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1 Chronicles 28 · a question people ask

17:13 has no "if". Why does 28:7 have one?

In the text

The chapter doesn't say, and this answer doesn't guess. Through Nathan the LORD said, "I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not take my loving kindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you" (17:13), with no if; chapter 17's honest question sets that beside 2 Samuel 7:14 and points ahead to this verse. Here David gives the LORD's words about Solomon with an if: "I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues to do my commandments and my ordinances, as it is today" (28:7). He had already told Solomon, "Then you will prosper, if you observe to do the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD gave Moses concerning Israel" (22:13). 1 Kings gives the LORD's word to Solomon with an if too: "As for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked" (1 Kings 9:4), "then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever" (1 Kings 9:5). The Bible says both, and doesn't set out how the forever and the if fit together; 1 Kings 9's honest question leaves them side by side too.

The verses

“I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not take my loving kindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you;”
1 Chronicles 17:13 · World English Bible
“I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men;”
2 Samuel 7:14 · World English Bible
“I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues to do my commandments and my ordinances, as it is today.’”
1 Chronicles 28:7 · World English Bible
“Then you will prosper, if you observe to do the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD gave Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid and don’t be dismayed.”
1 Chronicles 22:13 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Chronicles 28

1 Chronicles 28: If you seek him

In 28:9, "the LORD searches all hearts" and "If you seek him" are one Hebrew verb, darash: the LORD searches, and Solomon is to seek. And the throne Solomon is chosen for is called "the throne of the LORD’s kingdom" (28:5), words the WEB uses nowhere else.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions