17 And this hath been a small thing in thy sight, O God; and thou hast spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the rank of a man of high degree, Jehovah Elohim.
And yet this hath been a small thing in thy sight, Lord Jehovah; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, Lord Jehovah?
and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if [that] had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
And this is a light thing in the sight of Jehovah: he will give the Moabites also into your hand.
And now, thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I took thee from the pasture-grounds, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name, like unto the name of the great men that are on the earth.
And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled that thou must go [to be] with thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. It is he who shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son; and I will not take away my mercy from him, as I took it from him that was before thee; and I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom for ever; and his throne shall be established for ever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David.
And he chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: From following the suckling-ewes, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. And he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skilfulness of his hands.
Then thou spakest in vision of thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon a mighty one; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: With whom my hand shall be established; and mine arm shall strengthen him. No enemy shall exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him; But I will beat down his adversaries before his face, and will smite them that hate him. And my faithfulness and my loving-kindness shall be with him, and by my name shall his horn be exalted. And I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. *He* shall call unto me, Thou art my father, my ùGod, and the rock of my salvation; And as to me, I will make him firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. My loving-kindness will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him; And I will establish his seed for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his sons forsake my law, and walk not in mine ordinances; If they profane my statutes, and keep not my commandments: Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor belie my faithfulness; My covenant will I not profane, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness; I will not lie unto David: His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me; It shall be established for ever as the moon, and the witness in the sky is firm. Selah.
But to him that is able to do far exceedingly above all which we ask or think, according to the power which works in us,
and having been found in figure as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and [that the] death of [the] cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and granted him a name, that which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly and earthly and infernal [beings], and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord to God [the] Father's glory.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 17
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 17 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 17
1Ch 17:1-10. David Forbidden to Build God a House.
1. as David sat in his house—The details of this chapter were given in nearly similar terms (2Sa 7:1-29). The date was towards the latter end of David's reign, for it is expressly said in the former book to have been at the cessation of all his wars. But as to narrate the preparations for the removal of the ark and the erection of the temple was the principal object of the historian, the exact chronology is not followed.
5. I … have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another—The literal rendering is, "I was walking in a tent and in a dwelling." The evident intention (as we may see from 1Ch 17:6) was to lay stress upon the fact that God was a Mithhatlek (a travelling God) and went from one place to another with His tent and His entire dwelling (the dwelling included not merely the tent, but the fore-courts with the altar of burnt offerings, &c.) [Bertheau].
6. spake I a word to any of the judges—In 2Sa 7:7 it is "any of the tribes" of Israel. Both are included. But the judges "who were commanded to feed the people," form the more suitable antithesis to David.
Why have ye not built me an house of cedars?—that is, a solid and magnificent temple.
7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote—a round tower of rude construction, high walled, but open at the top, in which sheep are often enclosed at night to protect them from wild beasts. The meaning is, I elevated you to the throne from a humble condition solely by an act of divine grace, and not from any antecedent merits of your own (see on 1Sa 16:11), and I enabled you to acquire renown, equal or superior to any other monarch. Your reign will ever be afterwards regarded as the best and brightest era in the history of Israel, for it will secure to the nation a settled inheritance of prosperity and peace, without any of the oppressions or disorders that afflicted them in early times.
9, 10. at the beginning, and since the time that I commanded judges—that is, including the whole period from Joshua to Saul.
I tell thee that the Lord will build thee an house—This was the language of Nathan himself, who was specially directed to assure David, not only of personal blessing and prosperity, but of a continuous line of royal descendants.
11. I will raise up thy seed—(See on 2Sa 7:12).
13. I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee—My procedure in dealing with him will be different from My disposal of Saul. Should his misconduct call for personal chastisement, I shall spare his family. If I see it necessary to withdraw My favor and help for a time, it will be a corrective discipline only to reform and restore, not to destroy. (On this passage some have founded an argument for Solomon's repentance and return to God).
14. I will settle him in my house—over My people Israel.
and in my kingdom for ever—God here asserts His right of supreme sovereignty in Israel. David and Solomon, with their successors, were only the vicegerents whom He nominated, or, in His providence, permitted.
his throne shall be established for evermore—The posterity of David inherited the throne in a long succession—but not always. In such a connection as this, the phrase "for evermore" is employed in a restricted sense (see on La 3:31). We naturally expect the prophet to revert to David before concluding, after having spoken (1Ch 17:12) of the building of Solomon's temple. The promise that his house should be blessed was intended as a compensation for the disappointment of his wish to build the temple, and hence this assurance is appropriately repeated at the conclusion of the prophet's address [Bertheau].
15. According to all … this vision—The revelation of the divine will was made to the prophet in a dream.
16. David the king … sat before the Lord, and said—(See on 2Sa 7:18).