Nathan

A prophet can give a quick answer and then be corrected. David, settled in a house of cedar, tells Nathan he wants to build a house for God, and Nathan replies, “Go, do all that is in thine heart” (2 Samuel 7:3). That same night God sends Nathan back with a different word: David will not build the house, but his son will, and God will build David a house of his own, with a throne “established for ever.” Nathan carries all of it to the king. Christians read that promise as pointing to Jesus. Nathan is also named with David and Gad as one who set the Levites’ music in order (2 Chronicles 29:25).

21 verses

2 Samuel

2 Samuel 5:14

And these be the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,

2 Samuel 7:1

And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;

2 Samuel 7:2

That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.

2 Samuel 7:3

And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee.

2 Samuel 7:4

And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying,

2 Samuel 7:5

Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?

2 Samuel 7:6

Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.

2 Samuel 7:7

In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?

2 Samuel 7:8

Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:

2 Samuel 7:9

And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.

2 Samuel 7:10

Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,

2 Samuel 7:11

And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.

2 Samuel 7:12

And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

2 Samuel 7:13

He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

2 Samuel 7:14

I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

2 Samuel 7:15

But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

2 Samuel 7:16

And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

2 Samuel 7:17

According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 3:5

And these were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel:

1 Chronicles 29:29

Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,

2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 29:25

And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Given. (1.) A prophet in the reigns of David and Solomon (2 Chr. 9:29). He is first spoken of in connection with the arrangements David made for the building of the temple (2 Sam. 7:2, 3, 17), and next appears as the reprover of David on account of his sin with Bathsheba (12:1-14). He was charged with the education of Solomon (12:25), at whose inauguration to the throne he took a prominent part (1 Kings 1:8, 10, 11, 22-45). His two sons, Zabad (1 Chr. 2:36) and Azariah (1 Kings 4:5) occupied places of honour at the king’s court. He last appears in assisting David in reorganizing the public worship (2 Chr. 29:25). He seems to have written a life of David, and also a life of Solomon (1 Chr. 29:29; 2 Chr. 9:29).

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(2.) A son of David, by Bathsheba (2 Sam. 5:14), whose name appears in the genealogy of Mary, the mother of our Lord (Luke 3:31).

(3.) Ezra 8:16.

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(a giver).

(1.) An eminent Hebrew prophet in the reigns of David and Solomon. (B.C. 1015.) He first appears in the consultation with David about the building of the temple. (2 Samuel 7:2,3,17) He next comes forward as the reprover of David for the sin with Bathsheba; and his famous apologue on the rich man and the ewe lamb, which is the only direct example of his prophetic power, shows it to have been of a very high order. (2 Samuel 12:1-12)

(2.) A son of David; one of the four who were borne to him by Bathsheba. (1 Chronicles 3:5) comp, 1Chr 14:4 and 2Sam 5:14

(3.) Son or brother of one of the members of David’s guard. (2 Samuel 23:36; 1 Chronicles 11:38)

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(4.) One of the head men who returned from Babylon with Ezra on his second expedition. (Ezra 8:16) 1 Esdr. 8:44. It is not impossible that he may be the same with the "son of Bani." (Ezra 10:39)