Bible Commentaries

Officer - literally, as in the margin. This is the only occasion in which eunuchs are mentioned in connection with David‘s reign; and it is to be remarked that they occupy, during the earlier period of the Jewish kingdom, a very subordinate position.

My brethren - David retains the modest phrase of a king not born in the purple, but raised from the ranks of the people (see 1 Samuel 30:23; 2 Samuel 19:12). No later Jewish monarch would have thus addressed his subjects.

The footstool of our God - David views the ark as God‘s “footstool,” because he was enthroned above it visibly in the Shechinah, or luminous cloud, present from time to time above the mercy seat and between the cherubim (compare the marginal references).

Besides the message sent to David through Nathan, he had a revelation, of which we have only the indirect account given here and in 1 Chronicles 22:8-10 (see the note). He was told that one of his sons should be raised up to fill his throne after him, and should build the temple. In the second revelation it was distinctly declared to him that the son intended was Solomon.

My house and my courts - i. e., the temple and the courts of the temple (see 2 Chronicles 4:9).

If he be constant - The conditional character of the promise made to David, as to the continuance of his posterity on the Jewish throne (marginal reference; 2 Samuel 7:14), is now clearly declared.

Know thou the God of thy father - “Knowing God,” in the sense of having a religious trust in Him, is an unusual phrase in the earlier Scriptures. It scarcely occurs elsewhere in the historical books. David, however, uses the phrase in his Psalms Psalm 36:10; and its occurrence here may be accepted as evidence that the entire speech is recorded in the actual words of the monarch.

Compare 1 Chronicles 28:19. As God had revealed to Moses the pattern of the tabernacle 1 Kings 6:17, 1 Kings 6:27, and 2 Chronicles 3:5, 2 Chronicles 3:8 “the greater house” and “the most holy house.”

The upper chambers - Compare 2 Chronicles 3:9 note.

The inner parlours - The small rooms of the “lean-to” (1 Kings 6:5 note), entered one from another.

The pattern … - literally, “the pattern of all that was with him in the spirit;” perhaps to be paraphrased, “the form of all that floated before his mind.” It seems to be David‘s spirit, not God‘s Spirit, that is here spoken of.

The chariot of the cherubims - The cherubim are themselves the chariot upon which Yahweh rides Psalm 18:10; Psalm 99:1.