to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
king
הַמֶּ֣לֶךְha.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
David
דָּוִ֔דda.Vid
H1732
David · proper noun, a man's name
sat
וַיֵּ֖שֶׁבvai.Ye.shev
H3427
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
before
לִפְנֵ֣יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
LORD
יְהוָ֑הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
said
וַיֹּ֗אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Lord
אֲדֹנָ֤י'a.do.Nai
H136
the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD
יְהוִה֙Yah.weh
H3069
YHWH · proper noun, a title
house
בֵיתִ֔יvei.Ti
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
brought
הֲבִיאֹתַ֖נִיha.vi.'o.Ta.ni
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, hiphil perfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
hitherto
הֲלֹֽםha.Lom
H1988
hither · adverb
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
1 Chronicles 17:16 And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?
1 Samuel 18:18 And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king?
Genesis 32:10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed o…
Exodus 3:11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
1 Samuel 15:17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee k…
Ephesians 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of C…
Judges 6:15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s ho…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 7:18–end
We have here the solemn address David made to God, in answer to the gracious message God had sent him. We are not told what he said to Nathan; no doubt he received him very kindly and respectfully as God's messenger. But his answer to God he took himself, and did not send by Nathan. When ministers deliver God's message to us, it is not to them, but to God, that our hearts must reply; he understands the language of the heart, and to him we may come boldly. David had no sooner received the message than, while the impressions of it were fresh, he retired to return an answer. Observe,
I. The place he retired to: He went in before the Lord, that is, into the tabernacle where the ark was, which wa…
DAVID'S PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING. (Sa2 7:18-29)
Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord--Sitting was anciently an attitude for worship (Exo 17:12; Sa1 4:13; Kg1 19:4). As to the particular attitude David sat, most probably, upon his heels. It was the posture of the ancient Egyptians before the shrines; it is the posture of deepest respect before a superior in the East. Persons of highest dignity sit thus when they do sit in the presence of kings and it is the only sitting attitude assumed by the modern Mohammedans in their places and rites of devotion.
Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 7:18
Sat before the Lord - Sometimes, when a Hindoo seeks a favor from a superior, he sits down in his presence in silence; or if he solicits some favor of a god, as riches, children, etc., he places himself before the idol, and remains in a waiting posture, or repeats the name of the god, counting the beads in his necklace. - Ward.
John Gill on 2 Samuel 7:18
Then went King David in,.... Into the tabernacle where the ark was, which he had prepared for it, 2 Samuel 6:17,
and sat before the Lord; before the ark, the symbol of his presence, and prayed, and gave thanks, as follows: from whence it appears that a sitting posture was sometimes used in prayer, of which we have other instances, Exodus 17:11. It is said (y) that Pythagoras, and also Numa, ordered that worshippers should sit. So that this act of devotion is not to be limited to any particular posture, though it seems most agreeable either to stand or kneel; and the Jews look upon this to be a peculiar case, and infer from hence that none were allowed to sit in the court but the kings of th…
The Church Fathers
David, understanding this, says in the second book of Kings [Samuel] … "You did also speak of the house of your servant for a long time to come." And, further on, "And now begin and bless the house of your servant that it may endure forever," etc. At that time, David was about to beget his son through whom his lineage would be carried down to Christ; through whom, in turn, his house was to be everlasting—indeed, identified with the house of God. It was to be called the "house of David" because [it was] of David's stock and, simultaneously, the "house of God" because it was a temple to God made not of stones but of people. In this house God's people shall everlastingly dwell with their God and in their God, and God with his people and in his people, God filling his people, his people filled with their God, so that "God may be all in all"—the very same God being their prize in peace who was their strength in battle.It was with this in view that, when Nathan had said, "And the Lord said to you, that you shall build him a house," David said further on, "Because you, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed to the ear of your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house.' " This is a house which we build by living virtuously and which God builds by helping us to live virtuously, for "unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." Only, however, when this house receives its final consecration will the words God spoke by Nathan's lips come true: "And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, and they shall dwell therein, and shall be disturbed no more: neither shall the children of iniquity afflict them any more as they did before, from the day that I appointed judges over my people Israel."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Chronicles, Books of — The two books were originally one. They bore the title in the Massoretic Hebrew Dibre hayyamim, i.e., “Acts of the Days.” This title was rendered by Jerome in his Latin version “Chronicon,” and hence…
Humility · EXEMPLIFIED — EXEMPLIFIED
Prayer, Private · Exemplified: David — Exemplified: David
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
David's prayer and thanksgiving. - Sa2 7:18. King David came, i.e., went into the sanctuary erected upon Zion, and remained before Jehovah. ישׁב, remained, tarried (as in Gen 24:55; Gen 29:19, etc.), not "sat;" for the custom of sitting before the Lord in the sanctuary, as the posture assumed in prayer, cannot be deduced from Exo 17:12, where Moses is compelled to sit from simple exhaustion. David's prayer consists of two parts - thanksgiving for the promise (Sa2 7:18-24), and supplication for its fulfilment (Sa2 7:25-29). The thanksgiving consists of a confession of unworthiness of all the great things that the Lord had hitherto done for him, and which He had still further increased by this…
David responded prayerfully to God’s promise of a dynasty, repeatedly acknowledging God’s true kingship as Sovereign Lord.
7:18 David’s question, “Who am I?” was an expression of genuine humility (cp. Exod 4:11).
Rashi on 2 Samuel 7:18
And sat before the Ark of Adonoy. Before the Ark.
Until this point. That You have made me king.
