1 Chronicles 17

1 Chronicles 17:1

JVoW it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord remaineth under curtains.

1 Chronicles 17:2

llien Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee.

1 Chronicles 17:3

And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

1 Chronicles 17:4

Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in. These four verses have been explained before, 2 Sam, vii. in the five first verses.

1 Chronicles 17:5

For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but Ihave gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. This verse is the very same with the sixth verse of that chapter in Samuel: only there it* is said, I have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle; and here, Ihave gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. Both which signify, that he had no settled place wherein to dwell, but walked or went, where the tent, or tabernacle, was pitched for him. For the words may be translated, I went out of the tent into the tent: that is, when they marched in the wilderness, the ark was taken out of the tent, and when they rested it was put into the tent again: and not into a house built of cedar. Or, this may refer to the translation of the ark from the tabernacle made by Moses, unto the tent made for it by David.

1 Chronicles 17:6

Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel (whom I commanded to feed my people), saying, Why have ye not built me a house of cedars?. See 2 Sam. vii. 7.

1 Chronicles 17:7

Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, TJius saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheep-cote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel. »

1 Chronicles 17:8

And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth.

1 Chronicles 17:9

Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, aud they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning.] He speaks here, as if now, and not before, they were possessed of the ■ land of Canaan: for under David’s government they were settled and flourished; whereas undct the judges they had no rest.

1 Chronicles 17:10

And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel: moreover, I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee, that the Lord will build thee a house.

1 Chronicles 17:11

And it shall come ftpass, when thy days be expired, that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; aud I will establish his kingdom.

1 Chronicles 17:12

He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever.

1 Chronicles 17:13

J will behis father, and he sJuxll be my son; and 1 will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee. All these verses, which are set. down almost in the same words in 2 Sam. vii. from ver. 7* to ver. 16. are there explained.

1 Chronicles 17:14

But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever; and his throne sliall be established for evermore. That is, in my church, which is the house of God, wherein he dwelt; and which he governed, ruled, and protected as his peculiar people. It is very observable, that in 2 Sam. vii. 16. speaking to David, he calls, them, thine house, and thy kingdom: but here, mine house, and my kingdom. Which confirms, what I noted upon the former place, that this principally belongs to, the Messiah, of whom David was but a figure.

1 Chronicles 17:15

According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. See there, 2 Sam. vii. 17.

1 Chronicles 17:16

And David the king came and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?. He came and took his placo before the ark, and then stood up, and made the following prayer to God, as I have explained it 2 Sam. vii. 18.

1 Chronicles 17:17

And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant’s house for a great vjhile to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Lord God.] This is likewise explained there, ver. 19. but the latter part of that verse is expressed in different words, for there he saith, Is this the manner of men, O Lord; but here, thou hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Lord God. This was not after the manner of men, to treat a poor shepherd, as if he were a great prince: but so he had, dealt with David. But Victorinus Strigelius thinks, the Hebrew words will bear this translation, which in his opinion is better than our own, TJiou hast looked upon me in the form of a man, who art in the highest the Lord God. Which he looks upon as a prophecy of the Messiah, who was really the Lord God, but appeared in the form of a man. The LXX. come near this sense in the former part of the words, eirudi$ pe wgopamg av6pu)7rov, TJiou hast looked upon me as the aspect of a man.. So Christophorus Helvicus interprets it in his Elenchus Judaeorum.

1 Chronicles 17:18

What can David speak more to thee for the ho7iour of thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant. He could desire no more for the increase of his honour: which is an explication of what is said 2 Sam. vii. 20. (See there.)

1 Chronicles 17:19

O Lord, for thy servant’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. In 2 Sam. vii. 21. it is said for thy word’s sake, that is, for the sake of thy promise to thy servant, as this place explains it. He had passed his word to David by his prophets, out of his own mere goodness, without any other motive. (See there.) It may be also thought to signify, for the sake of the Messiah, who is