From: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
Nathan's Prophecy About the Dynasty
[1] Now when the king dwelt in his house, and the LORD had given him rest
from all his enemies round about, [2] the king said to Nathan the prophet,
See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent."
[3] And Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that is in your heart; for the
LORD is with you."
[4] But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, [5] "Go and
tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to
dwell in?
[8b] "'I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you
should be prince over my people Israel; [9] and I have been with you
wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I
will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the
earth. [10] And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant
them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more: and
violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, [11] from the time that
I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all
your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you
a house. [12] When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your
fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from
your body, and I will establish his kingdom. [14a] I will be his father, and
he shall be my son. [16] And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure
for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.'"
Commentary:
7:1-17. Nathan is a court prophet will also appear in later accounts
connected with Solomon and Bathsheba, his mother (cf. 2 Sam 12:1-25 and 1
Kings 1:11-40). As prophet he is God's spokesman (he twice uses the classic
formulation, "Thus says the Lord": vv. 5 and 8); here he has to oppose the
king's plans (vv. 5-7); he proclaims a message which cannot but have its
effect on the listener because the word of God is true and it always comes
to pass.
Nathan's prophecy is particularly important: it decides who will succeed
David, and it has to do with the Messiah, who will be a descendant of David.
What he says has all the formality of an oracular statement; it confirms the
dynastic succession and specifies the role of the temple among God's chosen
people.
For pagan peoples (Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian etc.) the temple was the
center of their world and the focus of their religious spirit; it was there
that they kept their gods. In Israel, on the other hand, the temple will
have quite a different role. It is based on the fact that the true God is
not content with a temple; he has no need of a house in which to dwell (cf.
1 Kings 8:27). If he allows there to be sanctuaries or shrines (cf. Gen
28:20-22), the desert tabernacle or tent (cf. Ex 33:7-11) and later the
temple of Jerusalem (cf. 1 Kings 8:1-66), these are only signs of his
presence among the people, not a habitation that he in any sense needs.
Nathan's prophecy shows that it is not so much the temple as the Davidic
dynasty that is the sign of divine presence and protection that God has set
up from the start. Hence the play on words between "house of God" (temple)
and "house of David" (dynasty).
The hereditary monarchy, then, is the center of Nathan's prophecy. If
Michal's sterility cut off the line of succession from Saul, the prophecy
assured that David's line would endure. From the central part of the
prophecy (vv. 13-16) we can see that every descendant of David, the figure
of the future Messiah, will have the following qualities:
a) He will be a son to God (v. 14a). This is not natural, human, sonship; it
refers to the closeness of the relationship between God and the king (cf. Ps
2:7; 89:26-27), so that the person and rule of the king will symbolize the
presence of God and the active role he plays in the life of the people. The
king's sonship to God, then, is an expression of the covenant established
between God and David's line. God commits himself to act towards the king as
a good father to his son. Jesus will bring these words and this covenant to
full fruition, for he is the "eternal Son of God" made man (cf. Gal 4:4).
Whereas he is the Son of God by natural generation, all the baptized are
"sons in the Son": "For this is the very reason why the Word became flesh,
why the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into
communion with the Word and thereby partaking of divine filiation, might be
converted into a son of God" (St Irenaeus, "Adversus Haereses", 3, 19, 1;
cf. "Catechism of the Catholic Church", 460).
b) He will be punished when necessary, but the punishment will be only
temporary (14b-15), that is, David's line will not be cut off as happened to
Saul, nor will any dethronement last, because the love of God will always
win out. In the light of this oracular statement, any misfortunes of the
people, even the exile in Babylon, despite being punishment for their sins,
will be above all a proof of God's
mercy. The death of Jesus on the cross, though caused by the sins of men, is
above all a proof of the love of God who gave up his Son (cf. Rom 8:32), and
of the love of Jesus who gave himself up on men's behalf (cf. Rom 4:25; Eph
5:25).
c) The Davidic dynasty will endure forever (vv. 12-13, 15-16). The title
"son of David" will refer not only to genealogical descent but also to the
fact that the holder is the beneficiary of this promise and of the Davidic
covenant (cf. 1 Kings 8:25; Ps 132:10-18; Jer 17:24-27; Ezek 34:23-24;
etc.). After the exile this is the title which is most often applied to the
Messiah, and the writers of the New Testament, of course, are at pains to
point out that Jesus is the "son of David" (cf. Mt 1:1; 9:27; Rom 1:3). The
liturgy of the Solemnity of St Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin,
includes this text, because it is he who is the guarantor of the Davidic
descent of Jesus (Mt 1:20) through being "of the house of David" (Lk 1:27).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
