16. went in] i.e. into the tent which he had pitched for the Ark; xvi. 1.
sat before the Lord] So LXX. and 2 Samuel vii. 18. The Targum rightly paraphrases, “and tarried in prayer before Jehovah.”
¹⁷And this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; but thou hast spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Lord God.
17. and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree] In 2 Samuel vii. 19, and this too after the manner of men, or rather and this is the law for men (an exclamation), but the text both in Samuel and Chronicles is certainly corrupt. The Hebrew phrase is not quite the same in the two passages, and there is nothing in Samuel corresponding with the words of high degree, but the text of Chronicles seems to be derived from that of Samuel An emendation “and hast let me see the generations of men for ever,” i.e. the fortunes of my distant descendants, has met with some approval, but no really satisfactory translation or explanation has yet been given of the Hebrew.
¹⁸What can David say yet more unto thee concerning the honour which is done to thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant.
18. concerning the honour which is done to thy servant] Again an obscure text. Following Samuel we should probably omit these words.
thou knowest] Approvest, acceptest; compare Psalms i. 6, Psalms ci. 4; Jeremiah i. 5.
¹⁹O Lord, for thy servant’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou wrought all this greatness, to make known all these great things. ²⁰O Lord, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
19. for thy servant’s sake] 2 Samuel vii. 21, for thy word’s sake, but the LXX. of 2 Samuel agrees with the text of Chronicles.
²¹And[¹] what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem unto himself for a people, to make thee a name by great and terrible things, in driving out nations from before thy people, which thou redeemedst out of Egypt? ²²For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, Lord, becamest their God.