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Roy A. Bradley

· 19 min read

The Davidic Covenant and the Largesse of God

How the messianic hope embedded in 2 Samuel 7 is carried forward by the Psalms and Prophets toward a Davidic king whose reign blesses all nations.

Introduction

The promises made to David by Yahweh in 2 Samuel 7 constitute a covenant that reiterates and intensifies Yahweh’s purpose to cause Israel to be a blessing to the world. The scope of this covenant extends in two dimensions, national and eschatological, as it ultimately encompasses all the nations of the world and endures for eternity. This covenant contains the promise that the Kingdom of God will irrupt into the present world, bringing peace and righteousness, and will be mediated by an anointed messianic king in the royal line of David.

This paper intends to demonstrate that there is a messianic consciousness embedded in the Davidic covenant that is picked up and carried forward in the Psalms and Prophets1, providing the exegetical and theological basis for the New Testament’s interpretation and confirmation of Jesus as the promised messianic Davidic king who ushered in the Kingdom of God.2 In other words, David, along with the Psalms and Prophets that speak of him, was aware that the scope of Yahweh’s promises made to him and his offspring would extend to all humanity through its fulfillment in the person and work of a messianic king.

The Davidic Covenant Established: 2 Samuel 7

2 Samuel 73 tells a simple story, but the message is groundbreaking and profound. This chapter is the climax4 of the narrative in the books of Samuel, wherein Yahweh establishes a covenant5 with King David, which includes the promise of personal intimacy (14a), covenant fidelity (15a) and an everlasting dynasty (16).6 The contents of this chapter can easily be divided into two main sections. The first section (1-17) records Nathan’s oracle to David in response to David’s expressed desire to build Yahweh a house. Yahweh’s message to David redirects that desire and turns the table: David will not build Yahweh a house; Yahweh will build David a “house” (11)—an everlasting kingdom of peace/rest (13b, 16b). The second section of this chapter records David’s response/prayer to this great promise (18-29).

Initially, David wants to construct a house (temple) for the ark of Yahweh. The ark is now safe in a tent in Jerusalem, but David apparently thinks it more fitting for the ark to be housed in a palatial dwelling like his own (2),7 and so, in good order, he consults the prophet, Nathan, who enters the story abruptly and without formal introduction (2a). Nathan concurs and gives David his approval to proceed with the plan (3). However, Yahweh has a different agenda, and comes to Nathan that night with a course change (5).

Yahweh’s message to David (5-17) through Nathan is divided into three parts, delineated by the three-fold oracular formula, “thus says the LORD” (5, 8, and 11).8 In verses 5-8, Yahweh engages David with some rhetorical questions9 that reveal David’s false assumptions regarding Yahweh’s values (a mistake David had made in the past) and a misunderstanding of the theology of his presence among his people. Yahweh had been without a permanent dwelling for some time and had not heretofore asked for one, yet he remained active and faithful among his people. Why build a house now? Further, though only implied here but addressed explicitly elsewhere,10 is the incongruity between David’s role as Israel’s warrior and the function of the temple as a place of peace. Next, in verses 8-10, Yahweh addresses David as “my servant”11 and recounts the divine providence that brought David on a pilgrimage from shepherd to king. The third and final part of this oracle (11-17) denotes two sets of future blessings that will be fulfilled after David’s death—the one set through his son, Solomon, and the other set in the remote future through his divinely established dynasty. Before a house can be built for Yahweh, Yahweh must first establish the house of David. This is a clever play on the ambiguity in the term “house” (bayit), which, in happy coincidence, also works well in English. But there is certainly more to it than this. C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch suggest that there is a more fundamental principle at work behind this turn of phrase: “This thought is not merely ‘a play upon words entirely in the spirit of prophecy,’12 but contains the deep general truth that God must first of all build a man’s house, before the man can build God’s house, and applies it especially to the kingdom of God in Israel.”13 The way in which Yahweh will build David’s “house” is spelled out in verses 12-16. Though Yahweh denied David’s proposal to build a temple, he responded with the revelation of his gracious purposes that far surpassed David’s expectations.

As noted above, a transition occurs in verse 18, marking the beginning of the second main section of 2 Samuel 7, as David appears before Yahweh to offer his response (18a). David’s prayer can be easily outlined in two parts: thanksgiving for the promise in recapitulation (18b-24) and an entreaty for Yahweh to fulfill it (25-29).14 Much of his response is a summary of what was immediately articulated in the previous section, and some have argued that this is evidence of later editorial activity.15 Perhaps, but not necessarily so. Given the spectacular nature of what has just been revealed to David, there is ample reason to understand the repetition as an indication of awe and surprise. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. concurs: “David is completely overwhelmed by the alternative proposal offered in lieu of his projected building plans.”16 David’s questions reveal his amazement—not only is David and his immediate family the recipient of a great blessing, but that blessing is going to extend to David’s dynasty forever.

The most difficult exegetical issue in this chapter is the translation and interpretation of a decisive phrase in 19b: וְזֹ֛את תּוֹרַ֥ת הָאָדָ֖ם (wezō’ṯ tôraṯ hā’āḏām). The nature of Yahweh’s blessing to David and David’s awareness of its scope and significance hinges on the meaning of this phrase, but that meaning proves difficult to ascertain with precision given its obscurity. A survey of a few modern English translations reveals the difficulty and confusion.17

  • NKJV (KJV): “Is this the manner of man, O LORD God?”

  • NASB95/LSB: “And this is the law of man, O LORD Yahweh.”

  • TLV: “This is the revelation for humanity, O LORD God.”

  • NASB20: “And this is the custom of mankind, LORD God.”

  • NIV: “And this decree, Sovereign LORD, is for a mere human!”

  • CSB: “And this is a revelation for mankind, LORD God.”

  • NET: “Is this your usual way of dealing with men, O Sovereign LORD?”

  • NLT: “Do you deal with everyone this way?”

  • RSV: “And hast shown me future generations, O LORD God.”

  • ASV: “And this too after the manner of men, O LORD Jehovah.”

  • HCSB: “This is a revelation for mankind, O LORD God.”

  • ESV: “And this is instruction for mankind, O LORD God.”

Kaiser argues, convincingly, that we should interpret this phrase far more robustly, understanding it to mean nothing less than a “Charter for Humanity,” by which he means “the plan and prescription for God’s kingdom whereby the whole world shall be blessed with the total content of the promise doctrine.”18 Kaiser translates the phrase literally as, “and this is the torah of mankind, O LORD God,” meaning, “This is the charter by which humanity will be directed.”

The Davidic Covenant in the Psalms and Prophets

The covenant established with David in 2 Samuel 7 is not isolated or arbitrary, but is fully integrated with Yahweh’s covenantal plan first articulated in the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 12, 15, 17) and carried forward in the Psalms and Prophets.19

That the Davidic covenant is a reaffirmation and extension of the Abrahamic covenant20 is clear in the similarities they share in content and focus. Abraham was told that kings would come from him, and we see in David’s dynasty a fulfillment of that promise. Abraham was also told that his descendants would eventually constitute a great nation; this promise is reiterated to David in that his kingdom will be established as an everlasting kingdom. Yahweh promised to make Abraham’s name great and extends that same promise to David: “And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth” (2 Sam. 7:9). Lastly, the promise of divine “rest” is present in both covenants. Abraham’s relationship with Yahweh provided protection from the threat of other nations, and in the Davidic covenant, the guarantee of protection and “rest” in the promised land where David’s kingdom will be established is a core component of Yahweh’s blessing (2 Sam. 7:10-11). From this, James McKeown concludes: “Although Abraham is not mentioned by name in the Davidic covenant, the continuity of the promises made to the patriarch is unmistakable.”21 Yahweh’s covenant with David does not merely repeat the promises of the Abrahamic covenant, but contains a new dimension of stability, tied closely to the inhabitance of the land. Up to this point, Israel, who in some sense was in “possession” of the promised land, was still wandering about without roots in a permanent dynasty. The image of being “planted” in the land provided a deeper sense of political, religious, and geographical permanence.

The book of Kings, when understood as a book of prophecy, treats the substance of the Davidic covenant, particularly the eternality of the Davidic dynasty, in a “curiously paradoxical” way.22 There exists a tension between the assurance that the Davidic dynasty will endure (despite evidence to the contrary in the failure of David’s successors [1 Ki. 14:15]) and the apparent conditional nature of the covenant that rests the preservation of the dynasty on the obedience of the Davidic kings. Iain W. Provan says that this tension between law and grace is “never fully resolved” in Kings.23 A similar tension is noted in reference to the patriarchal promise of descendants and possession of the promised land of Canaan. In Kings, God acts in accordance with these promises, yet, Israel/Judah’s disobedience results in removal from the land and exile among foreigners—the exact opposite of the covenant promises. The final words of Kings (2 Ki. 25:27), when considered in their narrative context, “hints that the unconditional aspects of the Davidic promise may even still, after awful judgment has fallen, remain in force,”24 echoing the words of 2 Samuel 7:15-16: ‘my love will never be taken away from him… your throne shall be established forever.’ Provan argues that this “tenacious” hope in the face of failure and judgement should be understood as messianic in nature. In Kings, this hope is focused on an ideal king from the line of David who will arise sometime in the distant future, which reiterates and carries forward the promises of Yahweh in 2 Samuel 7.

The theological trajectory of the Davidic covenant is also evident in the Latter Prophets, particularly in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Micah, and Zechariah. The language of Yahweh’s covenant with David indicates the possibility of individual failure (which certainly occurred in the intervening history of Israel up to the exile and beyond), but the eternal nature of David’s dynasty preserves the messianic function of the promise, which is picked up and carried forward by the Prophets. Jeremiah 33:14-15 (cf. 23:5–6) speaks of a future day when Yahweh will “fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah” by causing “a righteous Branch to spring up for David.” The arboreal imagery is also present in Isaiah 11:1, where a “shoot from the stump of Jesse” will emerge. The stump relays what is left of Judah after Yahweh’s judgement is meted out. But unlike the felling of the forest of Assyria, which will remain dead, the bare forest of Judah has a seed of hope and promise in the stump of Jesse.25 Jeremiah 33:17 repeats Yahweh’s promise that there will never be a vacancy on the throne of David (which appears incongruous with the reality on the ground), and the certainty of this promise is reinforced by an analogy to the certainty of the order of creation (Jer. 33:20-26). Isaiah 9:6-7 references the “throne of David” (with all its symbolic import) as the place from which a child to be born will rule as “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” whose rule will “have no end.” “There can be little doubt,” says Webb, “that this oracle points directly to the coming of the Messiah, the great Son of David and the true light.”26 The judgement against the failed Davidic monarchy is expressed in very harsh language (e.g., Jer. 13:13–14; 22:2–5, 30), but this is coupled with a forceful reminder that Yahweh’s promises to David still stand and will be actualized in history. In similar fashion, Ezekiel renounces the sin of the “shepherds of Israel” (34:1-10), who are set up as a foil for the true Davidic shepherd to come (Ezek. 34:23–24; 37:24–25).

The fulfillment of the Davidic covenant is also prevalent in the Book of the Twelve. “Hosea, Amos, Micah and Zechariah envisage a future time of restoration in which the royal covenant will be fulfilled by the eternal reign of a Davidic king.”27 Hosea speaks of a time of restoration when the people will “seek the Lord, their God, and David, their king” (3:5). In Amos, there is a promise that Yahweh will “raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches” (9:11). Micah speaks of an ancient king who will be born in Bethlehem and come from the line of Judah, being clearly an allusion to the Davidic king (5:2). Lastly, and a bit more obscurely, Zechariah anticipates a branch (likely that of Jer. 23:5 and 33:15) that will emerge as a king and build the eschatological temple of God.28

Psalms 2, 72, 89, and 110 stand out in the Psalter as having particular import regarding the notion of kingship. The canonical shape of the Psalter provides an interpretive framework for this theme that has significant theological implications. The five-book structure of the Psalms points to the experienced failure of the Davidic covenant.29 Psalm 2 introduces the Davidic kingship theme in the Psalter (more on this in the discussion on Psalm 110 below). Books 1-2 (3-72) contain a strong emphasis on the Davidic psalms. Psalm 72 ends Book 2, and makes a theological statement: “The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.” At the beginning of Book 3 (73-89), Psalm 73 looks back and then forward to the eschatological future. As Book 3 continues, it moves into the darkest portion of the psalter, culminating in Psalm 88, which is the only lament psalm that does not end in praise. Book 3 ends with the very next psalm, Psalm 89, with its author crying out in bewildered anguish at the failure of the Davidic dynasty (39b: “you have defiled his crown in the dust”), yet still, presumably, accepting the promise of the Davidic covenant (52: “Blessed be the LORD forever!”).30 Book 4 focuses on Yahweh as King, and this theme continues into Book 5, where Psalm 110 is found. This psalm is a “royal psalm…attributed to David by Jesus, and the way he used it (Mark 12:35–37) makes it difficult to consider it less than fully messianic, not simply foreshadowing but predicting the Messiah.”31 This psalm has striking similarities with Psalm 2, most notably, in both psalms two kings are introduced: Yahweh and the Anointed [= David’s “lord” in 110:1].32 In both psalms a partnership—indeed, a father-son relationship (Ps. 2:7)—exists between these two kings, indicating strong messianic overtones.

Conclusion

The New Testament uses the Psalms to support a variety of teachings. In particular, the Psalms are frequently used to establish the identity of Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God in terms that clearly reveal Jesus’ status as the promised Davidic king. A striking example of this is Matthew 22:41-46, where Jesus himself points to Psalm 110 to reveal the ignorance of the Pharisees and makes the astonishing claim that he himself is the anointed one who is both David’s son and David’s Lord. In asking them, “If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” (v. 45), Jesus is not “repudiating a Davidic origin for the Messiah,”33 but challenging their assumptions by forcing them to reckon with a text which implies that the Messiah is more than a human descendant of David. In other words, how can they explain Psalm 110:1 on their assumption that the Messiah was merely an earthly and political figure? Jesus’ point is that they cannot, and their silence proved that. The scope of Yahweh’s covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7 is put on full display in this tense encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees. Jesus made it clear that they had missed the messianic consciousness embedded in the Psalms and Prophets, texts they claimed to know so much about. The messianic king in the line of David had come in Jesus to usher in the reign of God to redeem the world, just as it was promised to David and taught by the Psalms and Prophets. This is the largesse of God, and so with David, we can say, “Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you…” (2 Sam. 7:22).

Bibliography

Alter, Robert. The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary. 3. W.W. Norton & Co., 2019.

Anderson, A. A. 2 Samuel. Vol. 11. Word Biblical Commentary. Zondervan, 1989.

Atkinson, David. The Message of Samuel: Personalities, Potential, Politics, and Power. The Bible Speaks Today. InterVarsity, 2004.

Boda, Mark J., and J. Gordon McConville, eds. Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets. InterVarsity, 2012.

Firth, David G. 1 & 2 Samuel. Apollos OT Commentary. InterVarsity, 2009.

Green, Michael. The Message of Matthew. The Bible Speaks Today. InterVarsity, 2000.

Grisanti, Michael A. “The Davidic Covenant.” The Master’s Seminary Journal, 10/2, 1999, 233–50.

Grogan, Geoffrey W. Psalms. The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary. Eerdmans, 2008.

Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. “The Blessing of David: The Charter for Humanity.” XXVIII in The Law and the Prophets: Old Testament Studies Prepared in Honor of Oswald Thompson Allis, edited by John H. Skilton. Presbyterian & Reformed, 1974.

Keil, C. F., and F. Delitzsch. A Commentary on the Old Testament. Accordance Electronic Ed. Hendrickson, 1996.

Leithart, Peter J. A House for My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament. Canon Press, 2000.

McKeown, James. Genesis. The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary. Eerdmans, 2007.

Provan, Iain W. “The Messiah in the Books of Kings.” 4 in The Lord’s Anointed: Interpretation of Old Testament Messianic Texts, edited by Philip E. Satterthwaite, Richard S. Hess, and Gordon J. Wenham. Wipf & Stock, 2020.

Waltke, Bruce K. An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach. Zondervan, 2007.

Webb, Barry. The Message of Isaiah. The Bible Speaks Today. InterVarsity, 1996.

Wilson, Marvin R. Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith. Eerdmans, 1989.

Woodhouse, John. 2 Samuel. Preaching the Word Commentary. Crossway, 2015.

Footnotes

  1. I use the term “prophets” in this section to refer to the books of the Nevi’im (Former and Latter Prophets) in the TaNaK. ↩

  2. “David did not speak better than he knew nor did the N.T. writers attribute more to the words they quoted from this passage than the authorial will intended in them, especially when they were basing their arguments on the fact that these new events in the N.T. were already announced in the O.T. era.” Walter C. Kaiser Jr., “The Blessing of David: The Charter for Humanity,” XXVIII in The Law and the Prophets: Old Testament Studies Prepared in Honor of Oswald Thompson Allis, ed. John H. Skilton (Presbyterian & Reformed, 1974), 317. ↩

  3. Paralleled in 1 Chronicles 17 ↩

  4. This assessment is widely accepted. E.g., (“2 Sam 7 is, without doubt, the theological highlight of the Books of Samuel, if not of the Deuteronomistic History as a whole.” A. A. Anderson, 2 Samuel, Word Biblical Commentary (Zondervan, 1989), 11:112); (“The encounter between David and the prophet Nathan that is described in this chapter could be seen as one of the most significant meetings recorded within the royal history.” David Atkinson, The Message of Samuel: Personalities, Potential, Politics, and Power, The Bible Speaks Today (InterVarsity, 2004), 195); (Bruce K. Waltke calls it “the climactic scene of the books of Samuel” Bruce K. Waltke, An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach (Zondervan, 2007), 660). See similar affirmations quoted in (Michael A. Grisanti, “The Davidic Covenant,” The Master’s Seminary Journal, 10/2, 1999, 233–34). ↩

  5. The word translated “covenant” (berit) does not occur in this chapter. However, David clearly understood Nathan’s oracle in terms of a covenant in 2 Samuel 23:5b: “For he has made with me an everlasting covenant…” Psalm 89 also uses covenant terminology in reference to the promises made here: “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; // I have sworn to David my servant…” (v. 3) [italics mine]. ↩

  6. Waltke notes that “the Davidic covenant contains a total of ten blessings: three fulfilled in David’s lifetime; four in the lifetime of his son Solomon, and three in his remote future.” Waltke, An Old Testament Theology, 661. ↩

  7. Cf. Deuteronomy 12:10-11. ↩

  8. Waltke, An Old Testament Theology, 660. ↩

  9. 5b: “Would you build me a house to dwell in? 7b: “…did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar’”? ↩

  10. 1 Kings 5:3; 1 Chronicles 22:8–9 ↩

  11. This designation is also used of the likes of Abraham, Moses, and Caleb (Genesis 26:24; Numbers 12:7; 14:24; Joshua 1:2,7); it involves obedience, dependence, intimacy/trust, and humility. See (Waltke, An Old Testament Theology, 660). ↩

  12. Quoting Otto Thenius ↩

  13. C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, A Commentary on the Old Testament. Accordance Electronic Ed. (Hendrickson, 1996), para. 5289. “To understand 2 Samuel 7, we need to remember that the true temple of God is not a building but a people….God always builds up His human house before He puts His people to work building a house for Him.” (Peter J. Leithart, A House for My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament (Canon Press, 2000), 148). ↩

  14. Commentators outline the prayer in various ways. J.P. Lange outlines it in three parts: (1) Thanks for the favor shown to David and his dynasty now (vss. 18-21); (2) Praise for what God has done for Israel in the past (vss. 22-24); (3) Prayer for the realization of the promise in the future (vss.25-29), quoted in (Kaiser, “The Blessing of David,” 310 and n. 44). David G. Firth detects even more nuance: “The prayer is more tightly structured than some recognize beyond the fact that vv. 18–24 are basically thanksgiving and 25–29, petition. The thanksgiving is built around three rhetorical questions (vv. 18, 20, 23), while the petition employs three segments introduced by ‘and now’ (wĕ’attâ). There are two petitions within this section (v. 25, 29), each using paired imperatives.” (David G. Firth, 1 & 2 Samuel, Apollos OT Commentary (InterVarsity, 2009), 390). ↩

  15. Atkinson, The Message of Samuel, 199. ↩

  16. Kaiser, “The Blessing of David,” 311. ↩

  17. Robert Alter translates it “and this is a man’s instruction, LORD God,” but quickly notes that this attempt is “no more than an interpretive guess…” Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary (W.W. Norton & Co., 2019). The Jerusalem Bible does not even attempt a translation! ↩

  18. Kaiser, “The Blessing of David,” 314. The “promise doctrine” denotes the totality of the great moments in biblical history with all the intervening revelation of God between them. (Kaiser, “The Blessing of David,” 298). ↩

  19. “Everything that the Old Testament will say about a Messiah to come (particularly in the books of the prophets and in the Psalms) will look back to this promise.” John Woodhouse, 2 Samuel, Preaching the Word Commentary (Crossway, 2015), 216. ↩

  20. Though I will not address it in this paper, it is worth mentioning that the Sinaitic covenant is, itself, “a renewal and extension of the Abrahamic covenant,” and that the Davidic covenant is a “restating and progressive enrichment of the Sinaitic covenant.” (Marvin R. Wilson, Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith (Eerdmans, 1989), 211). ↩

  21. James McKeown, Genesis, The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary (Eerdmans, 2007), 292. ↩

  22. Iain W. Provan, “The Messiah in the Books of Kings,” 4 in The Lord’s Anointed: Interpretation of Old Testament Messianic Texts, ed. Philip E. Satterthwaite et al. (Wipf & Stock, 2020), 72. ↩

  23. Provan, “The Messiah in the Books of Kings,” 73. ↩

  24. Provan, “The Messiah in the Books of Kings,” 76. ↩

  25. “The expression the stump of Jesse (11:1, cf. 11:10) indicates his humble origins, bypassing all the ostentation of the Davidic house as it subsequently developed.” Barry Webb, The Message of Isaiah, The Bible Speaks Today (InterVarsity, 1996), 75. ↩

  26. Webb, The Message of Isaiah, 69. Cf. Lk. 1:32–33; Jn. 1:9. ↩

  27. Tiberius Rata, “COVENANT,” in Mark J. Boda and J. Gordon McConville, eds., Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets (InterVarsity, 2012), 103. ↩

  28. Boda and McConville, Dictionary of the Old Testament, 103. ↩

  29. “That David’s successors failed to live up to the terms of the promise seems to have spurred the prophets to look toward an idealized future Davidide who would fulfill the terms of the promise (e.g., Jer 23:5–6).” D. G. Firth, “MESSIAH,” in Boda and McConville, Dictionary of the Old Testament, 539. ↩

  30. “Knut Heim has argued that the editors of the Psalter would have felt this quite incongruous at this point unless they believed that the prayers that preceded it would be answered.” Geoffrey W. Grogan, Psalms, The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary (Eerdmans, 2008), 157. ↩

  31. Grogan, Psalms, 184. ↩

  32. “If, as David Mitchell has argued, the redactor’s ultimate purpose was to promote messianic anticipation, this psalm’s many links with Psalm 2 must be highly significant.” Grogan, Psalms, 184. ↩

  33. “Nothing could be less probable. He knows full well that the Messiah is to come from David’s stock. The prophecies in the Old Testament are explicit on that point.” Michael Green, The Message of Matthew, The Bible Speaks Today (InterVarsity, 2000), 237. ↩