Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Samuel 7:12

"When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, that shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom." — 2 Samuel 7:12 (ASV)

Which shall proceed. —The promise given here certainly has immediate reference to Solomon, and it is thought by many that the use of the future tense shows that he was not yet born. This may be the case, and if so, the expression will give an important indication of the point in David’s reign to which this passage belongs. But the same expression might have been used after Solomon’s birth, the future tense being merely an assimilation to the other future tenses in the passage, and the point of the promise being that David’s son shall succeed to his throne.