2 Samuel 7:5
in 2 Samuel 7“Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build for Me a house to dwell in?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith Jehovah, Shalt thou build me a house for me to dwell in?
KJV
Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
⋯
This verse in 2 Samuel 7
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
CyprianTreatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.15 · Written before 258.
That Christ should be the house and temple of God, and that the old temple should cease, and the new one should begin. In the second book of Kings [Samuel]: "And the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, 'Go and tell my servant David, Thus says the Lord, You shall not build me a house to dwell in; but it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, and you sleep with your fathers, that I will raise up your seed after you, which shall come from your body, and I will prepare his kingdom.
This site's exposition
the word of the Lord came unto Nathan
on 2 Samuel 7:4-7
That same night the word of the Lord overturns Nathan's daytime answer. God has asked for no house since bringing Israel out of Egypt; he has walked in a tent and a tabernacle through the whole span from the wilderness to Shiloh to this day. The question why build ye not me an house of cedar is not a complaint against Israel's judges; it says plainly that the ark's years under curtains were never a lack David needed to fix.
This site's exposition
Are you the one to build for Me a house
The question carries the force of a refusal, as Clarke reads it, and 1 Chronicles 17:4 says it plainly. Henry holds that David had other work to do first, the wars that would widen the land of Israel. Cyprian read the promised house as Christ himself.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): " Shalt thou build me a house? No, thou shalt not (as it is explained in the parallel place, 1 Chron. xvii. 4 ); there is other work appointed for thee to do, which must be done first." David is a man of war, and he must enlarge the borders of Israel, by carrying on their conquests.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Go and tell my servant David,....
A very humble prayer which David offered up to God in return to that gracious message, thankfully accepting God's promises to him, and earnestly praying for the performance of them,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan--The command was given to the prophet on the night immediately following; that is, before David could either take any measures or incur any expenses.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Shalt thou build me a house - That is, Thou shalt not: this is the force of the interrogative in such a case.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֵ֤ךְ | lekh | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְאָֽמַרְתָּ֙ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עַבְדִּ֣י | ʾavdi | servant my | H5650 → | 799 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| דָּוִ֔ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| כֹּ֖ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הַאַתָּ֛ה | haatah | ¿ you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| תִּבְנֶה־ | tivneh- | will you build | H1129 → | 376 times |
| לִּ֥י | li | for <the> me | ||
| בַ֖יִת | vayit | a house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| לְשִׁבְתִּֽי׃ | leshivti | to dwell in I | H3427 → | 1079 times |
לֵ֤ךְgo
lekhH1980 →1546 times
וְאָֽמַרְתָּ֙and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עַבְדִּ֣יservant my
ʾavdiH5650 →799 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
דָּוִ֔דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
כֹּ֖הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הַאַתָּ֛ה¿ you
haatahH859 →1094 times
תִּבְנֶה־will you build
tivneh-H1129 →376 times
לִּ֥יfor <the> me
li
בַ֖יִתa house
vayitH1004 →2046 times
לְשִׁבְתִּֽי׃to dwell in I
leshivtiH3427 →1079 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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 Chronicles 17:4“Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build Me a house in which to dwell.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 28:2–3
Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of…
- 1 Kings 8:19
Nevertheless, you are not the one to build it; but your son, your own offspring, will build the house for My Name.’
- 2 Samuel 7:4–5
But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying,
- Isaiah 55:8–9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
- 2 Chronicles 6:8–9
But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well to have this in your heart.
- 1 Chronicles 28:2–3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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 on the Old Testament; Cyprian, Treatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.15; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.