2 Samuel 23:1

A MESSIANIC PROPHECY AND A LIST OF THE 37 MIGHTY MEN; A PROPHECY OF THE MESSIAH

"Now these are the last words of David:

The oracle of David the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high,

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 spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me:

When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God.

He dawns on them like the morning light,

like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,

like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

Yea, does not my house stand so with God?

For he has made with me an everlasting covenant. ordered in all things and secure.

For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?

But godless men are like thorns that are thrown away; for they cannot be taken with the hand;

but the man who touches them arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear,

and they are utterly consumed with fire.'"

We are by no means satisfied with this translation; it stands in sharp variance with the KJV. By way of excuse for the RSV, it should be pointed out that, "The text is appallingly corrupt."[1] Added to that, we must consider the eagerness of may modern translators and commentators either to eliminate altogether or to diminish the impact of all Messianic prophecies in the O.T. For these reasons, we believe that Christians should be slow indeed to accept the RSV in these seven verses. Willis also warned that, "The text and precise interpretations of this paragraph are complicated ... and (some of them) must be regarded as tentative."[2]

This writer's problem with the passage lies principally in 2 Samuel 23:5, where the RSV puts into David's mouth the declaration (in the form of an interrogative) that his house "stands so with God," that is, "in perfection righteousness before God!" And we simply cannot believe that David could ever have said anything like that. The King James Version renders the same verse, "Although my house BE NOT SO with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant," There is no doubt whatever that the negatives are in the Hebrew text; but the RSV translators contradicted them by "taking the negatives as interrogatives and thus changing them into strong assertions."[3] That is only another device for contradicting the word of God. We agree that, "The rendering of the Authorized Version here is that of the ancient versions and should be retained. David could not have but felt that his house was too stained with sin for him to have been able to claim that he was actually in fact what the theocratic king was in theory."[4]

True to the clearly visible purpose of critical commentators to deny all predictive prophecy of the Messiah, they always, as a last resort, will declare that a prophetic passage is "an interpolation," or "a comparatively late production."[5]

Adam Clarke wrote concerning these seven verses, "The words of this song contain a glorious prediction of Messiah's kingdom and conquests, in highly poetic language."[6] C. F. Keil likewise viewed this passage as absolutely Messianic, as elaborated in the notes below. We shall base our comments on the KJV rendition as far more trustworthy than the RSV in this particular passage.

"Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue." (2 Samuel 23:1-2)

"The introduction to this prophetic announcement (2 Samuel 23:1), both in form and substance, rests upon the last sayings of Balaam concerning the future history of Israel (Numbers 24:3,15); and this indicates that David's prophetic utterance here is intended as a further expansion of Balaam's prophecy of the Star out of Jacob and the Scepter out of Israel."[7]

"2 Samuel 23:2 here carries the divine seal of all that David has sung and prophesied in the Psalms, regarding the eternal dominion of his seed, on the strength of the divine promise which he received through the prophet Nathan, that his throne should be established forever (2 Samuel 7). These words here are not merely a lyrical expansion of that promise, but a prophetic declaration by David concerning the true King of the kingdom of God."[8]

"The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me. He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springeth out of the earth by clear shining after rain." (2 Samuel 23:3-4)

The meaning here is not absolutely certain because the injunction must be is supplied by the translators, not being in the sacred text. Leaving out the supplied words, which are merely a guess, we have the following:

"The God of Israel saith,

The Rock of Israel speaketh to me:

A Ruler over men, just,

A Ruler in the fear of God.

And as light of the morning, when the sun rises,

As morning without clouds:

From shining out of rain ... green out of the earth."

"Ruler over men" does not mean `among men,' but `over all men'. And just WHO is that Ruler? "According to the Chaldee version, he is the Messiah himself."[9]

"As the light in the morning when the sun rises, ..." (2 Samuel 23:4). Martin Luther explained this as meaning that, "In the times of the Messiah, it will be like the light of morning." The words remind us of the Messianic promise in Malachi 4:2, "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings."

We have largely followed Keil's exegesis on these first four verses; but we prefer to stay with the KJV in 2 Samuel 23:5, as indicated above.

Another viewpoint concerning the meaning of this very difficult passage is that of Willis who wrote: "If David and his descendants rule justly and in the fear of God, God's everlasting covenant with him will continue (2 Samuel 23:3c-5); but, if they rule wickedly, they will be utterly consumed with fire."[10]

However, that everlasting covenant that God made with David concerning the bringing in of the Messiah to mankind through David's posterity, was not conditional nor was it premised upon the righteous rule of David's posterity; because, the following kings in David's dynasty were as wicked (generally) as any rulers who ever lived. God brought in the Messiah via David's descendants in spite of the wickedness of both the kings and the people.

Certainly David had failed in the realization of the better purposes of his heart. "So it was God's good pleasure that the covenant in spite of this personal failure remained firm and secure."[11]

Admittedly, this Messianic prophecy, if that is what it truly is, is not clear and unambiguous like many other prophetic promises pointing to the Christ; and perhaps we should explain that as due to the damaged nature of the sacred text at this place. Understanding the passage as a promise of Christ, as did many of the scholars in previous generations, is far more appealing to this writer than merely writing the passage off as untrustworthy.

Of course, that is exactly what Bennett did, calling it, "A false production, not produced by David at all."[12] However, in spite of the opinions of such critics, and in spite of the fact that some of the passage is uncertain, there are far more than sufficient grounds for hailing the passage as Messianic.