David's Final Oracle
2 Samuel 23:1-7
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2 S.23.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואלה: CONJ+DEM,pl,abs
- דברי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,1,c,sg
- דוד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- האחרנים: ADJ,m,pl,def
- נאם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דוד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישי: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- ונאם: CONJ,NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הגבר: ADJ,m,sg,def
- הקם: VERB,hiph,impv,2,m,sg
- על: PREP
- משיח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- יעקב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ונעים: CONJ,ADJ,m,pl,abs
- זמרות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- 1 Kings 2:1-4 (structural): Like 2 Sam 23:1, this passage frames David's final instructions and functions as a death‑bed charge introducing his last words to his son and successor.
- 1 Chronicles 29:29-30 (structural): Chronicles gives a parallel account of David’s acts and preserves material identified as his final sayings—serving as a parallel witness to the ‘last words of David.’
- Psalm 89:20 (verbal): ’I have found David my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him’ echoes the language of David as God’s anointed and supports the title ‘the anointed of the God of Jacob.’
- 1 Samuel 16:13 (verbal): Samuel’s anointing of David (’Samuel anointed him… and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David’) parallels the claim that David was divinely chosen and anointed.
- Acts 13:22 (allusion): God’s description of David as ‘a man after my own heart’ and the raising up of David as God’s chosen leader echoes the portrayal in 2 Samuel 23:1 of the man God raised up and anointed for Israel.
Alternative generated candidates
- These are the last words of David. Thus says David son of Jesse—the declaration of the man whom the God of Jacob raised up, the sweet psalmist of Israel.
- And these are the last words of David. Thus says David, son of Jesse—the man raised up, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel.
2 S.23.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- ומלתו: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- לשוני: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Jer. 1:9 (verbal): God puts his words into the prophet’s mouth—closely parallels 'his word is on my tongue.'
- Isa. 59:21 (verbal): God promises his Spirit and his words will be upon the servant's mouth—language very similar to 2 Sam 23:2.
- Isa. 61:1 (verbal): 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me...' shares the same motif of the LORD’s Spirit empowering speech and mission.
- Ezek. 2:2 (thematic): The Spirit enters the prophet and prompts speech/action—a prophetic commissioning like David’s claim that the Spirit speaks through him.
- 1 Sam. 10:10 (thematic): The Spirit of God comes upon a leader (Saul) who then prophesies—parallels the idea of divine Spirit enabling prophetic utterance.
Alternative generated candidates
- The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and his word was upon my tongue.
- The Spirit of the LORD has spoken through me; his word is upon my tongue.
2 S.23.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- צור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מושל: PART,qal,ptc,m,sg
- באדם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- צדיק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מושל: PART,qal,ptc,m,sg
- יראת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- אלהים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 72:1-2 (thematic): Royal prayer that the king should judge with righteousness and defend the needy—echoes the ideal of a ruler exercising just rule in the fear of God.
- Psalm 89:14 (verbal): Declares that 'righteousness and justice' are the foundation of the throne, paralleling the emphasis on righteous rule as God's standard.
- Proverbs 16:12 (verbal): States that a king who does evil is an abomination and that a throne is established by righteousness—directly connects kingship and rule guided by righteousness.
- Proverbs 29:14 (thematic): Affirms that when a king judges the poor with equity his throne is established—links legitimate rule with justice for the vulnerable, as in 2 Samuel 23:3.
- Isaiah 11:4-5 (allusion): Portrait of the ideal (messianic) ruler who judges with righteousness and in the fear of the LORD—resonates with the claim that God's word establishes a ruler who governs in godly fear.
Alternative generated candidates
- The God of Israel said to me: 'The Rock of Israel has spoken—He who rules over men must be just; he shall rule in the fear of God.'
- The God of Israel has said to me: The Rock of Israel spoke—Who rules over men must be righteous; he must govern in the fear of God.
2 S.23.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וכאור: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בקר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יזרח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- שמש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בקר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- עבות: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- מנגה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ממטר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דשא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ps.72:6-7 (verbal): Uses the same rainfall/grass imagery for a righteous reign—'may he fall like rain on the mown grass; like showers that water the earth'—paralleling 'like tender grass that springs out of the earth' after rain.
- Hos.6:3 (verbal): Combines morning and rain motifs: 'his going forth is prepared as the morning; he will come to us like the rain,' echoing the verse's sunrise and life-giving rain imagery.
- Mal.4:2 (allusion): Speaks of a rising sun bringing healing—the 'sun of righteousness shall rise'—which echoes the metaphor of a king's rule as the renewing morning sun in 2 Sam 23:4.
- Isa.9:2 (thematic): Portrays deliverance as dawning light—'the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light'—resonating with the image of a liberating, cloudless morning in 2 Sam 23:4.
Alternative generated candidates
- And like the light of morning when the sun rises— a morning without clouds—like the rain that brings grass forth from the earth.
- As the light of morning when the sun rises, a cloudless dawn; so is he like the rain that brings forth the grass from the earth.
2 S.23.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- כן: ADV
- ביתי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1cs
- עם: PREP
- אל: NEG
- כי: CONJ
- ברית: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- עולם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שם: ADV
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- ערוכה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בכל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושמרה: VERB,qal,perf,3,fs
- כי: CONJ
- כל: DET
- ישעי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1cs
- וכל: CONJ+PRON,indef
- חפץ: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- יצמיח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- 2 Samuel 7:12-16 (allusion): The royal promise to David of an enduring house and an everlasting covenant is the background for 2 Sam 23:5’s claim that God has established an eternal covenant with David’s house.
- 1 Chronicles 17:11-14 (structural): Parallel retelling of the 2 Samuel 7 covenant oracle in Chronicles, reiterating God’s establishment of David’s house and the sure, lasting nature of the promise.
- Psalm 89:3-4, 29, 36-37 (thematic): Psalmist language about God’s covenant with David, an eternal, established throne and enduring testimony echoes the theme of an ordained, everlasting covenant in 2 Sam 23:5.
- Isaiah 55:3 (verbal): Speaks of 'an everlasting covenant' and explicitly links God’s covenantal promise to the 'sure mercies of David,' echoing the covenantal vocabulary of 2 Sam 23:5.
- Acts 13:34 (quotation): Paul cites God’s promise to David—an everlasting blessing and resurrection assurance—showing the New Testament appropriation of the Davidic covenant theme reflected in 2 Sam 23:5.
Alternative generated candidates
- For my house is not so with God; for he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in every part and kept; will he not bring forth all my salvation and all my desire?
- For is not my house so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, established in every part and kept; he will cause to flourish all my salvation and every desire of mine.
2 S.23.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ובליעל: CONJ+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- כקוץ: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מנד: ADJ,ptcp,pass,m,pl
- כלהם: PRON,pl,m,abs
- כי: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- ביד: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יקחו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 1:4 (verbal): Uses nearly identical image: the wicked are like chaff that the wind drives away—echoing the picture of the 'worthless' swept away by wind/thorn imagery.
- Psalm 37:2 (thematic): Speaks of evildoers being quickly cut down like grass and withering—a comparable motif of the transience and helplessness of the wicked.
- 1 Samuel 2:12 (verbal): Uses the same term בליעל (Belial/’worthless men’) to describe corrupt persons, paralleling the designation of the wicked in 2 Samuel 23:6.
- Isaiah 40:6-8 (thematic): Portrays human life as grass that withers and is driven away—a broader prophetic motif of human frailty and ephemerality akin to the thorn/chaff imagery of 2 Sam 23:6.
Alternative generated candidates
- But the worthless are as thorns to be thrown away— all of them; they cannot be gathered by the hand.
- But the worthless are all like thorns to be thrust away; they cannot be gathered up with the hand.
2 S.23.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יגע: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בהם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- ימלא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ברזל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועץ: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חנית: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ובאש: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- שרוף: ADJ,pual,ptc,ms,sg
- ישרפו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- בשבת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Jeremiah 17:27 (verbal): God warns that if the people profane the Sabbath he will kindle a fire in Jerusalem’s gates that will devour its palaces—explicitly linking Sabbath desecration with burning/punishment.
- Exodus 31:14 (quotation): The Sabbath prohibition with its severe penalty—'whoever does any work on it shall be put to death'—is the foundational law underlying threats against Sabbath violators.
- Nehemiah 13:15-22 (thematic): Nehemiah confronts and punishes commerce and carrying burdens on the Sabbath, shutting Jerusalem’s gates to enforce Sabbath observance—an enacted response to Sabbath profanation.
- Amos 8:5 (thematic): Condemns those who hurry the new moon and the Sabbath to pursue trade—a prophetic critique of Sabbath violation for economic gain, thematically related to threats against sabbath-breakers.
- Isaiah 58:13-14 (thematic): Calls for honoring the Sabbath as delight and sacred rest, contrasting the blessings of Sabbath observance with the judgment implied for profanation.
Alternative generated candidates
- If any man touch them, he must arm himself with iron and a spear shaft; on that very night they shall be burned up with fire.
- And whoever touches them must arm himself with iron and the shaft of a spear; they shall be burned with fire like thorns on the hearth.
Now these are the last words of David. David son of Jesse declares— the utterance of the man raised up, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel:
The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is upon my tongue.
The God of Israel has said to me: The Rock of Israel has spoken to me, ‘One who rules over men must be just; he who governs in the fear of God.’
As the light of morning when the sun rises— a morning without clouds— like the early rain upon the grass from the earth.
Is not my house with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, established and secure; all my salvation and all my desire— will he not make them grow?
As for worthless men, let them be like thorns that are thrust aside— every one of them; for they cannot be taken in the hand.
Whoever touches them arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear; they shall be burned with fire where they lie.