translation_id: net-engnet

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “house.”


text: Heb “David.” The pronoun “he” has been used in the translation here to avoid redundancy in keeping with contemporary English style.


text: Heb “tent curtains.”


text: Heb “all which is in your heart.”


text: Heb “the word of God was [i.e., came] to Nathan the prophet.”


text: The words “from Egypt” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


label: NET textual note

text: Heb “and I was from tent to tent and from tabernacle.” The words אֶל־מִשְּׁכָּן (’ el-mishÿkan , “to tabernacle”) should probably be added at the end of the sentence to complete this prepositional phrase and produce symmetry with the preceding prepositional phrase. The words probably fell from the text by homoioteleuton. sn I have lived in a tent that has been in various places. The point here is that the Lord moved with the tabernacle as it moved from place to place; he did not confine himself to a particular location.


text: In the Hebrew text the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question (“Did I say?”) meaning “I did not say.”


text: Heb “to one of the judges of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people.”


text: Traditionally, “ Lord of hosts.”


text: Heb “and from after sheep.”


text: Heb “cut off.”


text: Heb “and I will make for you a name like the name of the great men who are in the earth.”


text: Heb “plant.”


text: Heb “shaken.”


text: Heb “and sons of violence will no longer consume them as in the beginning.”


text: Here the word “house” is used in a metaphorical sense, referring to a royal dynasty. The Lord ’s use of the word here plays off the literal sense that David had in mind as he contemplated building a temple (“house”) for the Lord . In the translation the adjective “dynastic” is supplied to indicate that the term is used metaphorically.


text: Heb “and it will be when your days are full to go with your ancestors.”


text: Heb “your seed.”


text: Heb “and I will establish his throne permanently.”


text: Heb “and his throne will be established permanently.”


text: Heb “according to all these words and according to all this revelation, so Nathan said to David.”


text: Heb “house.”


text: Heb “and this was small in your eyes, O God, so you spoke concerning the house of your servant for a distance.”


text: The translation “You have revealed to me what men long to know” is very tentative; the meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear. The text appears to read literally, “and you see me like the searching of man, that which is upward,” which is nonsensical. The translation above assumes the following: (1) The Qal verb translated “you see me” is repointed as a Hiphil, “you showed me,” (2) תּוֹר ( tor ) is understood in the sense of “searching, exploring,” and (3) הַמַּעֲלָה ( hamma ’ alah ) is taken in a temporal sense of “that which lies beyond.” Thus one could translate, “you have shown me what men search for, what lies beyond.”


text: The word “say” is supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “for honoring your servant, and you, your servant, know.”


text: Heb “heart.”


text: Heb “to make known all the great deeds.”


text: The Hebrew text reads literally, “in all which we heard with our ears,” but בְּכֹל ( bÿkhol , “in all”) should probably be emended to כְּכֹל ( kÿkhol , “according to all”).


text: Heb “a nation, one.”


text: Heb “whose God,” or “because God.” In the Hebrew text this clause is subordinated to what precedes. The clauses are separated in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “redeem” or “deliver.”


text: Heb “to make for yourself a name [with] great and awesome [deeds].”


text: Heb “to drive out.”


text: Heb “from Egypt, nations.” The parallel text in 2 Sam 7:23 reads “from Egypt, nations and its gods.”


text: Heb “and you made your people Israel your own for a people permanently.”


text: Heb “and now, O Lord , the word which you spoke concerning your servant and concerning his house, may it be established permanently.”


text: Heb “as you have spoken.”


text: Following the imperative in v. 23 b, the prefixed verbal form with vav ( ו ) conjunctive indicates purpose/result: “so it might become a reality.”


text: Heb “so it might be established.”


text: Heb “and your name might be great permanently.” Following the imperative in v. 23 b, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result (parallel to the previous purpose/result clause): “[so]…you might gain lasting fame.”


text: Heb “saying.” The words “as people” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], the God of Israel, Israel’s God.” The phrases אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (’ elohey yisra ’ el , “God of Israel”) and אֱלֹהִים לְיִשְׂרָאֵל (’ elohim lÿyisra ’ el , “Israel’s God”) are probably alternative readings that have been conflated in the text.


text: Heb “the house of David.”


text: Heb “house.”


text: Heb “That is why your servant found to pray before you.” Perhaps the phrase אֶת לִבּוֹ (’ et libbo , “his heart”) should be supplied as the object of the verb “found.”


text: Heb “the God.” The article indicates uniqueness here.


text: Heb “and you have spoken to your servant this good thing.”


text: Heb “for you, O Lord , have blessed and [it is] blessed permanently.”