2 Samuel 7:8-9

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. 7:9 I was with you wherever you went, and I defeated 2  all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth. 3 

2 Samuel 7:19

7:19 And you didn’t stop there, O Lord God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family. 4  Is this your usual way of dealing with men, 5  O Lord God?

1 tn Heb “and from after the sheep.”

2 tn Heb “cut off.”

3 tn Heb “and I will make for you a great name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.”

4 tn Heb “and this was small in your eyes, O Lord God, so you spoke concerning the house of your servant for a distance.”

5 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).