The Bible Says
2 Samuel 7:9b-11 Meaning

2 Samuel 7:9-11 describes three of the LORD’s promises of the Davidic Covenant.

There is a parallel scripture of 2 Samuel 7:9-11 in 1 Chronicles 17:8-10.

2 Samuel 7:9b-16 concludes the second part of God’s message to King David through the prophet Nathan.

In the first part of God’s message to David, the LORD indicated how He did not want David to be the one to build His house-the temple (2 Samuel 7:5-7).

The second part of God’s message to David began as the LORD of hosts reminded David of his remarkable rise from his humble beginnings in the sheep pasture to the throne of Israel in his palace (2 Samuel 7:8-9a). God reminded David that He, the LORD, was the One who delivered and prospered David from and over “all your enemies” (2 Samuel 7:9a).

All these things which the LORD has done for David established the foundation for the Davidic Covenant.

Now the LORD of hosts begins to describe the promises of the Davidic Covenant to His servant.

And I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth (v 9b).

The first promise the LORD of hosts made to His servant David is that He will personally (I will) make his name great.

This promise is personal because the LORD said: And I will…referring to the LORD Himself.

God’s promise to make David a great name likely entails great fame and/or great honor.

A name is what someone is known by-it includes their reputation. The LORD promises to make David’s name and reputation widely known and deeply regarded. It is God who will do this great thing for David.

The LORD will make David’s name to be great, so that his name will be like the names of the great men who are on the earth.

This could mean that God will make David’s name great so that it would become like the names of the great men of Israel’s past.

The foremost of these great men from Israel’s past is Abraham.

God also told Abraham that He would “make your name great” (Genesis 12:2) in the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3).

Other men from Israel’s past that might be considered great include the other patriarchs:

Isaac, Jacob/Israel, Joseph and his brothers. It also could include Israel’s great leaders during their exodus from Egypt and the time of conquest of the Promised Land: Moses, Aaron, Joshua. It also could include great judges such as Gideon, Ehud, Samson, and Samuel.

In fulfillment of this aspect of the LORD’s promise and prophecy: David is generally regarded as Israel’s greatest king.

But the LORD’s promise to make David’s name great so that it will be like the names of the great men who are on the earth could also mean the great and powerful figures of the earth, whose name and dominion are widely known. During the ancient world, Pharaoh’s name would have been considered great.

In fulfillment of this aspect of the promise, over the centuries David’s name continued to be great. Millenia later, it is likely that more people on earth have heard of David’s name and can identify him as a king of Israel than those who are able to give the name of the Egyptian pharaoh who ruled in David’s lifetime.

And the LORD is likely not finished exalting David’s great name.

David’s descendant, Jesus, is also called great (Luke 1:32a). And Jesus’s name is exalted above all other names (Philippians 2:9).

I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly, even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel (vv 10-11b).

The second promise the LORD of hosts made to His servant David is that He will personally (I will) establish peace for His people Israel.

God’s promise to appoint a place for My people Israel likely refers to the geographical place of the “Promised Land” which the LORD made to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 15:18-21).

God’s promise to plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again likely refers to establishing Israel in the Promised Land so that they will not have to constantly defend themselves and their own land from their enemies. Instead, they will be free to live in peace and flourish in their own place.

To their own detriment, Israel never fully obeyed God’s command to take all the land God had given them. When Joshua was old, God told Joshua, “very much of the land remains to be possessed” (Joshua 13:1). And while Joshua 21:43-45 celebrates the faithfulness of the LORD who fulfilled all “the good promises He made to the house of Israel” (Joshua 21:45)-much work remained for the people of Israel to do.

Judges 2:27-36 lists the many shortcomings-the towns and areas of land and the wicked peoples which the tribes of Israel did not conqueror or take possession.

During the period of the judges, an angel of the LORD came to the people of Israel at Bochim and reminded them how the LORD had brought them up out of Egypt to this land, just as He promised their fathers that He would do (Judges 2:1a). He also assured them: “I will never break My covenant with you” (Judges 2:1b). But then the angel told the sons of Israel how they had broken the covenant with the LORD by making treaties with their enemies and worshiping their false gods (Judges 2:2).

“Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’”
(Judges 2:3)

Until the time of David, this is exactly what happened. The wicked nations surrounding Israel whom God’s people did not destroy continually attacked, harassed, and occasionally ruled over parts of Israel so that God’s people had never really been able to live in their own place and not be disturbed by them.

This perpetual lack of peace is why the LORD’s promise to David goes on to say nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly, even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel.

What God’s second promise was to David then was that He would mercifully relent His wrath against His people that began in Judges 2:3 and that He would drive out Israel’s enemies so that they would no longer be a thorn in their side. Once fulfilled, Israel would be free to live in their own place undisturbed by their enemies.

This peace which the LORD promised to grant My people Israel is also extended to their king in the LORD’s third promise to David.

And I will give you rest from all your enemies (11b).

The third promise the LORD of hosts made to His servant David is that he too would enjoy peace.

As king, it was part of David’s job to fight Israel’s battles (1 Samuel 8:20). If the people were disturbed and unable to live in their own place, the king would also be disturbed and be expected to come to their aid and take the lead in their defense. As seen above, since the time of the judges, the people of Israel were disturbed by their wicked enemies who would afflict them again and again.

The people’s affliction by their enemies meant the king enjoyed no rest.

Neither King Saul nor King David had experienced a prolonged season of rest. During their combined reigns up to this point, Israel had always been at war with one or more of their enemies.

This lack of rest was especially true of David. From the moment he was anointed king by Samuel (1 Samuel 16:13), he had never enjoyed rest from his enemies. He challenged Goliath, fought King Saul’s battles, and then had to flee for his life from the king he served.

As God had just told David: the LORD was with him through all of these trials as David trusted in the LORD, and God delivered David to success through every one of these ordeals (2 Samuel 2:9a). Nevertheless, David still had to experience them, endure them, and overcome them by trusting in God’s timing and deliverance. Even though the LORD was with David, the ordeals of these experiences, the endurance needed, and the ongoing challenges should not be considered rest.

But here in verse 11b, God promises David that the LORD will personally (I will) give him rest from all his enemies.

The promise of rest from all his enemies would have been a welcome assurance for David to hear.

But a time of peace was not the grandest promise of the LORD’s covenant with David.

The greatest promises of the Davidic Covenant are in the next section of scripture (2 Samuel 7:11c-17).