2 Samuel 7:13

7:4-17 Blessings are promised to the family and posterity of David. These promises relate to Solomon, David's immediate successor, and the royal line of Judah. But they also relate to Christ, who is often called David and the Son of David. To him God gave all power in heaven and earth, with authority to execute judgment. He was to build the gospel temple, a house for God's name; the spiritual temple of true believers, to be a habitation of God through the Spirit. The establishing of his house, his throne, and his kingdom for ever, can be applied to no other than to Christ and his kingdom: David's house and kingdom long since came to an end. The committing iniquity cannot be applied to the Messiah himself, but to his spiritual seed; true believers have infirmities, for which they must expect to be corrected, though they are not cast off.

He shall build an house for my name,.... For the honour of it, for the worship and service of God, as it is well known Solomon did; and so his antitype the Messiah, Zechariah 6:12 , and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever; that is, for a long time. Solomon's reign was forty years, and the kingdom of Judah continued in his posterity until the Babylonish captivity, and a prince that descended from him was the ruler of the people when they returned: this has its fulfilment more eminently in Christ, who was of his seed, to whom God has given "the throne of his father David", and who "shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever", Luke 1:32.

2 Samuel 7:13 . He shall build a house for my name — This is meant literally of Solomon, who alone did build the material house or temple; but ultimately of Christ, who is the builder of God’s spiritual house or temple. For my name — That is, for my service and glory. For ever — This is not meant of Solomon, for his kingdom was not for ever. But it is to be understood of David’s posterity in general, and with special respect to Christ, in whose person the kingdom was to be lodged for ever.

13 . for my name ] The Name of God signifies God Himself so far as He has revealed and manifested Himself to men. His promise concerning the Temple was that He would “put His name there,” that is, that He would be present and reveal Himself there in an especial manner. See 1 Kings 8:29 ; 1 Kings 9:3 . stablish ] A shorter form of establish , both words being derived from Lat. stabilire. Cp. special and especial from species, state and estate from status .

Verse 13. - I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. The temple which Solomon was to build was the symbol of the new development of Israel, and naturally these words suggest a meaning not unworthy of so great an advance in the accomplishment of the nation's mission. Had we, indeed, only this passage, we might be content to take it in a popular sense, as signifying that, whereas Saul's throne (and subsequently that of the many usurpers in Samaria) had but a brief existence, Solomon's descendants should hold for many centuries undisputed possession of the kingdom of Jerusalem. But in Psalm 89:29 we read, "His (David's) seed will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven." And again in vers. 36, 37 a continuance is assured to it as lasting as that of the sun and moon. We can scarcely, therefore, be wrong in the conviction that these promises pointed onwards to the establishment of Christ's kingdom, and that the great importance attached to the building of the temple finds its explanation in its relation to him.

This full establishment after so long a delay of the Mosaic typical ritual, the addition to it of psalmody, giving it a spiritual side, and making the worship that of the heart, the bestowal of empire, and the rapid development of the people under David and Solomon, were all steps in that wonderful series of special providences which made the Jews fit to be the progeniters of the Messiah, which surrounded him during his ministry with companions capable of understanding and recording his teaching, and provided for him, after his death, missionaries, not merely with zeal enough, but with intellectual gifts sufficient to enable them to persuade both Greece and Rome to listen to tidings so wonderful and mysterious as that God for our salvation had become man. Keil also well points out that the temple was a symbol of Christ's incarnation; for it meant the dwelling of God on earth. "I have surely," says Solomon, "built thee a house of habitation, a place for thee to dwell in forever" ( 1 Kings 8:13 ). The same thought was in St. John's mind when he said, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt as in a tabernacle among us" ( John 1:14 ). For the verb used by him, literally "tabernacled," is a comparison between Christ's life on earth, and the dwelling of God in "the tent of meeting." But there is more than this. Christ himself calls his body "the temple" ( John 2:19, 21 ).

He shall build an house ... - For the fulfillment of this in the person of Solomon, see 1 Kings 8:16-20 . For its application to Christ, see John 1:12 ; Ephesians 1:20-22 ; 1 Timothy 3:15 ; Hebrews 3:6 ; etc.; and Zechariah 6:12-13 . I will stablish the throne of his kingdom forever - The words forever, emphatically twice repeated in 2 Samuel 7:16, show very distinctly that this prophecy looks beyond the succession of the kings of Judah of the house of David, and embraces the throne of Christ according to the Angel's interpretation given in Luke 1:31-33, where the reference to this passage cannot be mistaken. This is also brought out fully in Psalm 89:29, Psalm 89:36-37. See also Daniel 7:13-14; Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Jeremiah 33:14-21; Ezekiel 34:24; Zechariah 12:7-8; Hosea 3:5, etc.

He shall build an house: this is meant literally and immediately of Solomon, who alone did build the material house or temple; but mystically and ultimately of Christ, who is the builder of God’s spiritual house or temple, Hebrews 3:3,6 1 Peter 2:5 . For my name, i. e. for my service, and worship, and glory. I will stablish the throne of his kingdom: this is not meant of Solomon, for his kingdom was not for ever. And though the phrase for ever is sometimes used of the time of a man’s life, yet it cannot be so understood here, because the mercy here promised to David’s son is of another nature, and of far longer continuance, than that which was given to Saul, 2 Samuel 7:15 , who yet enjoyed the kingdom as long as he lived. But it is to be understood of David’s posterity in general, but with special respect to Christ in whose person the kingdom was to be lodged for ever, Isaiah 9:7 Daniel 2:44 Luke 1:32,33 .

13. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever—This declaration referred, in its primary application, to Solomon, and to the temporal kingdom of David's family. But in a larger and sublimer sense, it was meant of David's Son of another nature (Heb 1:8). [See on [270]1Ch 17:14.]

In 2 Samuel 7:12-16 there follows a more precise definition of the way in which the Lord would build a house for His servant David: "When thy days shall become full, and thou shalt lie with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, who shall come from thy body, and establish his kingdom. He will build a house for my name, and I shall establish the throne of his kingdom for ever." הקים, to set up i.e., to promote to royal dignity. יצא אשׁר is not to be altered into יצא אשׁר, as Thenius and others maintain. The assumption that Solomon had already been born, is an unfounded one (see the note to 2 Samuel 5:11 ); and it by no means follows from the statement in 2 Samuel 7:1 , to the effect that God had given David rest from all his enemies, that his resolution to build a temple was not formed till the closing years of his reign.