2 Samuel 24:11-17

11 When David got up in the morning, the word of the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer:

12 “Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’”

13 So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three ^[a] years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”

14 David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

A Plague on Israel

15 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. ^{[b] 1}

16 But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah ^[c] the Jebusite.

17 When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, the shepherd, ^[d] have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”

2 Samuel 24:11-17 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

• 1. (1 Chronicles 21:14–17)

Footnotes

• [a] LXX (see also 1 Chronicles 21:12); Hebrew seven
• [b] Literally and of the people from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand men died
• [c] Araunah is a variant of Ornan; see 1 Chronicles 21:15 and 2 Chronicles 3:1.
• [d] DSS and LXX; MT does not include the shepherd.