Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
2 Samuel 7:8-17
Rather Than David Building Him A House, YHWH Would Build David A House Of A Very Different Kind (2 Samuel 7:8).
YHWH then assured ‘His servant David' that He had greater purposes than the building of houses of cedar. Rather He was intending to build David's house (his descendants and dynasty) into an everlasting house that would rule over His everlasting kingdom for ever. This was the House that YHWH had in mind. There are three basic elements to His promise:
The first is that David himself will have a great name like the great ones of the earth (2 Samuel 7:9).
The second is that David's son who directly follows him will be adopted by YHWH as His son, and that YHWH will be faithful to him even if he strays (2 Samuel 7:14).
The third is that He will establish through David's seed an everlasting kingly rule that will never cease (2 Samuel 7:13; 2 Samuel 7:16).
There is also in 2 Samuel 7:13 possibly a hint that his son will also build a physical temple (of cedar) but the main emphasis is undoubtedly on the building of a perpetual dynasty which will finally result in an everlasting kingdom.
What David would think about this ‘everlasting kingdom' in depth is, of course, open to question. Indeed it may well be that he did not think about it in depth. He would probably simply think of it as an everlasting kingdom on earth and not consider it any further. The impossibility of such an idea would probably not strike him. He would think in terms of the earth as permanent without speculating on the matter. But there is no doubt that the promise contained within it is of the idea of an everlasting ‘heavenly' kingdom (as God would certainly be fully aware of), for even we know that that is the only possible way in which there could be an everlasting kingdom. Here we have the beginning of the way in which earthly descriptions are used by the prophets with the purpose of conveying the idea of eternal realities. They convey heavenly truth through an earthly medium because at that time speculation about heavenly existence in itself would have become confused with ideas about the lives of the gods found in other nations. These earthly descriptions are thus not always to be taken absolutely literally. Attention must be paid to what the deeper ideas are that are within them (compare Hebrews 11:10).
Analysis.
a “Now therefore thus shall you say to my servant David (2 Samuel 7:8 a).
b “Thus says YHWH of hosts, I took you from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people, over Israel” - the CALL and FINAL PURPOSE of YHWH for DAVID (2 Samuel 7:8 b).
c “And I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and I will make you a great name, like to the name of the great ones which are in the earth” - the ACCOMPANYING PRESENCE, POWER and PURPOSE of YHWH with regard to DAVID (2 Samuel 7:9).
d “And I will appoint a place for my people Israel” - the PURPOSE of YHWH for HIS PEOPLE
“and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more,” - the ACTIVITY of YHWH on behalf of HIS PEOPLE
“nor shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as at the first, and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel,” - the PROTECTION of YHWH as regards HIS PEOPLE
“and I will cause you to rest from all your enemies” - the PROMISED FUTURE REST for DAVID on behalf of HIS PEOPLE (2 Samuel 7:10 a).
e “Moreover YHWH tells you that YHWH will make you a house” - the PROMISED FUTURE HOUSE for DAVID (2 Samuel 7:11 b).
d “When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will proceed out of your bowels,” - the INITIAL PURPOSE of YHWH for DAVID'S HOUSE
“and I will establish his kingly rule.” - the ACTIVITY of YHWH on behalf of DAVID'S HOUSE
“He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingly rule for ever” - the FINAL PURPOSE of YHWH for DAVID'S HOUSE (2 Samuel 7:12).
c “I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men, but my lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you” - the ACCOMPANYING PRESENCE, POWER and PURPOSE of YHWH with regard to DAVID'S HOUSE (2 Samuel 7:14).
b “And your house and your kingly rule will be made sure for ever before you, your throne will be established for ever” - the FINAL PURPOSE of YHWH for DAVID'S HOUSE (2 Samuel 7:16).
a According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David (2 Samuel 7:17).
Note that in ‘a' YHWH tells Nathan what he is to say to David, and in the parallel Nathan does so. In ‘b' David is told that he was taken from the sheepcote to be ‘prince over YHWH's people', and in the parallel he is told that ‘his kingly rule and throne will be established for ever'. In ‘c' David is told that YHWH has been with him wherever he went and in the parallel he is assured that YHWH's lovingkindness will in the same way not depart from his children. In ‘d' YHWH declares that He will appoint a place for His people Israel, and they will no more be afflicted, and in the parallel He declares that David's son will build Him a house, and He will establish the kingly rule of David's house over His people for ever. Central in ‘e' is the fact that YHWH will make David a house in a much better sense than any physical house of cedar.
“ Now therefore thus shall you say to my servant David, ‘Thus says YHWH of hosts, I took you from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people, over Israel,”
YHWH commences with an historical preamble. He reminds David that it was He Who had brought David from his sheepcote of rough wood to his palace of cedar. He had called him from his humble occupation as shepherd, an occupation which had been the consequence of his being the youngest son, in order that He might raise him to the exalted position of Prince and War-leader (nagid) over His people, over Israel. Without YHWH David would still have been watching sheep.
“ And I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and I will make you a great name, like to the name of the great ones who are in the earth.”
And He had been ‘with him wherever he went', whether following the sheep (2 Samuel 7:8), serving Saul at court, commanding a military unit, hiding out in the wilderness, establishing his kingship, building up his empire or ruling over Israel. All had been under the hand of YHWH, and He had been present with him in them all. Sometimes it might not have seemed like it. But even in his darkest hours it had been so.
And He ‘had cut off all his enemies from before him', whether the lion and the bear, Goliath, the Philistines generally, Saul or any other enemies. Furthermore He would continue to be with him, for it was His intention to make him a great name, similar to the great ones who are in the earth. In other words because of his faithfulness to YHWH, and because YHWH had purposed it in the carrying forward of His will, He would ensure that he became a ‘world' figure, inferior to none.
“And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more, nor shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as at the first, and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and I will cause you to rest from all your enemies.”
It is now emphasised that all this was not, of course, for David's benefit alone. It was all tied up with YHWH's overall purposes for His people. Indeed from start to finish David's calling was to be in order to benefit the people of God. Thus the covenant grant is to YHWH's people. That is always God's purpose in blessing anyone, for to become His servant is to become committed to being a source of His blessing to His people. So through David he would appoint a secure and permanent place for His people and would plant them so that they could dwell securely in a place that was their own, and not have to live in fear of being moved on, or of being afflicted by their enemies.
In general terms all this did, of course, happen under David and Solomon. During their reigns God's people were firmly established and made secure in a way that they had never been before. But careful thought will indicate that what God actually had in mind was a better kingdom, a place of perfect bliss, permanence, harmony and security. In the end therefore it could only be fulfilled under a perfect King and in an eternal kingdom from which all sinners had been removed. Thus the promise had a near and a far view.
“As at the first, and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel.” The idea here is that the people had known continual affliction from the children of wickedness in Egypt, and they had then known further similar affliction in the time of the judges, but that it would be so no more, for YHWH would cause David to rest from all his enemies. Alternately we might see it as referring to the periods of rest they had enjoyed, first under Joshua after their deliverance (Joshua 11:23; Joshua 21:44; Joshua 22:4; Joshua 23:1), and then under the judges once their enemies had been overthrown by them (Judges 3:11; Judges 3:30), with the rest promised under David being similar but more permanent. Either way the promise is of future rest.
“Moreover YHWH tells you that YHWH will make you a house.”
It is now emphasised that rather than David building a house for YHWH, YHWH will build a house for David. There is a clear play on words here, for the house to be built for David is not one of cedar but of successive heirs. The promise is that from David will come a particular seed, Solomon, and then a continual seed who will make up ‘the house of David' in coming generations, a seed whom YHWH will watch over and to whose hands He will commit His people, leading on to One who will rule over His people everlastingly, a final fulfilment of 1 Samuel 2:10; Genesis 49:10.
Sadly, as we know from the books of Kings and Chronicles, the intermediate members in the chain (even beginning with Solomon) regularly failed, but it would not hinder the going forward of God's purposes, for God's purposes were God-determined (compare e.g. Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:3) and would in the end prevail.
All this emphasises the important principle that there could be no permanent Temple until David's house was firmly established, for it was the strength or otherwise of the house of David that would keep things on the right track, not the existence of a permanent Temple. Thus the establishing of David's house must be seen as having priority over the building of a house for YHWH, because it was David's house that was to be YHWH's true house. And indeed it was finally because the house of David would fail, that the Temple would also fail. The Temple is always secondary. The warning is thus given that we cannot look to our particular religious ritual for help unless our spiritual foundations are first sure and secure. It is the spiritual life within that saves, not the outward form. As Stephen would later make clear, it was the coming of the Righteous One, not Solomon's Temple, that would determine the future of God's people (Acts 7:47).
“ When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingly rule.”
These next three verses specifically refer to Solomon (note the singular ‘his kingly rule'), the seed who will proceed from David's bowels, in other words will result from his impregnation. YHWH promises that He will establish his kingly rule using covenant terminology (‘father' and ‘son' and covenant warning). Thus the dynasty is guaranteed to continue, at least in the short term. At a time when succession was uncertain, and often resulted in war and the survival of whoever won, this was an important promise. David could now be sure that the son of his flesh would succeed him and would be established in the kingship.
“ He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingly rule for ever.”
The opening phrase here is two-edged. In context the emphasis is on ‘house' as referring to descendants, and this interpretation can be seen as supported by verse 16, and by the whole context. Thus it was clearly being promised that his son also (Solomon as it will turn out) would establish a permanent house for YHWH's Name, that is, would ‘build a dynasty' for the sake of His Name.
However, in the wider context (1 Kings 5:5) we cannot avoid the thought that there is here also a double entendre, and at least a hint of the fact that Solomon would actually build a physical house for YHWH (a house of cedar), or at least that the writer (and Solomon) saw it in that way (all would by then know that that had happened). For ‘building a house for His Name' would tie in with the idea with which the chapter commenced, of building for Him of a house of cedar, and with the fact that the Ark, which would go into such a Temple, is called by ‘the Name' (2 Samuel 6:2). Thus there is undoubtedly a play on the two ideas. The important emphasis, however, is not on Solomon building a physical temple (even though Solomon saw it in that way - 1 Kings 5:5), but on his establishing a seed who will rule over God's people, for the prevailing thought is that YHWH is through him to ‘establish the throne of his kingly rule for ever'. The idea then is that that physical Temple, when built, will be a symbol of the greater House which is to be built, culminating in the everlasting King. Had no Temple ever been built we could still have seen the prophecy as fulfilled in his descendants (which we might have expected in view of the introductory comments in 2 Samuel 7:5). For that is the main emphasis of the whole passage. Jesus similarly saw it this way, for He saw Himself as the true Temple of YHWH (John 2:19) and as of the house of David.
“And I will establish the throne of his kingly rule for ever.” This was not the guarantee that there would be no breaks in the physical rule of those who sat on his throne, but a promise that, whatever happened, in the final analysis the throne of his kingly rule would prevail so that in the end it would be established for ever. It would prevail against all odds, and would finally result in an everlasting kingdom.
That the line of Solomon continued, and continued to be identified, comes out in Matthew 1:7, until at last there came One Who could supremely be called ‘you Son of David', a title which probably had Solomon in mind as much as David. It was the supreme Son of David Who would establish His throne in Heaven (Matthew 19:28; Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:19 to Ephesians 2:7; Hebrews 1:3), and exercise His earthly rule through those who would sit on subsidiary ‘thrones' presiding over His church, now seen as the true ‘twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28; Matthew 21:43; John 15:1; Galatians 3:29; Galatians 6:16; Romans 11:16; Ephesians 2:18; 1 Peter 2:9; James 1:1; Revelation 7:4).
“ I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men, but my lovingkindness (covenant love) shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you,”
And YHWH's further promise was that He would be a ‘father' to David's seed, and would see him as His ‘son' (solid covenant language, compare Psalms 2:7). Thus He would be permanently faithful to Him and though He may, like a father, have to chasten him severely by means of other human beings, He promises that he will continue to show towards him His covenant faithfulness to the end. He will not, as in the case of Saul, find himself rejected by YHWH. (This promise did not, however, apply to later seed. Thus Ahaz would later so sin that his descendants were removed from the promise, to be replaced by a child who was born of a virgin - Isaiah 7:14).
“ And your house and your kingly rule will be made sure for ever before you, your throne will be established for ever.”
But more importantly the continuation of David's dynasty and of his kingly rule would be ‘sure for ever before you'. His throne would be established for ever, and would thus finally be over an everlasting kingdom, so coming back to 2 Samuel 7:13. Note that God here switches from ‘his' back to ‘your'. This is coming back to the original promise.
In other words in some way the future of David's house is guaranteed, with the result that it will culminate one day in an everlasting rule over an everlasting kingdom. For David this would have been an astonishing and hugely gratifying thought, probably one that was beyond his wildest dreams. It is true that later, for a time, this promise would be seen to be in abeyance, for the house of David would seemingly be cast off. And it would then be Isaiah who would introduce the idea that it would be accomplished through a son miraculously born so as to be from his house, and yet not from his house (Isaiah 7:11; Isaiah 9:6). The most remarkable fact of all is that this came into final complete fulfilment through Jesus Christ, great David's greater son.
‘ According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David.'
It is now emphasised that these words, and this vision, which Nathan had received from YHWH, were subsequently spoken to David, for their message was for him..