References (29)
he said to the prophet Nathan, "Behold, I dwell in a house of [beautiful imported] cedar [from Tyre, see ], while the ark of God dwells in a tent."
Nathan said to the king, "Go and do whatever is in your heart, for the Lord (Yahweh) is with you."
[David's intentions are good. He sees his own beautiful house and has just brought the ark to Jerusalem, see . The prophet Nathan responds immediately, without consulting the Lord, and gives an initial answer based on what seems good. However, it turns out that God has other plans. David had "shed much blood and fought many wars," see . The temple would be built, but now was not God's time.
The following passage is one of the strongest prophetic words in the entire Old Testament. The passage consists of 197 words and is the longest word from the Lord since the days of Moses when he spoke on Mount Sinai.]
That night, a word came from the Lord (Yahweh) to Nathan, saying:
Nathan told David all these words from his vision. [Everything God had said.]
The Lord (Yahweh) sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said to him:
"There were two men who lived in a city, one rich and the other poor.
David exploded in anger at how the rich man had behaved. He said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord (Yahweh) lives, the man who did this deserves to die.
Nathan said to David, "You are that man. Thus says the Lord (Yahweh), the God of Israel (Elohim): I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul,
David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord (Yahweh)." [The confession is short and without excuses, see also . God's response and forgiveness are immediate. Later, David writes a psalm about this event, see , .]
And Nathan said to David, "The Lord (Yahweh) has also taken away your sin; you shall not die. [The punishment was death (; ), but God is merciful, see .]
And Nathan went to his house.
And the Lord (Yahweh) struck the child (Hebr. jeled) that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and it became very ill.
and he sent [a greeting] by the hand of the prophet Nathan, and he named him Jedidiah, for the Lord's sake. [Solomon means "his shalom," i.e., his peace, prosperity, success, health, and all heavenly blessings. Jedidiah means "beloved of the Lord."]
But Zadok the priest [David's second high priest, see ; ] and [the commander of David's bodyguard] Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and the prophet Nathan, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men (Hebr. gever) who belonged to David, did not side with Adonijah.
But he did not call the prophet Nathan, Benaiah, the mighty men ["David's veterans" who had supported him before his time as king], or his [younger] brother Solomon.
Then [the prophet] Nathan spoke to [David's wife] Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, and said, "Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, is reigning (has made himself king), and David, our lord (Hebr. adón), does not know it?
And while she was still speaking to the king, the prophet Nathan arrived.
And they told the king, saying, "Behold, Nathan the prophet." And when he came before the king, he bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.
And Nathan said, "My lord the king, have you said, 'Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne'?
And King David said [in a series of clear instructions, the elderly David regains the energy to make the necessary preparations so that Solomon can be anointed king]: "Call to me Zadok the priest [who can anoint a new king], and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." And they came before the king.
And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel, and blow the trumpet and say, 'Long live King Solomon.
Then Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon [the spring on the east side of Jerusalem].
And the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and they have made him ride on the king's mule.
And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon [the spring on the east side of Jerusalem], and they are coming up from there with such great joy that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise you hear.
[In comparison with the parallel text in 2 Sam. 7, it is emphasized that neither David, Solomon, nor any of the kings of his family was the messianic king. When the Messiah finally comes, he will be a king like David.]
When David was sitting in his house, he said to the prophet Nathan, "Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is in a tent."
Nathan said to David, "Do whatever is in your heart, for God is with you."
But that night the word of God came to Nathan. He said
According to these words and this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
What else there is to say about King David, about his early days and his last days, is written in the chronicles of the seer Samuel [the Books of Samuel], in the chronicles of the prophet Nathan, and in the chronicles of the seer Gad.
The rest of Solomon's deeds, from his early days to his final days, are recorded in the chronicles of the prophet Nathan, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of the seer (prophet – Hebr. chozeh) Iddo concerning Jeroboam, son of Nebat.
He had the Levites stand ready to serve in the house of the Lord (Yahweh) with cymbals, lyres, and harps, as David and the king's seer Gad and the prophet Nathan had commanded, for the Lord had commanded this through his prophets.
Wash me over and over again (make me completely clean)
from my guilt (sin and its consequences – singular)
from my sin [singular],
cleanse me. []
[This verse begins with the verb herev, which means to increase and to do something repeatedly. This is followed by four words, all of which have a first-person singular ending – I/me. In Hebrew: kabisini meaoni vmechatati tahreni. This verse is an example of vowel rhyme (assonance). The verse is also a minor chiasm that is part of a larger chiasm. Just as three different words for grace were used in , three different words for sin are used in . The words transgression, guilt, and sin are Hebrew pesha, avon, and chattat. The same words are found in where God forgives.]
