Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 17:5
For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt until this day, but I have moved from tent to tent and dwelling to dwelling.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through the prophet Nathan to King David, interrupting David’s plan to build a permanent temple after securing military victory and political stability.
The words — The text states God has not dwelt in a house from the day He brought Israel out of Egypt, but moved between tents and dwellings. The Hebrew לֹא (lo') negates יָשַׁבְתִּי (ya.shavti, "I have dwelt"), marking a deliberate refusal of fixed habitation.
The thread — This declaration appears in 2 Samuel 7:6 as the parallel historical account, and is reiterated in 1 Kings 8:16 during Solomon’s temple dedication.
Why it lands — The passage requires accepting that God’s presence does not depend on human construction, shifting the focus from architectural achievement to covenant obedience.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 7:6 For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt until this day, but I have moved about with a tent as My dwelling.
- 1 Kings 8:16 ‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
- Isaiah 66:1 This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?
- Exodus 40:2 “On the first day of the first month you are to set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.
- 2 Chronicles 2:6 But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him? Who then am I, that I should build a house for Him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before Him?
- 2 Samuel 6:17 So they brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
- 1 Kings 8:4 and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting with all its sacred furnishings. So the priests and Levites carried them up.
- 1 Kings 8:27 But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
- 2 Chronicles 6:18 But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
- Acts 7:44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.