7:8 “So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd 1 to make you leader of my people Israel.
7:18 King David went in, sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, 2 that you should have brought me to this point? 7:19 And you didn’t stop there, O Lord God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family. 3 Is this your usual way of dealing with men, 4 O Lord God?
1 tn Heb “and from after the sheep.”
2 tn Heb “house.”
3 tn Heb “and this was small in your eyes, O
4 tn Heb “and this [is] the law of man”; KJV “is this the manner of man, O Lord God?”; NAB “this too you have shown to man”; NRSV “May this be instruction for the people, O Lord God!” This part of the verse is very enigmatic; no completely satisfying solution has yet been suggested. The present translation tries to make sense of the MT by understanding the phrase as a question that underscores the uniqueness of God’s dealings with David as described here. The parallel passage in 1 Chr 17:17 reads differently (see the note there).