2 Samuel 7:7

7 As I have moved with the Israelites, I have never said to the tribes, whom I commanded to take care of my people Israel, "Why haven't you built 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 "Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the Lord says: Will you build a house for me to live in?

6 From the time I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until now I have not lived in a house. I have been moving around all this time with a tent as my home.

7 As I have moved with the Israelites, I have never said to the tribes, whom I commanded to take care of my people Israel, "Why haven't you built me a house of cedar?"'

8 "You must tell my servant David, 'This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: I took you from the pasture and from tending the sheep and made you leader of my people Israel.

9 I have been with you everywhere you have gone and have defeated your enemies for you. I will make you as famous as any of the great people on the earth.