectly knew. Other prophets spoke it only when the spirit of prophecy was upon them; but, if in any thing they mistook (as Samuel, 1Sam. 16:6—where God sends him to Jesse’s home to pick out God anointed, and he looks at Elias and thinks he’s the guy; and Nathan here) God soon rectified the mistake. Bear in mind that David is also a man of God, and this idea has come to him, but God is not going to have David himself follow through on this.

Application: There are going to be times in your life when you get it in your mind to do this or that which seems legitimate (it might even be something you would identify as being spiritual), and God is going to let you know, in some way, that you’re not going to do it. Now, God is not going to send Nathan the prophet to your house to straighten you out, nor will He appear to you in a dream, nor will he send a bolt of lightening right in your path to keep you from turning left as you are about to turn left. God speaks to you through His Word, the filling of the Holy Spirit and through a variety of circumstances (but, please do not look for signs or give to God some goofy test to help you figure out what to do). If by examining all of the facts of a situation, while filled with the Holy Spirit, with doctrine in your mind, you come to a conclusion of committing to a course of action, the next thing is to do what you have decided upon. If this is not God’s will, then He will throw up road blocks. Now, if you have little or no doctrine and you have no idea how to be filled with the Holy Spirit, then your decision making process is going to be flawed, and you will decide to do some pretty spectacularly dumb things (which is why Paul urges believers not to make any big changes in their lives in 1Cor. 7:20–27). 1John 2:27: The anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you don't need anyone to teach you. Instead, His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in Him.

God speaks to Nathan, and Gives Him the Davidic Covenant

1Chronicles 17:3–15

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so he is the night the this is a word of Y^ehowah unto Nathan, to say,...

Septuagint                              And it came to pass in that night, that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying,...

Significant differences:           None; it appears that the Greek uses to come as most other translators did, to render the common verb to be.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       That night, the LORD told Nathan...

Easy English (Pocock)           That night the *Lord spoke to Nathan. The *Lord said,...

New Living Translation           But that same night the Lord said to Nathan,...

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

HCSB                                     But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan:...

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

English Standard Version      But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan,...

NASB                                     But in the same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying,...

New King James Version       But it happened that night that the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying,...

Young’s Updated LT             And it comes to pass in that night, that the word of Jehovah is unto Nathan, saying,...

What is the gist of this verse? God comes to speak to Nathan in a dream.

Translation: And it is on that [very] night [that] the word of Y^ehowah came [lit., is] to Nathan, saying,... Nathan believed that his answer was a no-brainer; that he did not need to consult God directly. He knew David’s heart and intentions, and, therefore, had no problem with what David intended to do. However, God has a different plan, and He comes to Nathan that night.

You may recall that one of the difficulties in Scripture is determining just exactly how this or that occurs; here, we can be fairly certain that God comes to Nathan in a dream. However, this does not mean that God did not speak to Nathan while in a pre-REM state. The language used here and in v. 17 (where Nathan relays these words to David) emphasize the words which are spoken. Although one could take this and v. 17 and try to twist them to say something else, the natural understanding of this passage is, these are words which Nathan is hearing words rather than perceiving images which he sees and talks about (as in, for instance, the book of Revelation).

It is interesting that God goes and speaks to Nathan, who will then speak to David, rather than going directly to David. I think there are two issues here: (1) David is not to view himself as a king and the man to whom God speaks directly; and (2) God speaks to man through an intercessor; in this case, through Nathan. Jesus Christ is our Intercessor; it is only because of our Lord that we have access to God. So, throughout the Old Testament, we find this intercessor relationship again and again (like priests for example).

One of the problem with some Christian denominations is, they do not realize how much of the Old Testament points toward Jesus Christ in the New. Again and again, we have types in the Old Testament, which point to the anti-type, which is Jesus Christ. The mistake that many of these denominations make is, they try to bring their types into the Church Age, even though it should be clear that they should not. For instance, some Christian denominations have some sort of a priesthood—specific men who are called priests. Now, this is outright silly. In the Bible, it is clear that the only priests from the Old Testament are those who are descended from Aaron, who is a Levite (with the exception of Samuel ). Quite obviously, a Catholic priest is not descended from Aaron; he is not even descended from Levi. Furthermore, an Old Testament priest, because he is physically descended from other priests, is going to be married and have children (at least, that will be the case for his father). A Catholic priest is supposed to be celibate. Now if the Jewish priesthood is based upon being a descendant from another priest and a Catholic priest cannot be a descendant from another priest, how much sense does that make? The Catholic Church has tried to copy the Old Testament, but it is a very imperfect copy and they completely ignore both the specifics and the purpose of the priesthood in the Age of Israel.

Today, we are all priests. We can all go to God as priests, because we share our Lord’s priesthood. Today, having a specialized priesthood would be like having a specialized intercessory position. It would be like having a bunch of guys at your church who are called the intercessors or the mediators between man and God. You recognize that is stupid, right? Jesus Christ is our intercessor; He is the only mediator between God and man. Similarly, a specialized priesthood for today is also stupid, for the exact same reasons.

Let’s say the Catholic church noticed that there are all of the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, and decide that they want to duplicate this, but they are going to use donuts instead, which they will roast on a home barbeque at the front of the church. And instead of the priest putting his hand on the parishioner’s head and the other on the donut to transfer the sins, the priest will slap the parishioner on the butt with a flyswatter; and call that all good. Obviously, you see how stupid this all is—to act as though you are following some great commission of God from the Old Testament, but you change up a few details here and there to suit you. The idea that there is this specialized priesthood and that many of them go off to monasteries and live a celibate life for awhile and then they, in some cases, go to various churches and listen to people tell them their sins through an opaque screen, has as much to do with the Old or New Testaments as does my idea of the priest swatting his congregants on the butt with a flyswatter—it is just a dumb idea which is completely unrelated to the Old or New Testaments.

God has proscribed, in both the Old and New Testaments, a system of protocol, which is a rigid, long-established code, prescribing complete deference to superior rank and authority, followed by strict adherence to due order of precedence, coupled with precisely correct procedure. In other words, in the Christian life, you do not set up some sort of procedure which has some similarities with procedures in the past, and call it good, and that is what your church does for next thousand years.

Now, do not confuse this with some sort of established tradition in the church. At Berachah Church, we meet traditionally on New Year’s Eve, and there is fellowship, and this has been done for about 50 years. It is a nice tradition; and yet, Bobby could stop it this year. Bob had Saturday Night at the Movies for a decade or two, and then stopped this tradition. These traditions are different from establishing a priesthood, which is, quite frankly, seen as a more spiritual function than someone who just comes to church for mass.

David and Nathan are adhering to a system of protocol, even though it is of a fairly recent origin (remember, David is only the 2^nd king of Israel). But, just as Saul was to be under the spiritual authority of Samuel, so David must be under the spiritual authority of someone else, and here, it is Nathan. David’s spiritual authority is also the one acting as an intercessor for him.

——————————

In vv. 5–16, we will have God’s words spoken to Nathan, which Nathan is to then convey to David. These 12 verses make up the Davidic Covenant, which are also found in 1Chron. 17 and written about in Psalm 89. In v. 17, we are told that Nathan goes to David and says these things.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       “Go and say unto My servant, unto David, thus said Y^ehowah, Will you build for Me a house to my living?

Septuagint                              Go, and say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord, You will not build Me a house for Me to dwell in.

Significant differences:           The Hebrew has 2 unto’s and the Greek uses one preposition, face to face with. Also, in the Greek, we have a clearly negative statement: you will not build a house for me. The Hebrew states this negative as a question which demands a negative answer. This will be further discussed in the exegesis. 4 early printed editions of the Hebrew, the LXX, Syriac and Vulgate all have simply unto My servant David. Although I am leaning toward the Greek here, I don’t know really how much difference it makes.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       ...to go to David and give him this message: David, you are my servant, so listen to what I say. Why should you build a temple for me?

Easy English (Pocock)           Go to David and say, "The *Lord has sent this message to you." He says "You must not build a house for me. You are not the right man.

The Message                         "Go and tell my servant David: This is GOD's word on the matter: You're going to build a 'house' for me to live in?

NET Bible®                             "Go, tell my servant David: `This is what the Lord says: Do you really intend to build a house for me to live in?

Good News Bible (TEV)         "Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, 'You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in.

New Jerusalem Bible             ‘Go and tell my servant David, “Yahweh says this: Are you to build me a temple for me to live in?

New Living Translation           "Go and tell my servant David, `This is what the Lord has declared: Are you the one to build a house for me to live in?

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         "Say to my servant David, 'This is what the LORD says: Are you the one who will build me a house to live in?

HCSB                                     "Go to My servant David and say, 'This is what the LORD says: Are you to build a house for Me to live in?

JPS (Tanakh)                         “Go and say to My servant David: Thus said the Lord: Are you the one to build a house for Me to dwell in?

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

English Standard Version      "Go and tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in?

NASB                                     "Go and say to My servant David, 'Thus says the LORD, "(F)Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in?

New King James Version       "Go and tell My servant David, `Thus says the LORD: "Would you build a house for Me to dwell in?

Young’s Updated LT             “Go, and you have said unto My servant, unto David, ‘Thus said Jehovah, Do you build for Me a house for My dwelling in?

What is the gist of this verse? Interestingly enough, God speaks to Nathan, and not to David. He makes it clear that this is from Jehovah God, and He asks the question, “Will you build a house for Me to live in?”

Translation: “Go and say to My servant David,... In a dream, God speaks to Nathan, and He tells Nathan to go speak to David.

Translation:...‘Thus says Y^ehowah:... God makes this clear that these words are coming from Him and spoken to David. Although the scene here properly, God speaking to Nathan while he is sleeping, we may see this as God speaking through Nathan to David, as later in this chapter, Nathan will say these things to David (v. 17).

Translation: ...Will you build for Me a house to live in? God begins with a question, “Will you be the person who builds a house for Me to live in?”

This is phrased in such a way as to demand a negative answer. Has your teenaged son, on a school night, grabbed the keys to the car and started walking toward the front door, upon which occasion, you said, “You aren’t going out, are you?” You are not idly inquiring as to what he plans to do; you are telling the kid, “You are not going out.” By the way that you say this, the tone of your voice and the way you ask the question makes it clear to the teen that he needs to turn around, set the keys back down, and go do his homework. Regardless of what the kid says, he understands what you are saying (unless, of course, he’s stupid).

1Chron. 17:3–4 confirms for us that this is God telling David that he will not build a Temple for Him: But that night the word of God came to Nathan: "Go to David My servant and say, 'This is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build Me a house to dwell in.” We will discuss later in 1Chron. 17 the slight difference in the translations.

It is worth noting that God spoke to Nathan immediately, that very night, before David could expend any effort on this project.

Application: We all have our place in the plan of God. Some of us get quite ambitious and we want to establish a church, a seminary, a Bible institute, and flood the radio with the Word of God. Calm down. God has a place for you and me in His plan. He has specific things which He would like for us to do, and we function within the boundaries of our free will and our spiritual growth. David was to bring the Ark into Jerusalem, so as to represent Jesus entering into the city of Jerusalem. Solomon was to build the Temple for the Ark, so as to represent Jesus Christ in His millennial reign over all the earth. I used to be a teacher. There were serious time constraints on my life when it came to working with these kids. If there was a way, I would have been personally involved in almost every one of their lives, trying to help and guide them. However, that just could not be. There are not enough hours in the day to do the basic job of teaching, let alone, get too involved in too many students’ lives. So, there would be some one-on-one interaction offered here and there, depending upon the situation and the circumstances.

Application: Obviously, the biggest time constraint is the number of years that we live on this earth. I would love to write a complete commentary on every book in the Bible; however, I have only so many years to live; furthermore, I sometimes crowd my time with God by doing other things or by making bad decisions. Now, do not get confused over this—we do not function 24-7 for God by way of actually doing things—but there will be times when we are moved to exhaustion by our spiritual function in the plan of God.

Application: On the other hand, you may not have the ambition to do anything in God’s plan. If you have read this far, that indicates positive volition. You simply keep growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and there will be a point in time when you desire to have a spiritual impact. But, you must grow first, and act after. Becoming involved in some sort of spiritual service before you grow up spiritually is a waste of time. You simply won’t have the spiritual skills for is and some just won’t have the heart for it.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       For I have not dwelt in a house to from a day I brought up sons of Israel from Egypt and as far as the day the this, and so I am going about in a tent and in a Tabernacle.

Septuagint                              For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt to this day, and I have been walking in a lodge and in a tent...

Significant differences:           No significant differences.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       I didn't live in a temple when I brought my people out of Egypt, and I don't live in one now. A tent has always been my home wherever I have gone with them.

Easy English (Pocock)           I rescued the *Israelites from the country called Egypt. I never had a house from that time until now. I moved from one place to another. A tent has always been my home.

Good News Bible (TEV)         From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now, I have never lived in a temple; I have traveled around living in a tent.

The Message                         Why, I haven't lived in a 'house' from the time I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt till now. All that time I've moved about with nothing but a tent.

NET Bible®                             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. Hebrew: "in a tent and in a dwelling." The expression is a hendiadys, using two terms to express one idea.

New Century Version             Nathan said to the king, "Go and do what you really want to do, because the Lord is with you.".

New Jerusalem Bible             I have never lived in a house from the day when I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today, but have kept traveling with a tent for shelter.

New Living Translation           I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. I have always moved from one place to another with a tent and a Tabernacle as my dwelling.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         I haven't lived in a house from the day I took Israel out of Egypt to this day. Instead, I moved around in a tent, the tent of meeting.

HCSB                                     From the time I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today I have not lived in a house; instead, I have been moving around with the tabernacle tent.

JPS (Tanakh)                         From the day that I brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to this day I have not dwelt in a houes, but have moved about in Tent and Tabernacle.

New Intl. Readers Version     I have not lived in a house from the day I brought the people of Israel up out of Egypt until now. I have been moving from place to place. I have been living in a tent.

New International Version      I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                For I have not dwelt in a house since I brought the Israelites out of Egypt to this day, but have moved about with a tent for My dwelling.

Updated Emphasized Bible    ...seeing that I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up the sons of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have been wandering in a tent as my inhabitation [Hebrew: “in a tent and in a habitation”]?

English Standard Version      I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.

Young's Updated LT              For I have not dwelt in a house even from the day of My bringing up the sons of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, and I am walking up and down in a tent and in a tabernacle.

What is the gist of this verse? God tells David that He has not lived in a house all of the time since He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. All of this time, He is walking around in a tent or in a tabernacle.

Translation: For I have not lived in a house from the day [that] I brought up the sons of Israel out from Egypt... We do have an interesting approach here, that God speaks of Himself as personified in the Ark, or as the Ark. However, a verb which will occur a little later will indicate that God is not confined to the Ark.

Obviously, God has never lived in a house before, so why do we go back to Him bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt? Two reasons: (1) This marks the beginning of the nation Israel and (2) the Ark of God was constructed during Israel’s trek through the desert (at the very beginning, after Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai). God led Israel out of Egypt before there was an Ark; but the Ark was made soon after, as per God’s specifications. At the same time, the Tabernacle of God was also built, and, when stationary, the Ark was kept in a compartment inside of the Tabernacle.

Translation: ...even to this day,... This is the day in which God speaks to Nathan. This sets up a time frame: from the time that Israel left Egypt (actually, a couple of months after) up until David’s reign, God has resided in a tent (a Tabernacle is simply a semi-permanent tent).

Translation: ...but [lit., and so] I have been moving about in a tent and in a Tabernacle [or, in a tent, namely the Tabernacle]. We have this interesting relationship between an omnipresent God and this Ark specifically, which is always confined to one place in a point in time. God was the cloud which led Israel and the pillar of fire at night for Israel, even after the construction of the Ark. However, the Ark itself has always been properly kept in the Tabernacle, or, since its return to Israel, in a tent of some sort (we are not given any real specifics as to how the Ark was kept in Kiriath-jearim, but we may reasonably surmise that it was kept in a tent.

The verb used here is in the Hithpael stem. It is basically an intensive reflexive verb. Here, we probably have the iterative use, which means that the Hithpael suggests repeated activity (he walked about, he walked to and fro, and turned back and forth). For the most part, the Ark just sat in one place, in the Holy of Holies. It was taken out when moved and it was taken out twice to go to war; but for most of the time, the Ark is inside a room which is inside the Tabernacle.

God is not speaking of the Ark being taken into battle nor is He speaking of when the Ark was moved (e.g., across the Jordan River), because the verb has God moving about inside of a tent. As we try to wrap our heads around this verb, we must bear in mind the Ark itself is never worshiped; it is not seen as God, even though it clearly shadows Jesus Christ to come.

One might view this as somewhat of the Triune nature of God. We have God confined to one place at one time, pictured by the Ark, and analogous to our Lord Jesus Christ. We have God as omnipotent, leading Israel out of Egypt and delivering Israel from many difficult situations, which we might see as analogous to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And yet, over all and in all is the omnipresent God, analogous to God the Father.

Most commentators do not interpret this passage as I do. Most see the Ark as moving around with Israel, when Israel moved across the desert from Egypt to the Land of Promise; and then as Israel moved throughout the land conquering it; and then, wherever the Tabernacle was established (Shiloh, Nob, Gibeon). It is possible to read this that God said, “I moved about with the tent; even with the Tabernacle.” An even more rare, but still legitimate translations would be, “I was moved about with the tent—even with the Tabernacle” (the Hithpael can be understood as a passive voice). The idea is, when the Tabernacle was moved, it was moved in pieces, not as a whole; and when the priests moved the Ark, this would be one of the few times the Ark could actually be seen by the public. In the first case, wherever the Ark moves, He moves along with it by His choice. Another approach is, God willingly confined Himself to the Ark, for the most part, and traveled with the Ark after it had become established.

There are previous passages which legitimize this understanding: The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud rested on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. The Israelites set out whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle throughout all the stages of their journey. If the cloud was not taken up, they did not set out until the day it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and there was a fire inside the cloud by night, visible to the entire house of Israel throughout all the stages of their journey (Ex. 40:34–38). So, certainly God did move along side of the Tabernacle when Israel was in the desert (see also Num. 10:33–36 2Cor. 6:16). This would be in keeping with the first understanding of this verse, where God willingly chose to move about along side of or with the Ark.

It is interesting that God should make such a statement to Nathan, because the Ark had not been inside or along side the Tabernacle since the time of Eli, when the Israeli army snatched it up and took it into battle. This was before Samuel and Saul (they were alive, but they were not leaders at this time). So, although the interpretation of other commentators is reasonable, I prefer understand this to refer to God moving around inside of or with the tent which David constructed for the Ark (and the other tents which had been probably constructed for it over the past 50 years or so) and inside of or with the Tabernacle when the Ark was associated with it. In any case, I believe that God the Holy Spirit meant to evoke images of Jesus Christ walking around in His human body (which body God will be eternally associated with).

With many passages of the Bible, there are often 2 or more things going on at the same time. For instance, in these prophecies which will follow—they will speak both of Solomon, David’s son, and of Jesus, God’s Son. When we read a passage, we also need to be aware that the human author and the divine author may be telling us different things. In the words used here—the words of God—we may understand this to refer to the Ark of God and the presence of God moving about with Israel, along with the various tents designed for the Ark (by Abinadab, Obed-edom, and David) and along side the Tabernacle when it was moved. However, throughout the Old Testament, God reveals Himself and His Son in ways which may not be immediately apparent (and certainly not always clear to the original readers and writers of Scripture). However, in retrospect, we can read a passage like this, and see Jesus Christ in His human body, a body to which He is eternally affixed, just as our souls are completely integral to our human bodies.

The Jewish worship of God was far different than heathen worship of Him. Bear in mind that, David sees this as building a Temple for Jehovah God; but essentially, what will go into the Temple will be the Ark of God, which, David does not deify, per se, nor does he worship the Ark in any way. He treats the Ark with due deference—maybe not in quite the same way that we would deal with uranium, but that is a somewhat similar approach. This is how remarkably different the Jewish religion was from the heathen religions around them. The heathen had god which they built out of wood, stone and precious metals. They built worship halls for these statues and they worshiped before the statues and worshiped the statues themselves. The holiest thing which the Jews had was this Ark of God, and it was clearly recognized as holy, and David speaks of building a Temple for God to mean that he wants to build a Temple for the Ark of God. But, no one in Israel worships the Ark; the Bible never encourages them to worship the Ark; and, throughout most of Israel’s history, no one even sees the Ark, apart from the High Priest once a year on the Day of Atonement. So, even from earliest times, the Jews understood that the Ark represented God in some way, but they knew the Ark was not God; nor was God confined in any way to the Ark. In other words, the Jews had a completely unique approach to this, their most holy religious artifact, which approach is borne out in the Word of God.

It is more difficult for us to find a parallel in our own lives. We all have the Word of God in one form or another (on our computer or 1 or several which we can carry about). No one reading this worships his own Bible; no one looking at his Bible imagines that is God. We understand that the Bible is the mind of Christ and the Word of God, but we do not deify it in any way. It is quite a fascinating dichotomy that our Bible is vastly more important than the Ark of God (which, in itself, revealed truth); however, David (and all previous saints) treated the Ark with extreme deference, as required by the Law. In any case, we do not deify and worship the Bible; nor did David deify and worship the Ark.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       In all that I have gone in all sons of Israel, did a word I speak with one of tribes of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, to say, “To what you have not built to me a house of cedars?”

Septuagint                              ..in all that I went with all Israel. Have I ever spoken to any of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded to tend my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of Cedar?”

Significant differences:           The Hebrew, Latin and Syriac all have all the sons of Israel; the Greek only has all Israel. We find a word in the Hebrew and Latin, but not in the Greek (it is not in the English of the Syriac). There is little effect here upon the overall meaning.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       I chose leaders and told them to be like shepherds for my people Israel. But did I ever say anything to even one of them about building a cedar temple for me?

Easy English (Pocock)           So I moved with the *Israelites. And I told the rulers of the *Israelites to be like a *shepherd to the people. I never told them to build me a house or *temple from the wood of cedar trees."

Good News Bible (TEV)         In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.'

The Message                         And in all my travels with Israel, did I ever say to any of the leaders I commanded to shepherd Israel, 'Why haven't you built me a house of cedar?'

NET Bible®                             Wherever I moved among all the Israelites, I did not say [Hebrew "Did I speak a word?" In the Hebrew text the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question] to any of the leaders [Hebrew "tribes" (so KJV, NASB, NCV), but the parallel passage in 1 Chr 17:6 has "judges."] whom I appointed to care for [Hebrew "whom I commanded to shepherd" (so NIV, NRSV)] my people Israel, "Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?"'.

New Century Version             As I have moved with the Israelites, I have never said to the tribes, whom I commanded to take care of my people Israel, "Why haven't you built me a house of cedar?" '

New Jerusalem Bible             In all my travels with all the Israelites, did I say to any of the judges of Israel, whom I had commanded to shepherd my people Israel: Why do you not build me a cedar-wood temple?”

New Living Translation           Yet no matter where I have gone with the Israelites, I have never once complained to Israel's tribal leaders, the shepherds of my people Israel. I have never asked them, "Why haven't you built me a beautiful cedar house?"'

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         In all the places I've moved with all the Israelites, did I ever ask any of the judges of Israel whom I ordered to be shepherds of my people Israel why they didn't build me a house of cedar?'

HCSB                                     In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked anyone among the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel: Why haven't you built Me a house of cedar?'

JPS (Tanakh)                         As I moved about wherever the Israelites went, did I ever reproach any of the tribal leaders [this is understood by some to mean scepters; 1Chron. 17:6 reads chieftains] whom I appointed to care for My people Israel: Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?

New Intl. Readers Version     I have moved from place to place with all of the people of Israel. I commanded their rulers to be shepherds over them. I never asked any of those rulers, 'Why haven't you built me a house that has beautiful cedar walls?' " '

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

English Standard Version      In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"'

New King James Version       Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, `Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?'"'

Young’s Updated LT             During all the time that I have walked up and down among all the sons of Israel, a word have I spoken with one of the tribes of Israel which I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built to Me a house of cedars?.

What is the gist of this verse? God, through Nathan, asks that, during all of this time, has He ever requested for anyone to build for Him and house of cedar wood.

Translation: Wherever I have gone [or, walked] with all the sons of Israel,... God has been all over with the sons of Israel. He brought them up out of Egypt; He wandered with them in the desert below the Land of Promise. He brought them up along the eastern coast of the Dead Sea, until the reached the Jordan River, and then He led them across the Jordan to take the Land of Promise. Lev. 26:6–7 reads: I will set My tabernacle in your midst, and My soul will not loathe you; and I will walk always in your midst, and will be God to you, and you, you will be people to Me.

The Land of Promise is a termination point. This is the land which God gave to Israel. God will no longer have to walk with Israel; the Tabernacle will no longer to be something which can be moved from place to place. Therefore, this would be the logical place for God to have a permanent residence.

David has access to God’s Word, and in His Word is a history of God’s interactions with Israel. As we have seen with the moving of the Ark, David has studied the Mosaic Law and the other portions of the Bible which were available to him. David knew that he was going in a logical direction; he knew he was thinking outside of the box; however, he knew the Bible well enough that he believed this not to be a sin (building a permanent dwelling for God).

Translation: ...did I [ever] speak a word with anyone of the tribes [possibly, judges] of Israel... This is moderately difficult to determine. Is God speaking of an individual here or is He speaking of a particular tribe? This could be just as easily rendered any of the tribes of Israel. The next phrase will indicate that this is an individual; and the phrase after that will have a plural verb referring back to here, which suggests a plural subject. I think the idea is, God is speaking of any individual who has ruled over Israel and He will refers back to them as a group of men.

God here asks David, through Nathan the prophet, “Have I ever spoken even one word with anyone of any tribe of Israel about..?”