1 Chronicles 21:17

17 And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? Even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be against me and against my father’s house, but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.

1 Chronicles 21:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 21:17

(See Gill on 1 Chronicles 21:1).

1 Chronicles 21:17 In-Context

15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it; and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented of that evil and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thy hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan, the Jebusite.

16 And David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the heaven and the earth, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

17 And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? Even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be against me and against my father’s house, but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.

18 Then the angel of the LORD told Gad to tell David that David should go up and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

19 And David went up according to the word of Gad, which he had spoken unto him in the name of the LORD.