2 Corinthians 6:18 → 2 Samuel 7:14

Paul alludes to 2 Samuel 7:14 in 2 Corinthians 6:18 — "I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me" (egō esomai hymin eis patera, kai hymeis esesthe moi eis huious kai thygateras). The Davidic covenant promise was originally addressed to Solomon: "I will be his father, and he shall be my son." Paul's adaptation is striking in two ways. First, he pluralizes the singular: what was promised to one Davidic heir is now extended to all who are "in Christ," the true Davidic Son. Second, he adds "and daughters" (kai thygateras), which does not appear in 2 Samuel 7:14 and likely draws from Isaiah 43:6 ("bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the end of the earth"). This expansion reflects the new covenant reality that Davidic sonship, mediated through Christ, extends to all believers regardless of gender. The typological escalation is clear: from one royal son to a multinational family of sons and daughters. A third donor completes the catena: 2 Corinthians 6:18 closes with "says the Lord Almighty" (legei kyrios pantokratōr) — the very formula that opens Nathan's oracle in the LXX (2 Kingdoms 7:8, tade legei kyrios pantokratōr), so the "Lord Almighty" that seals Paul's adoption-catena is this oracle's own voice. The composite therefore welds three donors: 2 Samuel 7:14 (the father-son formula) + Isaiah 43:6 (the "daughters") + the LXX of 2 Samuel 7:8 (the divine name).