1 Chronicles 17:13-23

13 I shall be to him into a father, and he shall be to me into a son; and I shall not do away my mercy from him, as I took it away from him that was before thee; (I shall be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me; and I shall not take away my love from him, as I took it away from him who was before thee;)

14 and I shall ordain him in mine house and in my realm into without end; and his throne shall be most steadfast without end. (and I shall ordain him in my House and in my kingdom forevermore; and his throne shall be most steadfast forevermore.)

15 By all these words, and by all this revelation, so Nathan spake to David.

16 And when king David had come, and had set before the Lord, he said, Lord God, who am I, and what is mine house, that thou shouldest give such things to me?

17 But also this is seen (as) little in thy sight, and therefore thou hast spoken of the house of thy servant, yea, into time to coming (in the time to come); and thou hast made me worthy to be beholden over all men. My Lord God,

18 what may David add more, since thou hast so glorified thy servant, and hast known him? (what more can David add, or say, since thou hast so glorified thy servant, even though thou knowest him so well?)

19 Lord, for thy servant, thou hast done by thine heart all this great doing, and thou wouldest that all (these) great things be known. (Lord, for thy servant's sake, and after thy own heart, thou hast done all this great doing, and thou desirest that all these great things be known.)

20 Lord, none is like thee, and none other God is without thee, of all which we have heard with our ears. (Lord, no one is like thee, and there is no other God besides thee, out of all which we have heard with our ears.)

21 For who is another (such) as thy people Israel, (this) one folk in [the] earth, to whom God went, to deliver and make a people to himself, and to cast out by his greatness and dreads nations from the face thereof, the which people he delivered from Egypt? (For who is another such as thy people Israel, this one nation in all the earth, to whom God went, and delivered from servitude, or from slavery, to make them his people, and to make a great and fearful name for himself, by throwing out nations from before them, yea, the people whom he rescued from Egypt?)

22 And thou hast set thy people Israel into a people to thee into without end, and thou, Lord, art made the God thereof (and thou, Lord, art made their God).

23 Now therefore (And so now), Lord, the word which thou hast spoken to thy servant, and on his house, be it confirmed without end, and do, as thou hast spoken;

1 Chronicles 17:13-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 17

This chapter contains an account of David's intention to build an house for God, which, he signified to Nathan the prophet, who first encouraged him to it; but afterwards was sent by the Lord to him with an order to desist from it, assuring him, at the same time, that his son should build it, and that his own house and kingdom should be established for ever; for which David expressed great thankfulness, the whole of which is related in 2Sa 7:1-29 with some little variation, see the notes there; only one thing has since occurred, which I would just take notice of, that here, 1Ch 17:5 as there also, it is said by the Lord, that he had "not dwelt in an house since the day he brought up Israel out of Egypt"; which seems to suggest that he had dwelt in one before, as has been hinted on 2Sa 7:6 even while the people of Israel were in Egypt, though it is nowhere mentioned by Moses, or any other writer; yet it is not unreasonable to suppose it; for as the ancestors of the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when only travellers from place to place, built altars for God wherever they came; so their posterity, it is highly probable, not only did the same, but when they found themselves settled in Egypt, in the land of Goshen, might build places of worship; and when we consider the wealth of Joseph, and his family, and indeed of all Israel, who enjoyed for many years great plenty, prosperity, and liberty, before their servitude, the vast numbers they increased to and the long continuance of them in Egypt, more than two hundred years; it will not seem strange that they should build houses for religious worship, and even one grand and splendid for public service, to which also they might be led by the example of the Egyptians; who, as Herodotus says {i}, were the first that erected altars, images, and temples to the gods, and who in the times of Joseph had one at On, where his father-in-law officiated as priest, Ge 41:45 or rather to this they might be directed by some hints and instructions of their father Jacob before his death, who it is certain had a notion of a Bethel, an house for the public worship of God, Ge 28:17,19,22, 35:1 and I find a learned man {k} of our own nation of this opinion, and which he founds upon this passage; and he supposes the house God dwelt in, in Egypt, was not a tent of goats' hair, as in the wilderness, but a structure of stones or bricks, a firm and stable house, such an one as Abraham built at Damascus when settled there; which continued to the times of Augustus Caesar, as related by Nicholas of Damascus {l}. See 2Sa 7:1-29.

{i} Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 4. {k} Dickinson. Physic. vet. & vera, c. 19. sect. 24. {l} Apud. Joseph. Antiqu. l. 1. c. 7. sect. 2. 18823-950102-2024-1Ch17.2