complete verse (2 Samuel 7:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 7:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “Your home/family/descendants will stand and your rulership is supported always.’ ’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Your family line will never end, and your descendants will rule as kings forever. And your throne will always continue.’"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Your kingdom will-continue without end, and your descendants will-reign forever/[lit. until whenever].’ ’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Your descendants will rule the kingdom of Israel forever. Their rule will never end. ’ ’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 7:16

The word house here does not refer to the Temple as it did in verse 11, but to the family or dynasty of David. For this reason Good News Translation translates “You will always have descendants,” while New Century Version has “Your family … will continue forever.”

Before me: most Hebrew manuscripts have “before you” at this point. But many scholars think that this is a scribal error caused by the fact that the previous verse contains the expression “before you.” The ancient Greek translation and a few Hebrew manuscripts have “before me.” Although Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to the Masoretic Text and recommends that translators follow the reading “before you,” of all the versions consulted, only New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and Bible de Jérusalem (1998 edition) do so. These words have been completely omitted by Good News Translation. If the MT is followed, the sense is that God promises David that David’s throne will be secure during David’s lifetime, that is, that David will live to see his kingdom well established. If the Septuagint reading “before me” is followed, these words have a messianic sense, that is, that there will always be rulers of the Davidic dynasty “before God,” even after David dies. Either understanding makes sense in the context, so translators may follow either the text of the Hebrew or the text of the Greek.

Your throne shall be established …: see verse 13, where the word throne is similarly used to speak of the dynasty of David.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .