Texts in Conversation
2 Samuel 7 uses language suggesting that David, rather than Solomon, might build the temple. This open-ended question suggests a potential future not yet realized, but the Greek Septuagint translation removes this ambiguity by rejecting that possibility.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
2 Samuel 7:15
Hebrew Bible
14 I will become his father and he will become my son. When he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with wounds inflicted by human beings. 15 But my loyal love will not be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will stand before me permanently; your dynasty will be permanent.’”
Date: 600–501 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX 2 Samuel 7:15
Septuagint
14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And when he happens to transgress, then I will discipline him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the sons of men. 15 But my mercy I will not take from him, as I took it from those whom I removed from my presence. 16 And his house shall be made sure, and his kingdom for ever before me, and his throne shall be set up for ever.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The concept of the omniscience of God also causes a change in 2 Samuel 7:15. The question particle ה of the text is deleted, instead the negative οὐ is inserted, following the model of 1 Chronicles 17:4 in the Masoretic text ( לא אתה), because it was not David but Solomon who built the temple. A speech of God that considers a possibility that has not yet been realized is not compatible with divine omniscience ..."
Martin Meiser, The Septuagint and Its Reception: Collected Essays (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 75.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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