to be at the gate] David’s organisation of the doorkeepers is given in xxvi. 1–19.
Chapter XVII.
1–27 (= 2 Samuel vii. 1–29).
God’s Answer to David’s expressed desire to build a Temple. David’s Thanksgiving.
This passage is a reproduction with some omissions and variations of 2 Samuel vii. The text is generally smoother in Chronicles, and in some cases (e.g. in verse 6) we cannot doubt that the Chronicler has preserved an older and better reading than the present text of Samuel, whilst in other instances the Chronicler has consciously emended his text of Samuel.
¹And it came to pass, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord dwelleth under curtains.
1. in his house] Samuel adds, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies round about. The Chronicler omits these words probably because his next three chapters (xviii.–xx.) are devoted to wars (compare 2 Samuel viii. and x.).
Nathan] The prophet of the court in the reign of David: see e.g. 2 Samuel xii.; 1 Kings i.
the ark of the covenant] So called because it contained the two tables of the covenant, 1 Kings viii. 9.
²And Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee.