The passage of concern is 2 Sam 23:3-5.
“The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, Even a morning without clouds; As the tender grass springing out of the earth By clear shining after rain.
Although my house be not so with God;
Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things, and sure: For this is all my salvation, and all my desire, Although he make it not to grow.”
2 Samuel 23:3-5 KJV
&
The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, Like the tender grass springing out of the earth, By clear shining after rain.’
“Although my house is not so with God,
Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire; Will He not make it increase?
2 Samuel 23:3-5 NKJV
Vs.
“The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.
“For does not my house stand so with God?
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?”
2 Samuel 23:3-5 ESV
&
The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: ‘When one rules over people in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings grass from the earth.’
“If my house were not right with God,
surely he would not have made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part; surely he would not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire.
2 Samuel 23:3-5 NIV
Interestingly enough, the translations are not an issue of differences between TR and CT manuscript differences but translation choices. The ASV (an earlier CT translation) opts for translating the same base text in the same way the KJV and NKJV translators chose:
The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spake to me: One that ruleth over men righteously, That ruleth in the fear of God, He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, A morning without clouds, When the tender grass springeth out of the earth, Through clear shining after rain.
Verily my house is not so with God;
Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things, and sure: For it is all my salvation, and all my desire, Although he maketh it not to grow.
2 Samuel 23:3-5 ASV
The variance is due not to underlying manuscript differences but translation choices.
Some implications:
1) This passage demonstrates a contrast between God’s independent and covenantal faithfulness in covenanting with David despite the latter’s lack of faithfulness/righteousness:
Covenantal condition: The ruler who does right shall be blessed by God
David: “Although my house is not so with God”
God: “Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant...”
or
2) This passage demonstrates the straightforward covenantal faithfulness of both parties - Just as the righteous are blessed, so too because I am righteous, God has covenanted with me:
David: “If my house were not right with God,
surely he would not have made with me an everlasting covenant…”
The above implies:
Covenantal condition: the righteous ruler is blessed.
Covenantal condition is met: my house is right before God…therefore,
Merited consequence: God has made with me an everlasting covenant (as a result of my faithfulness).
Some considerations as to why the former is preferred to the latter:
The everlasting covenant with David was made prior to his grievous sins concerning Bathsheba and her husband Uriah - as well as the consequent sins of his household i.e., Amnon and Absalom, which at the time in writing this particular passage, would have had its due effects on David’s perception of where his household stands in relation before God. If David was humbled when God first established this everlasting covenant karat berith with David’s household, “Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?” (2 Samuel 7:18 NKJV), how much more now that his sins are publicized before all Israel?
This passage seems to point to the faithfulness of Jehovah in maintaining covenant heqim berith with David, unilaterally, despite the obvious sins of the other party.
The conditions for bringing about David’s greater son, Jesus, was ultimately an unilateral act of the pactum salutis (covenant of redemption), not conditioned on the faithfulness of Israel’s greatest king, not of his wisest son, Solomon, and evidently not of his lesser sons (Ahab, Josiah et al) but on the faithfulness of Jehovah.
What this tells us about the New Covenant:
Salvation belongs to the LORD
The greater emphasis on faithfulness is on the God who established it.
David and his household were nonetheless called to live and rule justly, but their unfaithfulness in relation to this covenant did not have the power to nullify it.
Likewise, the New Covenant established in Jesus’ blood emphasizes the faithfulness of the one who established it - hence Galatians 2:16 “that we who have believed in Jesus Christ, might be justified by the faithfulness of Christ (his work and obedience) and not by works of the law (our ability to faithfully live out in obedience to the law of God).”
Though our faith (we who believe in Jesus Christ) is the means by which we grab hold of this justification, there would be no object (justification) to hold onto were it not for Jesus’ own faithfulness in working out our justification for us. Therefore our faith (finished article of our justification) is a gift from God, inasmuch as we receive Jesus as God’s covenant of his people (Isaiah 49:8) which establishes our relation to him as just even though we, like David and his household are simultaneously sinners (simul justus et peccator).
Comments