The prophecy of Nathan
1 When the king had settled in his palace and Yahweh had rid him of all his surrounding enemies,
2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I live in a house of cedar but the ark of God is housed in a tent.”
3 Nathan replied, “Do as it seems fit to you for Yahweh is with you.”
4 But that very night, Yahweh’s word came to Nathan,
5 “Go and tell my servant David, this is what Yahweh says: Are you able to build a house for me to live in?
6 I have not dwelt in a house since I brought the Israelites up from Egypt to the present day, but I went about with a tent for shelter.
7 As long as I walked with the Israelites, did I say anything to the chiefs of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel? Did I say: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?
8 Now you will tell my servant David, this is what Yahweh of hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the sheep, to make you commander of my people Israel. ［
9 I have been with you wherever you went, cutting down all your enemies before you. Now I will make your name great as the name of the great ones on earth.
10 I will provide a place for my people Israel and plant them that they may live there in peace. They shall no longer be harassed, nor shall wicked men oppress them as be-fore.
11 From the time when I appointed judges over my people Israel it is only to you that I have given rest from all your enemies. Yahweh also tells you that he will build you a house.
12 When the time comes for you to rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your son after you, the one born of you and I will make his reign secure.
13 He shall build a house for my name and I will firmly establish his kingship for ever.
14 I will be a father to him and he shall be my son. If he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod, as men do.
15 But I will not withdraw my kindness from him as I did from Saul when I removed him out of your way.
16 Your house and your reign shall last forever before me, and your throne shall be forever firm.”
17 Nathan repeated these words and related this vision to David.
18 Then King David went in, sat before Yahweh and said, “Who am I, O Yahweh God, and who is my family that you have brought me so far?
19 Yet this was not enough for you, O Yahweh God, for you have also spoken of your servant’s house for a long time to come. Is this the way men act, O Yahweh God?
20 What more can David say to you? You know your servant, O Yahweh God!
21 You fulfill your promise and carry out your plan, as you do now in bringing about all these great things and revealing them to your servant.
22 Therefore you are great, O Yahweh God, for there is no one like you, nor is there a God other than you from all that we ourselves have heard.
23 Is there on earth another nation like your people Israel, whom God has come to redeem, and to make his people? Indeed you made them famous when you did, for your glory, great and awesome things, rescuing them out of Egypt, from their people and their gods.
24 You have set apart your people Israel to become your people forever; and you, Yahweh, have become their God.
25 Now, O Yahweh God, keep forever the promise you made and have now revealed to me regarding myself and my family,
26 that your name may be honored forever and people may say, ‘Yahweh of hosts is God over Israel.’ The house of your servant David will be secure before you
27 because you, O Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, have made it known to your servant and have said to him: ‘Your family will last forever.’ This is why I have dared to address this prayer to you.
28 So now, O Yahweh God, since you are the faithful God, and have promised me this good thing,
29 please bless my descendants, that they may continue forever before you. For you, O Yahweh God, have spoken and, with your blessing, my family shall be blessed forever.”
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Comments 2 Samuel, Chapter 7
• 7.1 I live in a house of cedar but the Ark of God is housed in a tent. David thinks that if the king has a palace, why should God not have one? God, who is greater, thinks otherwise and makes this known to his prophet Nathan.
In ancient times it was unthinkable that a capital city be without its temple and its palace. God and the king were inseparable associates to ensure the good order of the state. This concept strongly linked to the nature of religion (see commentary on Dt 4:1) will however be challenged by the Gospel.
God will be the one to make David a house. House in the Bible refers to both persons and things belonging to someone. David’s “house” is his family, his servants, his counsellors and officials.
I will provide a place for my people Israel. God chooses this moment for a decisive step in the de vel op ment of his people. Israel had been a people of twelve tribes since Joshua’s time. Now, it will be a nation organized in its own land, with a central and stable authority: the kings descending from David.
Now I will make your name great as the name of the great ones on earth. Yahweh has accompanied David in all his undertakings; but now he makes use of him and his works to build something permanent for the salvation of humankind.
The same thing happened with Abraham (Gen 17:7).
The same thing happened with Peter (Mt 16:18).
The Kingdom of God from now on will be the kingdom of David.
I will raise up your son after you (see Lk 1:32). God’s promise points to Solomon, David’s son and successor, and also to those who will come after. To all appearances the promise was broken when, after four centuries, the kingdom of David was destroyed. Never theless, it is Jesus, one of his descendants, who, much later, will fully realize what Nathan announced. Several times in the Gospel, Jesus will be called Son of David (Mk 12:35).
Jesus will also be king, although not in the manner of this world’s rulers. He will realize fully in his person what was merely sketched in the person of David:
– the shepherd who gathers together the scattered sheep;
– the conqueror who gives his people the peace he has won;
– God’s deputy among people.
The way God gets ahead of David and answers him, gives us two remarkable lessons:
– As in David’s case, very often people want to offer God something. In reality we can never anticipate him; he gives his favors even before we have begun to serve him.
– What pleases God is not so much the temples we build for him, as the spiritual tem ple which he wants to build in people themselves – a project which he will realize after many centuries through his Church.