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Echoes of Revelation
Revelation never quotes the Old Testament outright, yet no New Testament book refers to it more. See both texts side by side, why they don’t match, and what John does with them.
Revelation 21:7, I will be his God and he will be my son
The promise to the one who overcomes takes the promise to David's son in 2 Samuel 7:14 and gives it to each believer.
Revelation 21:7, in every translation this tool compares.
A family name handed down to an heir can be shared, by adoption, with every child the family takes in. In 2 Samuel 7 God promised David that he would be a father to David's son, and the son would be his son. That promise belonged to the king. John hears God say it of everyone who overcomes. Each one will be God's son and inherit with him.
God speaks of himself in the first person and of the heir in the third: I will be to him, and he will be to me a son. The Greek of 2 Samuel 7:14 reads autos estai moi eis huion; John has autos estai moi huios.
Samuel says I will be his father; John says I will be his God. That swap blends the Davidic promise with the covenant formula of verse 3, I will be their God. John also adds inheritance: the overcomer will inherit these things. In Samuel the son is one royal heir; in John the son is any believer.
Beale explains the shift by corporate representation. Christ is the Son who inherits the earth, as Psalm 2 says. Those he represents share what he receives. Verse 3 spoke of all God's people together; verse 7 speaks to each one. The promises made to overcomers in chapters 2 and 3 are summed up here.
Not a claim that believers become divine like the Son. Beale says Christ stays God's unique Son; those in him receive the privileges of his sonship.
The Greek of 2 Samuel 7:14 reads ego esomai auto eis patera, kai autos estai moi eis huion, I will be to him for a father and he will be to me for a son. Revelation 21:7 reads esomai auto theos kai autos estai moi huios. Beale says 2 Samuel 7:14 is now more clearly in mind, combined with the covenant formula, and he notes Psalm 89:26-29 and Psalm 2:7. He finds a hint of Isaiah 55:1-3 too, since the thirsty of 55:1 are promised the sure mercies of David in 55:3. The ESV Study Bible and the CSB Study Bible both point to 2 Samuel 7:14; the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible notes that Israel was God's son as a nation but that here each believer is called God's child. The grade is drawn here: the wording follows the Greek of Samuel closely, but John has changed its key word.
The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible and the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible read the line mainly as the covenant formula, I will be their God, adapted to sonship. Beale and the ESV Study Bible hear the Davidic promise of 2 Samuel 7:14 behind it. Some scribes, Beale notes, turned the singular into plurals because they saw it applied to all God's people.
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- G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (New International Greek Testament Commentary), comment on 21:7
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Revelation 21:7
- ESV Study Bible, note on Revelation 21:7
- NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, note on Revelation 21:7
- CSB Study Bible, cross-references on Revelation 21:7
- Septuagint, 2 Samuel 7:14, Interlinear Greek-English Septuagint
- SBL Greek New Testament (MorphGNT), Revelation 21:7
