“Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build for Me a house to dwell in?
Parallel translations
- WEB “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Yahweh says, “Should you build me a house for me to dwell in?
- KJV Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
- NKJV “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in?
- NASB “Go and say to My servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Should you build Me a house for My dwelling?
- NLT “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?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God told Nathan to ask David whether he was the one to build God a house. The Lord gently redirects David's plan toward God's greater purpose.
Overview
The question is not a rebuke of David's motive but a reversal of the project: David will not build God's house. Elsewhere we learn this is because David was a man of war and bloodshed (1 Chronicles 22:8). God reserves the temple-building for Solomon, while reserving for David a far greater promise about an everlasting house.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 1 Chr 23:3–32The Levites thirty years of age or older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000.
- 1 Chr 17:4“Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build Me a house in which to dwell.
- 1 Chr 22:7–8“My son,” said David to Solomon, “it was in my heart to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God,
- 1 Kgs 5:3–4“As you are well aware, due to the wars waged on all sides against my father David, he could not build a house for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD had put his enemies under his feet.
- 1 Kgs 8:16–19‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
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Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 7:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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