Bible Strands
1 Kings 15:4
Nevertheless, for the sake of David, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and to make Jerusalem strong.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the reign of Judah’s King Abijam, noting his spiritual failure while explaining why his dynasty survived.
The words — The Hebrew לְמַ֣עַן דָּוִ֔ד (le.ma'an David) literally means "for the sake of David," paired with נִ֖יר (nir), rendered as "a lamp," which denotes a living royal line.
The thread — This lamp imagery directly quotes God's earlier declaration in 1 Kings 11:36 to preserve a descendant in Jerusalem and aligns with the covenant rationale in 2 Chronicles 21:7.
Why it lands — The text states that Yahweh raised a successor and fortified Jerusalem despite Abijam's sins, requiring the reader to acknowledge that dynastic survival rests on divine promise rather than royal performance.
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
Nevertheless for David’s sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 11:36 I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name.
- 2 Chronicles 21:7 Yet the LORD was unwilling to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant He had made with David, and since He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.
- Genesis 12:2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
- 2 Samuel 7:12 And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
- 1 Kings 11:12 Nevertheless, for the sake of your father David, I will not do it during your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
- 1 Kings 11:32 But one tribe will remain for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.
- Psalms 18:28 For You, O LORD, light my lamp; my God lights up my darkness.
- Psalms 132:17 There I will make a horn grow for David; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.
- Isaiah 37:35 ‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
- Genesis 19:29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived.