Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 7:22
Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for [there is] none like thee, neither [is there any] God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
22. Wherefore thou art great ] Since Thou hast done these great things for me, I praise Thee and acknowledge Thy greatness. Cp. Psa 35:27; Psa 40:16; Psa 48:1.
for there is none like thee, &c.] Cp. Exo 15:11; Deu 3:24; Deu 4:35 ; 1Sa 2:2.
according to all, &c.] David passes from the evidence of God’s greatness derived from his own experience, to the evidence afforded by the history of His dealings with Israel, handed down from father to son by oral tradition. Cp. Exo 10:2; Deu 4:9; Psa 44:1; Psa 86:8-10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou art great, both in power and in goodness, as appears by the great and good things which thou hast done for me,
All that we have heard with our ears; what we have heard from our parents, or out of thy word, concerning the incomparable excellency of thy majesty, and of thy works; of that I have this day eminent experience.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God,…. In his name, nature, persons, and perfections, purposes, promises, and works:
for [there is] none like thee; for his essence and attributes, for his greatness and goodness, for what he is in himself, for what he is to his people, and has done for them:
neither [is there any] God beside thee; there is but one God, the living and true God, the former and maker of all things; all others are but fictitious and factitious gods, see 1Sa 2:2;
according to all that we have heard with our ears; concerning what he did in the land of Egypt upon the Egyptians, and in the wilderness, in favour of the Israelites, and in the land of Canaan, by driving out the inhabitants before the people of Israel, and in the times of the judges, in raising them up to deliver his people.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(22) All that we have heard with our ears.Such expressions are common enough in all languages not only for that which has been communicated orally, but for all that has been made known in any way; the same word is used with reference to written records in Deu. 4:6; 2Ki. 17:14; 2Ki. 18:12; 2Ki. 19:16 (in Hezekiahs prayer in reference to Sennacheribs letter); Neh. 9:29; probably Est. 2:8; and in many other places. (So also the corresponding Greek word, Rev. 1:3, &c). It is therefore entirely unnecessary to suppose that David refers here only to oral tradition; he means the history of the Divine dealings with his people as recorded in their sacred books.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2). Wonder at what this great YHWH has done for those whom He has chosen as His own people ( 2Sa 7:22-24 ).
2Sa 7:22
“ For this reason you are great, O YHWH God, for there is none like you, nor is there any God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.”
And he recognises that it is this especially that makes YHWH great and like no other gods, that He faithfully carries forwards His own sovereign will in accordance with His own power and promises. He is always consistent and totally reliable. Thus there is none like Him, nor any gods who can compare with Him, at least as far as they have heard, One Who acts consistently and graciously on behalf of those Whom He chooses quite apart from their deserving (compare 2Sa 7:23; Exo 15:11; Deu 3:24; Deu 4:33-35; Deu 7:7-8).
2Sa 7:23
“ And what one nation in the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for himself for a people, and to make him a name, and to do great things for you, and terrible things for your land, before your people, whom you redeem to yourself out of Egypt, from the nations and their gods?”
As David thinks back he is filled with awe and reverence as he considers what nation there is on earth which has experienced what Israel has experienced. What one nation on earth has been privileged like the one which He has chosen and redeemed for Himself, that is, like the nation of Israel ‘Whom God went to Egypt to redeem for Himself as a people’, thereby making a Name for Himself, in contrast with the other deities who did not do such a things for their people. (This contrast lies at the back of the Hebrew text – see comment below). He did this both so as to make for Himself a Name, and in order to do great things for His people whom He had bought for Himself. Indeed He did terrible things for His land before His people (see Deu 10:21), whom He redeemed out of Egypt and out of the hands of the nations and their gods whom He drove out before them. David thus sums up in a few words the whole activity of God on behalf of His people from their deliverance in Egypt to their success in finally being established in Palestine after all the obstacles that they came up against. And all was due to YHWH’s redeeming love and power.
(The Hebrew text is a little difficult to translate into English, although we have brought out the sense above. For example ‘went’ is in the plural suggesting that there is a contrast intended between YHWH Who did go to redeem His people, and other deities who did not go to redeem their people. Thus ‘what one nation on earth — is like Israel — of which their deities went to redeem its people?’. The remainder of the sentence is then dealing with YHWH and His people, the ‘you’ switching from addressing God’s people back to addressing God Himself, as it had indicated in the beginning).
2Sa 7:24
“ And you established to yourself your people Israel to be a people to yourself for ever, and you, YHWH, became their God.”
And He thus established to Himself His people Israel, to be a people to Himself for ever, while He became their God. It was an eternal arrangement that would never cease, and would be fulfilled on all those who truly responded to His covenant and obeyed Him. He would never fail those whose trust was in Him.
This does not mean that there is what we call ‘a nation’ which He would treat as His people whatever they did and however they responded, and who are now languishing in unbelief in Jerusalem waiting for His special favour. It refers to those whom He had redeemed for Himself, who would genuinely ‘be a people to Himself’. As Paul put it, ‘they are not all Israel who are of Israel’ (Rom 9:6). Thus those who revealed themselves as not His true people would be (and now are) cut off, and rejected from the covenant, resulting in their ceasing even nominally to be His people, while those who responded to Him and came within the covenant in accordance with His provision (Exo 12:48), becoming circumcised in heart (Php 3:3; Col 2:11), would become His true people. This situation was especially highlighted through the coming and death of great David’s greater son, Jesus Christ, so that the true Israel was revealed as those who believed in Him and put their trust in Him (Mat 19:28; Mat 21:43; Joh 15:1-6; Gal 3:29; Gal 6:16; Rom 11:16-28; Eph 2:18-22; 1Pe 2:9; Jas 1:1; Rev 7:4-8). There is only one post-resurrection Israel and that is composed of all who have believed in the true Vine (Joh 15:1-6).
So David’s glorying is not just in the fact that his house is secure for ever, but also in the fact that YHWH has chosen for Himself His true people for ever, so that they will be blessed together with David’s house. He is acknowledging by this the responsibility of his house for the blessing of God’s people, a responsibility wonderfully fulfilled by the Greatest Representative of that house, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Sa 7:22 Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for [there is] none like thee, neither [is there any] God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
Ver. 22. Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God. ] Great in goodness. Optimus Maximus.
According to all that we have heard with our ears.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Wherefore Thou art great. Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject), App-6, wherefore I will declare and praise Thee as great.
O LORD God = O Jehovah Elohim. Note the change, because it is not now in connection with the earth, but what He is in Himself.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Wherefore: Deu 3:24, 1Ch 16:25, 2Ch 2:5, Psa 48:1, Psa 86:10, Psa 96:4, Psa 135:5, Psa 145:3, Eze 36:22, Eze 36:32
none: Exo 15:11, Deu 4:35, Deu 32:39, 1Sa 2:2, Psa 86:8, Psa 89:6, Psa 89:8, Isa 40:18, Isa 40:25, Isa 45:5, Isa 45:18, Isa 45:22, Jer 10:6, Jer 10:7, Mic 7:18
Reciprocal: Exo 8:10 – there is none 1Ki 8:23 – no God 2Ch 6:14 – no God Dan 2:45 – the great
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Sa 7:22. Wherefore thou art great Both in power and in goodness, as appears by the great and good things which thou hast done for me. Neither is there any God besides thee Thus Hannah had expressed herself in her song, in which she prophesied of him, 1Sa 2:2; 1Sa 2:10. According to all that we have heard That is, what their forefathers had reported concerning the wonders which God had done by Moses and Joshua, and in the time of the judges.