What Does 2 Samuel 7:26 Mean?
And let your name grow great for the ages, saying, The LORD of hosts is God over Israel; and let the house of your servant David be set firm before your face.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.THE KEY
The name grows great as David’s house is made firm before God, binding revealed nature to an enduring household.
THE MEANING
The verse places you inside a spoken confession: the LORD’s nature is made great through the ages as the God over Israel. David’s house is pictured as becoming firm before God, while David is named as a servant. Enduring authority and service belong to the same household.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that enduring authority rests on the house’s own power: the house is established before God, and its head is named servant.
THE ROOT
יִגְדַּל
yigdal
GROWS FROM
גדל
g-d-l
Grow; become great.
“grow great” in this verse is yigdal. The verb holds magnification as something that unfolds: the name becomes visible through the confession that follows. Since shem means name as nature, the verse speaks of that nature becoming publicly legible.
ALSO GROWS
gadol: Great, large.
גָּדוֹל
It names the quality this verb says is becoming manifest.
migdal: Tower.
מִגְדָּל
A tower rises into view, echoing the way greatness becomes visible.
נָכוֹן
nakhon
GROWS FROM
כון
k-w-n
Be firm, set in place, prepared.
“set firm” in this verse is nakhon. The house is described as firm “before thee,” so its permanence is located in God’s presence. A related word can mean a fixed dwelling, bringing the idea of establishment close to the image of a settled house.
ALSO GROWS
mekhon: A fixed place or dwelling.
מָכוֹן
It links firmness with a place made stable enough to dwell in.
hekin: Prepare, make ready.
הֵכִין
It carries the sense of something set in readiness, not merely named as permanent.
עֶבֶד
eved
GROWS FROM
עבד
ʿ-b-d
Work, serve.
The household singled out for establishment belongs to one who names himself God’s servant. The root keeps the promise from floating as royal status alone: the house is held within service.
ALSO GROWS
avad: Serve, work, cultivate.
עָבַד
It shows the action contained in the title servant.
avodah: Service, work.
עֲבוֹדָה
It makes service the household’s underlying posture, even as the house is established.
THE PATTERN
God’s name becomes great as his people voice his greatness and the house he promises is made firm.
O grow the LORD great with me, and let us lift up his name together.For from the rising of the sun to where it goes in, my name is great among the nations. And in every place incense is made to smoke, and a clean gift is brought near to my name, for my name is great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.After this I will turn back, and will build again the tent of David, which is fallen down, and I will build again the overturned places thereof, and I will set it upright.THE THREAD
Let them ring out for joy and be glad, those who delight in my alignment; and let them say continually, Let the LORD grow great, who delights in the wholeness of his servant.Both verses use יִגְדַּל (yigdal), “let … become great,” so the same root magnifies the LORD’s name here and the LORD himself in the Psalm. There, the words are joined to God’s pleasure in the well-being of his servant, deepening this verse’s link between God’s name and David’s household.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us