Bible Strands
2 Samuel 7:14
I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks to David through Nathan, embedding this promise within the Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7:12–16), between the throne promise (v. 13) and the assurance of enduring loving devotion (v. 15).
The words — The verb אֶהְיֶה (ʾehyeh, "I will become") is the same root as the divine name; paired with the construct לְאָב (lĕʾāb, "into a father"), it frames the relationship as something God actively enters rather than a static title.
The thread — Hebrews 1:5 quotes this verse to establish Christ's superiority over angels; 1 Chronicles 17:13 preserves the parallel text; Revelation 3:19 echoes the discipline motif.
Why it lands — The verse binds covenant intimacy to correction in a single breath: the relationship is not merely protective but formative, and the reader is asked to accept that God's love includes the rod, not only the embrace.
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
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
Cross-references
- Hebrews 1:5 For to which of the angels did God ever say: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father”? Or again: “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son”?
- Revelation 3:19 Those I love I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
- 1 Chronicles 17:13 I will be his Father, and he will be My son. And I will never remove My loving devotion from him as I removed it from your predecessor.
- 1 Chronicles 28:6 And He said to me, ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him as My son, and I will be his Father.
- Deuteronomy 8:5 So know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.
- 1 Corinthians 11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
- Psalms 89:20 I have found My servant David; with My sacred oil I have anointed him.
- Psalms 94:12 Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD, and teach from Your law,
- Jeremiah 30:11 For I am with you to save you, declares the LORD. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have scattered you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”
- Hebrews 12:5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.