2 Samuel 24:12

12 "Go, and say unto David, `Thus saith the LORD: I offer thee three things. Choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.'"

2 Samuel 24:12 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 24:12

Go, and say unto David
Not my servant David, as Nathan was bid to say to him when it was in his heart to build an house for him, ( 2 Samuel 7:5 ) ; but now he had sinned and displeased the Lord, and therefore it is only plain David:

thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three [things];
or lay them before thee to consider of which thou wouldest have done; the Targum is,

``one of three things I cast upon thee,''

as a burden to bear; one of the three I will certainly inflict upon thee by way of chastisement:

choose thee one of them, that I may [do it] unto thee;
here is mercy mixed with judgment; the Lord is angry, yet shows great condescension and goodness; a sovereign Being, who could have imposed what punishment he pleased, and even all the three after mentioned, yet resolves but on one, and leaves that to the option of David.

2 Samuel 24:12 In-Context

10 And David's heart smote him after he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. And now, I beseech Thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have done very foolishly."

11 For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,

12 "Go, and say unto David, `Thus saith the LORD: I offer thee three things. Choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.'"

13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said unto him, "Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? Or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies while they pursue thee? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in thy land? Now advise, and see what answer I shall return to Him that sent me."

14 And David said unto Gad, "I am in a great strait. Let us fall now into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man."