2 Samuel 7:7

7 In all the places I've moved with all the Israelites, did I ever ask any of the judges of Israel whom I ordered to be shepherds of my people Israel why they didn't build me a house of cedar?'

2 Samuel 7:7 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 7:7

In all [the places] wherein I have walked with all the children
of Israel (See Gill on 2 Samuel 7:6) on the places mentioned there:

spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel;
or rather the sceptres of Israel; so the word is rendered, ( Genesis 49:10 ) ; the sceptre bearers, rulers, and governors, whose custom was to carry a sceptre in their hands, as Ben Melech observes; and so in a parallel text, ( 1 Chronicles 17:6 ) , it is, "to any of the judges of Israel"; any of those from the times of Moses and Joshua to the times of Saul and David, and this is confirmed by what follows:

whom I commanded to feed my people Israel;
that is, to rule and govern them, protect and defend them, which cannot be said of the tribes, but of the rulers of them; and the Lord asks this question, whether ever he had said a word to any of those, in all that space of time, expressing anything of this kind:

saying, why build ye not me an house of cedar?
they never were bid to do it, or expostulated with why they did not, or ever reproved for not doing it; therefore why should David think of doing it?

2 Samuel 7:7 In-Context

5 "Say to my servant David, 'This is what the LORD says: Are you the one who will build me a house to live in?

6 I haven't lived in a house from the day I took Israel out of Egypt to this day. Instead, I moved around in a tent, the tent [of meeting].

7 In all the places I've moved with all the Israelites, did I ever ask any of the judges of Israel whom I ordered to be shepherds of my people Israel why they didn't build me a house of cedar?'

8 "Now this is what you will say to my servant David: 'This is what the LORD of Armies says: I took you from the pasture where you followed sheep so that you could be the leader of my people Israel.

9 I was with you wherever you went, and I destroyed all your enemies in front of you. I will make your name famous like the names of the greatest people on earth.