Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Chronicles 17

Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house. —In both texts the story of this chapter naturally follows that of the removal of the Ark, although the events themselves appear to belong to a later period of David’s reign, when the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies (2 Samuel 7:1; compare to 1 Chronicles 17:8). 1 Chronicles 17:11–14 indicate some time before the birth of Solomon, but the date cannot be more exactly determined.

David. —Three times in 1 Chronicles 17:1–2, for which Samuel has the king. The chronicler loves the name of his ideal sovereign.

Sat. —Dwelt.

Lo. —Samuel, See, now.

An house. —The house—namely, that which Hiram’s craftsmen had built (1 Chronicles 14:1 and following).

Of cedars. —A vivid allusion to the splendour of the palace, with its doors, walls, and ceilings of cedar wood. “Cedar of Labnana” (Lebanon) was in great demand with the Assyrian monarchs of a later age for palace-building.

Under curtains —that is, in a tent (Habakkuk 3:7). Samuel has, dwelleth amid the curtain (collective). The verb is omitted here for brevity.

Do.—Samuel: Go, do.

All that is in your heart.—According to Hebrew ideas, the heart was the seat of the mind and will, as well as of the emotions. But even the great Greek Aristotle, seven centuries later than David, supposed the brain to be merely a kind of cooling counterpoise to the heat of the liver.

God.—In Samuel, the term is “Jehovah”; but in the last verse, the phrase is “ark of God.”

The same night. —The words indicate a dream as the method of communication (Job 4:13; 1 Samuel 27:6).

David my servant. — Samuel, unto my servant, unto David.

Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in. — Rather, It is not you that shall build me the house to dwell in. Samuel, interrogatively, implying a negation, Wilt thou build me a house for me to dwell in? The chronicler, thinking of the famous Temple of Solomon, writes, the house.

Since the day that I brought up Israel (Samuel adds, “out of Egypt”) until this day.—This construction, when compared with Samuel, is simplified, and the sentence is abbreviated.

But have gone ...—Literally, and I became from tent to tent, and from dwelling. This is clearly too brief for sense; some words must have dropped out, or the reading in Samuel may be original here.

The phrase “and I became” almost demands a participle, and the participle actually found in Samuel may be disguised here under the expression translated “from tent.” A slight further change in the prepositions would yield the meaning: “And I continued walking in a tent and in a dwelling.”

Perhaps, however, the original text was, “and I walked from tent to tent, and from dwelling to dwelling,” alluding to the various sanctuaries anciently recognized, such as Bethel (Judges 20:18, 26), Mizpeh (Judges 11:11; 1 Samuel 10:17), and Shiloh.

The word “dwelling” (mishkân) is a more general term than “tent.” It includes the sacred tent and its surrounding court.