1 Chronicles 17:12

God’s Covenant with David · 1 Chronicles 17:1–15
Read 1 Chronicles 17

Translations

Modern
He will build a house for Me, and I will establish his throne forever.
Traditional
He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.
Literal
He will build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne even to forever.
Latin
Ipse ædificabit mihi domum, et firmabo solium ejus usque in æternum.

Original

Hebrew
English
He will build a house for Me, and I will establish his throne forever.

Notes

Building the temple was a key part of God's kingdom on earth. Solomon built the temple (2 Chronicles 2–7) and fulfilled this promise.

David wanted to build a temple for the Lord. Instead, the Lord promised to build a dynasty for David. Creating David's eternal dynasty was key to God's plan to establish his rule on earth.

David wanted to build a home for the ark as grand as his palace, but the Lord chose David’s heir, Solomon (1 Chronicles 22), to build the temple. Jerusalem was to be the only place of worship for all Israel.

The larger section (1 Chronicles 13:1–17:27) ends with Nathan's prophecy about David and David's prayer of thanks.

Parallels

2 Samuel 7:1–17

Glossary

Chronicles, Books of First and Second David Genealogy Nathan

Topics

Covenant with David David: Desires to Build a Temple, is Forbidden, but Receives God's Promise That his Seed should Reign Forever David: King of Israel: Prophecies Concerning Him and his Kingdom Nathan: A Prophet in the Time of David: His Message to David Concerning the Building of a Temple Solomon: Prophecies Concerning the First Temple: David: Told by the Prophet That Solomon should Build