What Does 2 Samuel 7:2 Mean in the King James?
That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
David’s cedar house and God’s ark under curtains share the same Hebrew verb for dwelling: the difference is in the shelter, not the word for dwelling.
THE MEANING
You can look at your settled comfort and notice what you consider sacred resting in a more exposed place. Here both conditions are called dwelling: cedar and curtains differ, but the Hebrew verb does not. The verse leaves that mismatch in view, where the question of a worthy shelter begins.
THE ROOT
יֹשֵׁב
yoshev
GROWS FROM
ישב
To sit, settle, remain, or dwell.
Both occurrences translated “dwelleth” use a form of yoshev, from y-sh-b. The same root describes the king in cedar and the ark under curtains, making them grammatical neighbors even as their shelters differ.
ALSO GROWS
yoshev: One who sits or dwells; a resident.
יֹשֵׁב
This is the form used for both the king and the ark, binding their different dwellings with the same word.
moshav: A seat, dwelling, or settlement.
מוֹשָׁב
This branch carries the root from the act of dwelling into the place where one settles.
נָתָן
Natan
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, set, or place.
Nathan’s name is the verbal form meaning “he has given,” from natan. The root also carries the sense of setting or placing, echoing the verse’s concern with where the ark is situated.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
The root’s sense of setting or placing resonates with the verse’s focus on where the ark dwells.
mattanah: A gift.
מַתָּנָה
This related word shows how the same root of giving also names what is given.
THE PATTERN
Dwelling language exposes the limits of measuring divine presence by a building’s materials.
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,THE THREAD
This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.“Dwell” here comes from the same Hebrew root, ישב, as both dwellings in David’s comparison. The speaker changes: the king and the ark are described as dwelling in one verse, then God says, “here will I dwell,” making the question of dwelling turn on God’s own desire.
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