2 Samuel 7:20
in 2 Samuel 7What more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Lord GOD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And what can David say more unto thee? for thou knowest thy servant, O Lord Jehovah.
KJV
And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 7
Commentary
9 notes on this verseDAVID was overwhelmed with the mercy of God! Nathan's message was too much for him. He felt emotions in his bosom which he could not express. Like a wise man, he went at once, while under the impulse of gratitude, into the place of nearness to God.
This site's exposition
For You know Your servant, O Lord GOD
on 2 Samuel 7:20-21
David has nothing more to say except that God already knows him. He traces the whole promise to God's word and God's heart: “For the sake of Your word and according to Your own heart”. The phrase echoes 1 Samuel 13:14, where David is the man after God's own heart.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
David, understanding this, says in the second book of Kings [Samuel] … "You did also speak of the house of your servant for a long time to come." And, further on, "And now begin and bless the house of your servant that it may endure forever," etc. At that time, David was about to beget his son through whom his lineage would be carried down to Christ; through whom, in turn, his house was to be everlasting—indeed, identified with the house of God. It was to be called the "house of David" because [it was] of David's stock and, simultaneously, the "house of God" because it was a temple to God made not of stones but of people. In this house God's people shall everlastingly dwell with their God and in their God, and God with his people and in his people, God filling his people, his people filled with their God, so that "God may be all in all"—the very same God being their prize in peace who was their strength in battle.It was with this in view that, when Nathan had said, "And the Lord said to you, that you shall build him a house," David said further on, "Because you, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed to the ear of your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house.' " This is a house which we build by living virtuously and which God builds by helping us to live virtuously, for "unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." Only, however, when this house receives its final consecration will the words God spoke by Nathan's lips come true: "And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, and they shall dwell therein, and shall be disturbed no more: neither shall the children of iniquity afflict them any more as they did before, from the day that I appointed judges over my people Israel."
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Thou, Lord, knowest thy servant, knowest what will make me happy, and what thou hast promised is enough to do so." The promise of Christ includes all. If that man, the Lord God, be ours, what can we ask or think of more? The promises of the covenant of grace are framed by him that knows us, and therefore knows how to adapt them to every branch of our necessity.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
David say - Either in a way of gratitude and praise, words cannot express my obligations to thee, nor my sense of these obligations: Or in a way of prayer.
And what can David say more unto thee,....
And, in both these, there is an eye to the Messiah and his kingdom. 1 And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the L ORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
DAVID was overwhelmed with the mercy of God! Nathan's message was too much for him. He felt emotions in his bosom which he could not express. Like a wise man, he went at once, while under the impulse of gratitude, into the place of nearness to God. It was not everyone who might go in and sit before the Lord as he did, but he felt he had a special call to draw near unto the Most High—and there he sat down in the posture of waiting to receive the fulfillment of what was promised, in the posture of rest—as one who had, now, all that he could desire and was pressed down under the weight of blessing. Yet the Psalmist's sitting was also a posture of worship and surely of all passages of Scripture none can be said to contain more true adoration than that which is now before us. The king sat, however, before the Lord. The mercy had all come from God and therefore to God all his praise was offered. His soul waited only upon the Lord, because his expectation was alone from Him. He was conscious of being in the sacred Presence and he sat there, feeling that by the Covenant Blessing he had been brought very near, and his spirit exulted in that nearness! Brothers and Sisters in Christ, the mercies which God has shown to us are as great as those which He manifested to His servant David! And if the Spirit of God has opened our eyes to see and understand them, we may, this morning, ardently wish to do precisely what David did.
What can David say more - How can I express my endless obligation to thee?
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמַה־ | umah- | and what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יּוֹסִ֥יף | yosif | will he increase | H3254 → | 212 times |
| דָּוִ֛ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| ע֖וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| לְדַבֵּ֣ר | ledaber | to speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֵלֶ֑יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וְאַתָּ֛ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| יָדַ֥עְתָּ | yada'ta | you know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַבְדְּךָ֖ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֥י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
וּמַה־and what?
umah-H4100 →752 times
יּוֹסִ֥יףwill he increase
yosifH3254 →212 times
דָּוִ֛דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
ע֖וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
לְדַבֵּ֣רto speak
ledaberH1696 →1141 times
אֵלֶ֑יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
וְאַתָּ֛הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
יָדַ֥עְתָּyou know
yada'taH3045 →945 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַבְדְּךָ֖servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
אֲדֹנָ֥יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 16:7But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:10
I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 7:24
Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”
- Luke 16:15
So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.
- 1 Peter 3:4
but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.
- Isaiah 55:8–9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 17:10
Through
Psalms 139:1O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
it leads to
- Hebrews 4:13
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
- Jeremiah 12:3
But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.
- Hebrews 4:13
Through
Hebrews 4:13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each…
- 1 Corinthians 4:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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About 2 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 17.12; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1166: “Marrow and Fatness” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.