Second Samuel 7:14 establishes a father-son relationship between God and the Davidic king: "I will be his father, and he shall be my son." In its immediate setting this covenant language applies to Solomon and to the royal line descended from David. The remainder of the verse even contemplates the possibility of the king's wrongdoing and divine discipline, showing that the first historical application concerns fallible human kings rather than exclusively the sinless Messiah.

The New Testament nevertheless sees the Davidic sonship pattern reaching its fullest meaning in Jesus. Luke 1:32 announces that Jesus will be called the Son of the Most High and will receive David's throne, while Romans 1:3-4 describes Him as descended from David according to the flesh and declared Son of God in power through the resurrection. Hebrews 1:5 also directly applies the words "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son" to Christ. Jesus therefore fulfills the royal-son pattern in a unique and ultimate way: He is both David's promised descendant and the divine Son whose kingship is everlasting.