_from him that was before thee_] Samuel _from Saul whom I put away before thee_. The reading in Chronicles is to be preferred. ¹⁴but I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for ever. ¹⁵According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. =14.= _I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever_] Samuel _And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee_ (but read _before me_). The reading in Samuel is no doubt the original. The change made in Chronicles neatly expresses the Chronicler’s conviction that the kingdom of Israel was not a human but a Divine institution, its true ruler being God Himself. _in mine house_] Numbers xii. 7; compare 1 Timothy iii. 15. ¹⁶Then David the king went in, and sat before the LORD; and he said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far? =16.= _went in_] i.e. into the tent which he had pitched for the Ark; xvi. 1. _sat before the LORD_] So LXX. and 2 Samuel vii. 18. The Targum rightly paraphrases, “and tarried in prayer before Jehovah.” ¹⁷And this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; but thou hast spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God. =17.= _and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree_] In 2 Samuel vii. 19, _and this_ too _after the manner of men_, or rather _and this is the law for men_ (an exclamation), but the text both in Samuel and Chronicles is certainly corrupt. The Hebrew phrase is not quite the same in the two passages, and there is nothing in Samuel corresponding with the words _of high degree_, but the text of Chronicles seems to be derived from that of Samuel An emendation “and hast let me see the generations of men for ever,” i.e. the fortunes of my distant descendants, has met with some approval, but no really satisfactory translation or explanation has yet been given of the Hebrew. ¹⁸What can David _say_ yet more unto thee concerning the honour which is done to thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant. =18.= _concerning the honour which is done to thy servant_] Again an obscure text. Following Samuel we should probably omit these words. _thou knowest_] Approvest, acceptest; compare Psalms i. 6, Psalms ci. 4; Jeremiah i. 5. ¹⁹O LORD, for thy servant’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou wrought all this greatness, to make known all _these_ great things. ²⁰O LORD, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. =19.= _for thy servant’s sake_] 2 Samuel vii. 21, _for thy word’s sake_, but the LXX. of 2 Samuel agrees with the text of Chronicles.