After the Phoenicians have built a palace for David out of the cedars of Lebanon, David wants to build a magnificent temple for the Lord (7:1–7). At first the prophet Nathan encourages him, but then the Lord reveals to Nathan that David will not be allowed to construct the temple. The reason is not explicit in 2 Samuel and differs from the Chronicler’s explanation, that David is a man of war who has shed much blood and that his son Solomon will be “a man of peace and rest,” who will be allowed to build the temple (1 Chron. 22:8–9). The implicit reason in Samuel seems to concern the direction of authority: who is whose benefactor?

Note David’s reasoning: he sees the disparity between his dwelling and that for the ark of the Lord and proposes to rectify this. God’s response is interesting.…