19 This was yet a small thing in your eyes, Lord Yahweh; but you have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come; and this after the way of men, Lord Yahweh!
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Is this the manner of man - Compare 1-Chronicles 17:17. Our passage may be thus understood: But this is the law (or prerogative) of a great man to found dynasties which are to last into the far future. David expresses his astonishment that he, of such humble birth, and one so little in his own eyes, should not only be raised to the throne, but be assured of the perpetuity of the succession in his descendants, as if he were a man of high degree.
And is this the manner of man - Literally: And this, O Lord God, is the law of Adam. Does he refer to the promise made to Adam, The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent? From my line shall the Messiah spring, and be the spiritual and triumphant King, for ever and ever. See the additions at the end, 2-Samuel 7:25 (note).
And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord GOD; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And [is] this the manner of (h) man, O Lord GOD?
(h) Does this not come rather from your free mercy, than from any worthiness that can be in man?
And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God,.... This of raising him to the throne, and settling him on it, was but a small thing in comparison of what he promised to do for him and his:
but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come; since he had not only spoken of a son that should succeed him in the kingdom, but that he would make him an house, and establish his kingdom; yea, that the throne of his kingdom should be established for ever, that a race of kings should spring from him, and especially the King Messiah, of whose kingdom there would be no end; and so the Targum,"thou hast spoken of the house of thy servant unto the world to come,''a phrase often used by the Jews for the times of the Messiah; see Hebrews 2:5; and so Abarbinel thinks this clause has respect to Messiah the son of David:
and is this the manner of man, O Lord God? to bestow their favours on their inferiors, persons of no worth and merit, and is a profuse manner? it is not; and yet to one so much below thee, and so undeserving, hast thou most largely and liberally given such great and unmerited mercies: or is it the manner, or customary to deal thus with men mean and abject, though it may with great personages that make a great figure in the world? it is not: and yet I am regarded by thee as if I was one of the greatest monarchs on earth: this sense agrees with the parallel text in 1-Chronicles 17:17; "and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree"; or, "this is the law", or "doctrine of the man who is the Lord God" (c). This doctrine contained in the promise now made respects the seed of the woman, the promised Shiloh, the illustrious man, Jehovah's fellow, the incarnate God, the Messiah, who is Jehovah our righteousness, the true God and eternal life.
(c) So Luther and Osiander; or "this is the delineation of the man who is the Lord", &c. So Hiller. Onomastic. Sacr. p. 447.
is this the manner of man, O Lord God?--that is, is it customary for men to show such condescension to persons so humble as I am? (See 1-Chronicles 17:17.)
"And this is still too little in Thine eyes, O Lord Jehovah, and Thou still speakest with regard to the house of Thy servant for a great while to come." למרחוק, lit. that which points to a remote period, i.e., that of the eternal establishment of my house and throne. "And this is the law of man, O Lord Jehovah." "The law of man" is the law which determines ore regulates the conduct of man. Hence the meaning of these words, which have been very differently interpreted, cannot, with the context immediately preceding it, be any other than the following: This - namely, the love and condescension manifested in Thy treatment of Thy servant - is the law which applies to man, or is conformed to the law which men are to observe towards men, i.e., to the law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Leviticus 19:18, compare Micah 6:8). With this interpretation, which is confirmed by the parallel text of the Chronicles (in 2-Samuel 7:17), "Thou sawest (i.e., visitedst me, or didst deal with me) according to the manner of man," that words are expressive of praise of the condescending grace of the Lord. "When God the Lord, in His treatment of poor mortals, follows the rule which He has laid down for the conduct of men one towards another, when He shows himself kind and affectionate, this must fill with adoring amazement those who know themselves and God" (Hengstenberg). Luther is wrong in the rendering which he has adopted: "This is the manner of a man, who is God the Lord;" for "Lord Jehovah" is not an explanatory apposition to "man," but an address to God, as in the preceding and following clause.
This - Which thou hast already done for me, that thou hast brought me hitherto, to that pitch of honour, and peace, and prosperity, in which through thy favour I now stand. Was small - Though it was more than I deserved, or could expect, yet thou didst not think it enough for thee to give to me. A great while - For many future ages, and indeed to all eternity. Is this, &c. - Do men use to deal so kindly with their inferiors, as thou hast done with me? No: this is the prerogative of divine grace.
*More commentary available at chapter level.