1 Chronicles 17:6

Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) Wheresoever.—As long as . . . Literally, In all that . . .

With (in) all Israel.—Samuel, “in (among) all the sons of Israel.” (Comp. Leviticus 26:11-12; Deuteronomy 23:15.)

The judges of Israel.—Samuel has “tribes.” The term “judges” would be more intelligible in later times, and has probably been substituted for the more difficult original expression. The following clause seems to refer to individual rulers, but is not really incompatible with a reference to the ascendency or hegemony of different tribes at different epochs of Israelite history. (Comp. Genesis 49:10; 1Chronicles 28:4; Psalm 78:67-68.) The word “tribe” (shēbet) might only denote clan, or house, as in Judges 20:12 (Heb.).

To feed.—Shepherd, or tend—i.e., to govern. (Comp. Psalm 78:71.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

17:1-27 David's purposes; God's gracious promises. - This chapter is the same as 2Sa 7. See what is there said upon it. It is very observable that what in Samuel is said to be, for thy word's sake, is here said to be, "for thy servant's sake," ver. 19. Jesus Christ is both the Word of God, Re 19:13, and the Servant of God, Isa 42:1; and it is for his sake, upon account of his mediation, that the promises are made good to all believers; it is in him, that they are yea and amen. For His sake it is done, for his sake it is made known; to him we owe all this greatness, from him we are to expect all these great things. They are the unsearchable riches of Christ, which, if by faith we see in themselves, and see in the Lord Jesus, we cannot but magnify as the only true greatness, and speak honourably of them. For this blessedness may we look amidst the trials of life, and when we feel the hand of death upon us; and seek it for our children after us.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Compare throughout 2 Samuel 7 and the notes found there.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. spake I a word to any of the judges—In 2Sa 7:7 it is "any of the tribes" of Israel. Both are included. But the judges "who were commanded to feed the people," form the more suitable antithesis to David.

Why have ye not built me an house of cedars?—that is, a solid and magnificent temple.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

See Chapter Introduction

Geneva Study Bible

Wheresoever I have {f} walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars?

(f) Meaning, wherever his ark went, which was a sign of his presence.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. the judges] A better reading than the tribes (Sam.).

of cedars] R.V. of cedar; cp. 1 Chronicles 17:1.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - The judges of Israel. The substitution of the Hebrew character beth for pe, in the word "judges," would make it "tribes," and bring it into harmony with the parallel place. But the succeeding clause, Whom I commanded to feed my people, would rather suggest that the parallel place, which adds the same clause, should be brought into harmony with this (see again ver. 10 of this chapter). The general meaning and the gracious spirit underlying it is evident enough. God had never made a suggestion to tribe, or leader of tribe, nor to judge, who had been temporarily raised up to lead, and so to feed, all his people Israel, to build him an house. He had shared their lot, and had shared it unmurmuringly. He also "had not opened his mouth" (1 Kings 8:12-16; 1 Chronicles 28:3, 4; Psalm 78:67-71). Note also the expression, "I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel" (1 Kings 8:16). It is to be remarked that we learn from 1 Chronicles 22:8 and 1 Chron 28:3 the fuller causes why David was not to be permitted to be the builder of the house. It is not apparent why those causes are not recited here. The same remark applies to the parallel place. 1 Chronicles 17:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In the Chronicle, as in 2 Samuel 7, the account of the removal of the ark to the city of David is immediately followed by the narrative of David's design to build a temple to the Lord; and this arrangement is adopted on account of the connection between the subjects, though the events must have been separated by a period of several years. Our account of this design of David's, with its results for him and for his kingdom, is in all essential points identical with the parallel account, so that we may refer to the commentary on 2 Samuel 7 for any necessary explanation of the matter. The difference between the two narratives are in great part of a merely formal kind; the author of the Chronicle having sought to make the narrative more intelligible to his contemporaries, partly by using later phrases current in his own time, such as אלהים for יהוה, מלכוּת for ממלכה, partly by simplifying and explaining the bolder and more obscure expressions. Very seldom do we find divergences in the subject-matter which alter the meaning or make it appear to be different. To supplement and complete the commentary already given in 2nd Samuel, we will now shortly treat of these divergences. In 1 Chronicles 17:1, the statement that David communicated his purpose to build a temple to the Lord to the prophet Nathan, "when Jahve had given him rest from all his enemies round about," is wanting. This clause, which fixes the time, has been omitted by the chronicler to avoid the apparent contradiction which would have arisen in case the narrative were taken chronologically, seeing that the greatest of David's wars, those against the Philistines, Syrians, and Ammonites, are narrated only in the succeeding chapter. As to this, cf. the discussion on 2 Samuel 7:1-3.