John Gill Commentary 2 Samuel 7

And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house
Which Hiram's servants had built for him, having no occasion to go out to war:

and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies ;
both at home and abroad; though this rest and peace did not last long; for the next chapter gives an account of each of the people he was engaged in war with, (2 Samuel 8:1–18) .

That the king said unto Nathan the prophet
This is the first time this prophet is made mention of, but often afterwards, yet who he was, and from where he came, is not known; he appears to be a man of great piety and prudence, as well as endowed with a prophetic spirit, and was very familiar with David, and perhaps dwelt in his palace; being a man on all accounts fit for conversation with princes, to whom David imparted what he had been meditating upon in his heart. The Jews have a tradition ^F20 that he was the same with Jonathan the son of Shimea, the brother of David, (2 Samuel 21:21) ; which is not very likely:

see now, I dwell in an house of cedar ;
made of the cedars of Lebanon; see what a spacious palace it is:

but the ark of God dwells within curtains ;
in a tabernacle within curtains, as the Targum; not the tabernacle of Moses, for that was at Gibeon, (1 Chronicles 21:29) ; but that which David had made for it, which consisted of curtains that were drawn around it, (2 Samuel 6:17) . It gave him a concern that he should dwell in so magnificent a palace, and the ark of God should have so mean an habitation; wherefore it was upon his mind to build a grand edifice for it, and this he suggested hereby to Nathan, and so he understood him, as appears by what follows.

And the rather he was led to such a thought, being now at rest and in peace; for then it was an house was to be built for God, in which he would cause his name to dwell, as David might easily learn from (Deuteronomy 12:9–11) ; and who so proper to set forward such a work as a king, and he when at rest from his enemies?

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: Hieron. Trad. Heb. in 2 Reg. fol. 79. M. & in lib. Paralipom. fol. 89. B. F.

And Nathan said to the king, go, do till that [is] in your
heart
He perceived it was in his heart to build an house for God; he knew an house was to be built at one time or another, by some person or another; he knew it was a good work, and fit for a king to do, and might think this was a proper time any, he being at leisure, and therefore encouraged him to it: but inasmuch as the time when and the person by whom this was to be built were not pointed out particularly in the word of God, David and he should have consulted the Lord about it; in this they erred, and for which they were tacitly reproved; for, as the event shows, this was not the time when, nor David the person by whom, it was to be built. Nathan said this as a pious and good man, in a private capacity, not as a prophet, or under a spirit of prophecy; for prophets did not always speak under such an influence, but, as private men, said some things ignorantly and through mistake; see (1 Samuel 16:6) (2 Kings 4:27) ;

for the Lord [is] with you ;
prospering and succeeding him in all he undertook, giving him rest from all his enemies; and he might think that this motion he now made of building an house was from the Lord; the Targum is,

And it came to pass that night
The same night following the day in which David and Nathan had had the above conversation, that neither of them might continue long in their error and mistake, and especially lest David, in his great zeal and warm affection, should take an hasty and improper step:

that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan ;
the word of prophecy, as the Targum; before he was not under a prophetic influence, but spoke in his own words, and had not the word of God; but now it came to him:

saying ;
as follows.

Go and tell my servant David
The Lord speaks very honourably and respectfully of him, owns him to be his servant in other things, though he did not choose to employ him in this; and though he was not the person, nor this the time, to build the house of the Lord, yet, as he showed a good will towards it, so far it was acceptable to God:

thus saith the Lord, shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in ?
no, you shall not, as appears from (1 Chronicles 17:4); which seems to be expressed with much spirit, and some degree of resentment, to resolve on such a work, without seeking to know his mind in it.

Eupolemus ^F21 an Heathen, confirms this account, only instead of a prophet he spoke of an angel, whose name he says was Dinnathan, who, when David was desirous of building a temple for God, and very anxious to be shown the place where the altar was to be erected, this angel appeared to him; and, though he showed him the place for the altar, forbad him building it, because he was polluted with human blood, and had been engaged in wars many years, and bid him leave the building of it to his son.

FOOTNOTES:

• F21: Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 30. p. 447.