2 Samuel 7:9

I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make for you a name like that of the greatest in the land.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD of Hosts speaks to David through Nathan, in the middle of the covenant speech that follows David's offer to build a temple.

The words — אֶהְיֶה (ʾeh·Yeh), "I have been," is the same root as the divine name YHWH; the verse's claim of presence is a claim of identity.

The thread — 1 Chronicles 17:8 repeats the line nearly verbatim; 2 Samuel 5:10 and 1 Samuel 18:14 state the same fact without the promise that follows.

Why it lands — The promise of a "name like the greatest" rests on a prior record of presence and deliverance, not on David's own merit; the reader is asked to see the covenant as grounded in what God has already done.

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

וָאֶהְיֶ֣הva./'eh.Yehand/ I have been עִמְּךָ֗'i.me./Khawith/ you בְּכֹל֙be./Kholin/ every אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhere הָלַ֔כְתָּha.Lakh.tayou went וָאַכְרִ֥תָהva./'akh.Ri.ta/hand/ I cut off/ !אֶת־'et-<obj.>כָּל־kol-all אֹיְבֶ֖יךָ'o.ye.Vei./khaenemies/ your מִפָּנֶ֑יךָmi./pa.Nei./khafrom/ before/ you וְעָשִׂ֤תִֽיve./'a.Si.tiand/ I will makeלְךָ֙le./Khafor <the>/ youשֵׁ֣םshema name גָּד֔וֹלga.Dolgreat כְּשֵׁ֥םke./Shemlike/ [the] name of הַגְּדֹלִ֖יםha./ge.do.Limthe/ great [people]אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sherwho בָּאָֽרֶץ׃ba./'A.retz[are] on the/ earth

King James Version

And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.

Cross-references

2 Samuel 5:10 And David became greater and greater, for the LORD God of Hosts was with him.
1 Chronicles 17:8 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make for you a name like that of the greatest in the land.
1 Samuel 18:14 and he continued to prosper in all his ways, because the LORD was with him.
2 Samuel 8:6 Then he placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to David and brought him tribute. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.
Psalms 18:37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were consumed.
2 Samuel 22:34 He makes my feet like those of a deer and stations me upon the heights.
Psalms 113:7 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
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 8:14 He placed garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.
2 Samuel 22:30 For in You I can charge an army; with my God I can scale a wall.