1 Chronicles 28:3

but God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for My Name, because you are a man of war who has shed blood.’

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — David addresses his brothers and the people of Israel after rising to his feet, explaining that God halted his temple preparations despite his prior intentions. The words — The Hebrew תִבְנֶ֥ה (tiv.Neh) means "you will build," combined with לֹא־ (lo'-) "not," forming the explicit divine prohibition against constructing a house for God's name. The thread — This restriction reappears in 1 Chronicles 22:8, where God again cites David's bloodshed as the disqualifying factor, and in 1 Kings 5:3, which points to the surrounding wars as the practical barrier. Why it lands — The passage requires accepting that human readiness does not dictate divine assignment, directing the reader to yield personal ambitions to God's specific timing and qualifications.

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

וְהָאֱלֹהִים֙ve./ha./'E.lo.Himand/ <the>/ God אָ֣מַר'A.marhe saidלִ֔יL/ito/ meלֹא־lo'-not תִבְנֶ֥הtiv.Nehyou will build בַ֖יִתVa.yita house לִשְׁמִ֑יli/sh.M/ifor/ name/ my כִּ֣יkifor אִ֧ישׁ'ish[are] a man of מִלְחָמ֛וֹתmil.cha.Motwars אַ֖תָּה'A.tahyou וְדָמִ֥יםve./da.Mimand/ blood<s>שָׁפָֽכְתָּ׃sha.Fa.khe.tayou have shed

King James Version

But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood.

Cross-references

1 Chronicles 22:8 but this word of the LORD came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for My Name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before Me.
1 Chronicles 17:4 “Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build Me a house in which to dwell.
1 Kings 5:3 “As you are well aware, due to the wars waged on all sides against my father David, he could not build a house for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD had put his enemies under his feet.
2 Chronicles 6:8 But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well to have this in your heart.
2 Samuel 7:5 “Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build for Me a house to dwell in?