2 Samuel 7:23
in 2 Samuel 7And who is like Your people Israel—the one nation on earth whom God went out to redeem as a people for Himself and to make a name for Himself? You performed great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before Your people, whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem unto himself for a people, and to make him a name, and to do great things for you, and terrible things for thy land, before thy people, whom thou redeemedst to thee out of Egypt, from the nations and their gods?
KJV
And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?
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This verse in 2 Samuel 7
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel,.... For the knowledge and worship of the true God among them, for laws and or given them, and for blessings of goodness bestowed upon them: whom God went to redeem for a people to himself; the words are plural, "whom the gods went to redeem"; the Targum is,"they that were sent from the Lord,''meaning Moses and Aaron, of whom Jarchi interprets them, of the first of which it is said, "I have made thee a god unto Pharaoh", Exo 7:1; but Kimchi and R.
This site's exposition
there is none like You
on 2 Samuel 7:22-24
David's praise widens from his own house to God himself: “there is none like You, and there is no God but You”. He asks “who is like Your people Israel”, tying the promise to his house to the redemption from Egypt named in the same breath.
This site's exposition
who is like Your people Israel
The verb in whom God went out to redeem is plural in the Hebrew, as Gill notes. The Targum reads it of those the LORD sent, Moses and Aaron, and Henry follows it. Barnes reads the nations and gods as Canaan's peoples and idols.
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 Awakening2 voices
Whom those that were sent of God went to redeem; so the Chaldee, meaning, I suppose, Moses and Aaron. The redemption of Israel, as described here, was typical of our redemption by Christ in that, [1.] They were redeemed from the nations and their gods; so are we from all iniquity and all conformity to this present world.
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;
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The nations and their gods - i e. the people and the idols of Canaan.
The words behind it
28 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמִ֤י | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| כְעַמְּךָ֙ | kheamekha | [is] like people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | keyisrael | like Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| גּ֥וֹי | goy | a nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| אֶחָ֖ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| בָּאָ֑רֶץ | baaretz | on the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הָלְכֽוּ־ | halkhu- | they went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אֱ֠לֹהִים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לִפְדּֽוֹת־ | lifdot- | to redeem | H6299 → | 59 times |
| ל֨וֹ | lo | for <the> himself | ||
| לְעָ֜ם | leam | to a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְלָשׂ֧וּם | velasum | and to make | H7760 → | 584 times |
| ל֣וֹ | lo | for <the> himself | ||
| שֵׁ֗ם | shem | a name | H8034 → | 864 times |
| וְלַעֲשׂ֨וֹת | velaasot | and to do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָכֶ֜ם | lakhem | for <the> you | ||
| הַגְּדוּלָּ֤ה | hagedulah | <the> greatness | H1420 → | |
| וְנֹֽרָאוֹת֙ | venoraot | and awesome [deeds] | H3372 → | 315 times |
| לְאַרְצֶ֔ךָ | leartzekha | for land your | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֣י | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| עַמְּךָ֗ | ʾamekha | people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| פָּדִ֤יתָ | padita | you redeemed | H6299 → | 59 times |
| לְּךָ֙ | lekha | for <the> yourself | ||
| מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם | mimitzrayim | from Egypt | H4714 → | |
| גּוֹיִ֖ם | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| וֵאלֹהָֽיו׃ | velohav | and gods its | H430 → | 2601 times |
וּמִ֤יand who?
umiH4310 →423 times
כְעַמְּךָ֙[is] like people your
kheamekhaH5971 →1873 times
כְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔לlike Israel
keyisraelH3478 →2507 times
גּ֥וֹיa nation
goyH1471 →561 times
אֶחָ֖דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
בָּאָ֑רֶץon the earth
baaretzH776 →2504 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הָלְכֽוּ־they went
halkhu-H1980 →1546 times
אֱ֠לֹהִיםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
לִפְדּֽוֹת־to redeem
lifdot-H6299 →59 times
ל֨וֹfor <the> himself
lo
לְעָ֜םto a people
leamH5971 →1873 times
וְלָשׂ֧וּםand to make
velasumH7760 →584 times
ל֣וֹfor <the> himself
lo
שֵׁ֗םa name
shemH8034 →864 times
וְלַעֲשׂ֨וֹתand to do
velaasotH6213 →2628 times
לָכֶ֜םfor <the> you
lakhem
הַגְּדוּלָּ֤ה<the> greatness
hagedulahH1420 →
וְנֹֽרָאוֹת֙and awesome [deeds]
venoraotH3372 →315 times
לְאַרְצֶ֔ךָfor land your
leartzekhaH776 →2504 times
מִפְּנֵ֣יfrom before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
עַמְּךָ֗people your
ʾamekhaH5971 →1873 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
פָּדִ֤יתָyou redeemed
paditaH6299 →59 times
לְּךָ֙for <the> yourself
lekha
מִמִּצְרַ֔יִםfrom Egypt
mimitzrayimH4714 →
גּוֹיִ֖םnations
goyimH1471 →561 times
וֵאלֹהָֽיו׃and gods its
velohavH430 →2601 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
Deuteronomy 33:29Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you,…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:7–8
For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 45:17
But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated, to ages everlasting.
- Isaiah 12:2
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”
- Psalms 115:9–11
O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield.
- Numbers 23:20–24
I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.
- Deuteronomy 4:7–8
Through
Psalms 147:20He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His judgments. Hallelujah!
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:32–34
Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this…
- Ephesians 2:12
remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
- Deuteronomy 4:32–34
Through
Deuteronomy 10:21He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome wonders that your eyes have seen.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:14
Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.
- Jeremiah 17:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
On this verse
On this chapter
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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, City of God 17.12; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.