2 Samuel 24:15-17

Pestilence Sent

15 So 1the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people 2from Dan to Beersheba died.
16 3When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, 4the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, "It is enough! Now relax your hand!" And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking down the people, and said, "Behold, 5it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong; but 6these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father's house."

2 Samuel 24:15-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 24

In this chapter an account is given of David's numbering of the people, 2Sa 24:1-9; of the sense he had of his sin, and of his acknowledgment of it; and of the Lord's displeasure at it, who sent the prophet Gad to him, to propose three things to him, one of which he was to choose as a punishment for it, 2Sa 24:10-13; when he chose the pestilence, which carried off a great number of the people, 2Sa 24:14-17; and David was directed to build an altar to the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite, with whom he agreed for it, and built one on it, and offered upon it, and so the plague was stayed, 2Sa 24:18-25.

Cross References 6

  • 1. 1 Chronicles 21:14; 1 Chronicles 27:24
  • 2. 2 Samuel 24:2
  • 3. Exodus 12:23; 2 Kings 19:35; Acts 12:23
  • 4. Exodus 32:14; 1 Samuel 15:11
  • 5. 2 Samuel 24:10
  • 6. 2 Samuel 7:8; Psalms 74:1

Footnotes 1

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