21 `And who `is' as Thy people Israel, one nation in the earth whom God hath gone to ransom to Him for a people, to make for Thee a name great and fearful, to cast out from the presence of Thy people whom Thou hast ransomed out of Egypt -- nations?
And I do `it' for My name's sake, Not to pollute `it' before the eyes of the nations, In whose midst they `are', Before whose eyes I became known to them, To bring them out from the land of Egypt. And I bring them out of the land of Egypt, And I bring them in unto the wilderness,
The sea hath seen, and fleeth, The Jordan turneth backward. The mountains have skipped as rams, Heights as sons of a flock. What -- to thee, O sea, that thou fleest? O Jordan, thou turnest back! O mountains, ye skip as rams! O heights, as sons of a flock! From before the Lord be afraid, O earth, From before the God of Jacob, He is turning the rock to a pool of waters, The flint to a fountain of waters!
Say to God, `How fearful `are' Thy works, By the abundance of Thy strength, Thine enemies feign obedience to Thee. All the earth do bow to Thee, They sing praise to Thee, they praise Thy name.' Selah. Come ye, and see the works of God, Fearful acts toward the sons of men. He hath turned a sea to dry land, Through a river they pass over on foot, There do we rejoice in Him. Ruling by His might to the age, His eyes among the nations do watch, The refractory exalt not themselves. Selah.
And Jehovah saith, `I have certainly seen the affliction of My people who `are' in Egypt, and their cry I have heard, because of its exactors, for I have known its pains; and I go down to deliver it out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to cause it to go up out of the land, unto a land good and broad, unto a land flowing with milk and honey -- unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
Thou, `with' Thy hand, nations hast dispossessed. And Thou dost plant them. Thou afflictest peoples, and sendest them away. For, not by their sword Possessed they the land, And their arm gave not salvation to them, But Thy right hand, and Thine arm, And the light of Thy countenance, Because Thou hadst accepted them.
`And ye pass over the Jordan, and come in unto Jericho, and fight against you do the possessors of Jericho -- the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite -- and I give them into your hand. And I send before you the hornet, and it casteth them out from your presence -- two kings of the Amorite -- not by thy sword, nor by thy bow.
And Jehovah giveth to Israel the whole of the land which He hath sworn to give to their fathers, and they possess it, and dwell in it; and Jehovah giveth rest to them round about, according to all that which He hath sworn to their fathers, and there hath not stood a man in their presence of all their enemies, the whole of their enemies hath Jehovah given into their hand; there hath not fallen a thing of all the good thing which Jehovah spake unto the house of Israel -- the whole hath come.
There is none like the God of Jeshurun, Riding the heavens in thy help, And in His excellency the skies. A habitation `is' the eternal God, And beneath `are' arms age-during. And He casteth out from thy presence the enemy, and saith, `Destroy!' And Israel doth tabernacle `in' confidence alone; The eye of Jacob `is' unto a land of corn and wine; Also His heavens drop down dew. O thy happiness, O Israel! who is like thee? A people saved by Jehovah, The shield of thy help, And He who `is' the sword of thine excellency: And thine enemies are subdued for thee, And thou on their high places dost tread.'
`When Jehovah thy God doth bring thee in unto the land whither thou art going in to possess it, and He hath cast out many nations from thy presence, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations more numerous and mighty than thou, and Jehovah thy God hath given them before thee, and thou hast smitten them -- thou dost utterly devote them -- thou dost not make with them a covenant, nor dost thou favour them.
`For, ask, I pray thee, at the former days which have been before thee, from the day that God prepared man on the earth, and from the `one' end of the heavens even unto the `other' end of the heavens, whether there hath been as this great thing -- or hath been heard like it? Hath a people heard the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, thou -- and doth live? Or hath God tried to go in to take to Himself, a nation from the midst of a nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great terrors -- according to all that Jehovah your God hath done to you, in Egypt, before your eyes?
Ye -- ye have seen that which I have done to the Egyptians, and I bear you on eagles' wings, and bring you in unto Myself. `And now, if ye really hearken to My voice, then ye have kept My covenant, and been to Me a peculiar treasure more than all the peoples, for all the earth `is' Mine; and ye -- ye are to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation: these `are' the words which thou dost speak unto the sons of Israel.'
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).