2 Samuel 7:7

7 by all places, to which I passed with all the sons of Israel? Whether I speaking spake to (any)one of the lineages of Israel, to whom I commanded, that he should feed my people Israel, and said, Why buildedest thou not an house of cedar to me? (to all the places, to which I went with all the people of Israel. Did I speak to anyone of the tribes of Israel, to whom I commanded, that they should feed my people Israel, and did I ever ask them, Why hast thou not built a cedar house for me?)

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 thou, and speak to my servant David, (and say,) The Lord saith these things, Whether thou shalt build to me an house to dwell in? (Shalt thou build a house for me to live in?)

6 Soothly I have not dwelled in an house from the day in which I led the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt till into this day; but I have gone in a tabernacle and in a tent,

7 by all places, to which I passed with all the sons of Israel? Whether I speaking spake to (any)one of the lineages of Israel, to whom I commanded, that he should feed my people Israel, and said, Why buildedest thou not an house of cedar to me? (to all the places, to which I went with all the people of Israel. Did I speak to anyone of the tribes of Israel, to whom I commanded, that they should feed my people Israel, and did I ever ask them, Why hast thou not built a cedar house for me?)

8 And now thou shalt say these things to my servant David, The Lord of hosts saith these things, I took thee from [the] pastures following flocks, that thou shouldest be duke on my people Israel (so that thou couldest be the leader of my people Israel),

9 and I was with thee in all things, wherever thou hast gone, and I have killed all thine enemies from thy face, and I have made to thee a great name, by the name of great men that be in earth; (and I was with thee in all things, wherever thou hast gone, and I have killed all thy enemies before thee, and I have made a great name for thee, like the names of the great men who be on the earth;)