2 Samuel 7:7 (DBY)

Passage

In all my going about with all the children of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye me not a house of cedars?

Nearby Context

2 Samuel 7:5 Go and say to my servant, to David, Thus saith Jehovah: Wilt thou build me a house for me to dwell in?

2 Samuel 7:6 For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but I went about in a tent and in a tabernacle.

2 Samuel 7:7 In all my going about with all the children of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye me not a house of cedars?

2 Samuel 7:8 And now, thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I took thee from the pasture-grounds, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people, over Israel;

2 Samuel 7:9 and I have been with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are on the earth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "going", "children", "israel", "speak", "word", "tribes", and "commanded". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "going" and "children", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "For I have not dwelt in a..." into verse 8's "And now thus shalt thou say unto...", so "going" and "children" belong inside that flow. In 2 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "going" and "children" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.