📖WEB · 1 Chronicles 22:10
What does 1 Chronicles 22:10 mean?
"He shall build a house for my name; and he will be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.’"
— 1 Chronicles 22:10 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
David said to Solomon his son, “As for me, it was in my heart to build a house to the name of Yahweh my God.
But Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, ‘You have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.
Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of peace. I will give him rest from all his enemies all around; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days.
He shall build a house for my name; and he will be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.’
Now, my son, may Yahweh be with you and prosper you, and build the house of Yahweh your God, as he has spoken concerning you.
May Yahweh give you discretion and understanding, and put you in charge of Israel; that so you may keep the law of Yahweh your God.
Then you will prosper, if you observe to do the statutes and the ordinances which Yahweh gave Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid, and don’t be dismayed.
Explanation
This verse comes from David's charge to his son Solomon, in which David recounts the message God had given him regarding the building of the temple. David is quoting what the Lord told him: that Solomon would be the one to build the house for God's name, that God would be a father to Solomon and Solomon a son to him, and that God would establish Solomon's kingdom over Israel forever. In plain language, this is God's promise that Solomon, not David, would construct the temple, and that God would enter into a special covenantal relationship with Solomon and his royal line, guaranteeing the endurance of that dynasty.
The context is essential to understanding the verse. David had desired to build a temple for God, but earlier in this chapter and in 2 Samuel 7, God told David that he would not be the one to build it because he was a man of war who had shed much blood. Instead, God promised that David's son would build the temple and that God would establish his kingdom. First Chronicles was written for the post-exilic Jewish community, likely by Ezra or someone in his circle, to remind the returning exiles of God's covenant faithfulness to David's line and of the temple's central importance to Israel's identity and worship. By recording this speech, the Chronicler emphasizes continuity between David's original vision and Solomon's fulfillment of it, reassuring the community that God's promises to David's house were real and enduring, even after the disruption of exile.
Theologically, this verse reflects the Davidic covenant, one of the major covenants in the Old Testament. God's declaration "he will be my son, and I will be his father" establishes an
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