Kings II 24:17

17 And David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel smiting the people, and he said, Behold, it is I that have done wrong, but these sheep what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, be upon me, and upon my father's house.

Kings II 24:17 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 24:17

And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother
king in his stead
The third son of Josiah, ( 1 Chronicles 3:15 )

and changed his name to Zedekiah;
for the same reason the king of Egypt changed the name of Eliakim, ( 2 Kings 23:34 ) to signify his subjection to him; though some think it was to put him in mind of the justice of God, as the name signifies, that would overtake him, should he be treacherous to him, and rebel against him; so the Jewish Midrash.

Kings II 24:17 In-Context

15 So David chose for himself the mortality: and the days of wheat-harvest; and the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from morning till noon, and the plague began among the people; and there died of the people from Dan even to Bersabee seventy thousand men.

16 And the angel of the Lord stretched out his hand against Jerusalem to destroy it, and the Lord repented of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, enough now, withhold thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing-floor of Orna the Jebusite.

17 And David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel smiting the people, and he said, Behold, it is I that have done wrong, but these sheep what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, be upon me, and upon my father's house.

18 And Gad came to David in that day, and said to him, Go up, and set up to the Lord and altar in the threshing-floor of Orna the Jebusite.

19 And David went up according to the word of Gad, as the Lord commanded him.

Footnotes

• [a]. adds, 'and I the shepherd have done wickedly.'