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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:10-17

We have here David repenting of the sin and yet punished for it, God repenting of the judgment and David thereby made more penitent. I. Here is David's penitent reflection upon and confession of his sin in numbering the people. While the thing was in doing, during all those nine months, we do not find that David was sensible of his sin, for had he been so he would have countermanded the orders he had given; but, when the account was finished and laid before him, that very night his conscience... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:13

So Gad came to David, and told him ,.... Said nothing to him about his sin, but correction for it; which confirms it that David was made sensible of his sin before he came to him: and said unto him, shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land ? in 1 Chronicles 21:12 , only "three years" are mentioned, and so the Septuagint version here; but Josephus F4 Antiqu. l. 7. c. 13. sect. 2. , the Targum, the Syriac and Arabic versions, have the number "seven"; three seems to be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:14

And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait ,.... Not knowing well which to choose, each of them being so grievous, and an answer being to be returned immediately; but by his next words, and by the event, it seems he chose the pestilence, though that is not expressly said: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord ; the Targum in 1 Chronicles 21:13 , is"into the hand of the Word of the Lord:" (for his mercies are great), and let me not fall into the hand of men ; indeed all... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:15

So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel ,.... Upon the land of Israel, the people of the land, directly employing an angel to go through the coasts of it, and empowering him to inflict a pestilential disease: from the morning even to the time appointed : from the morning the prophet Gad came to David with a message from the Lord; that very morning the plague began, and lasted to the time set for it, the three days, or at least unto the beginning of the third, when reaching Jerusalem,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Samuel 24:13

Shall seven years of famine - In 1 Chronicles 21:12 , the number is three, not seven; and here the Septuagint has three, the same as in Chronicles: this is no doubt the true reading, the letter ז zain , Seven, being mistaken for ג gimel , Three. A mistake of this kind might be easily made from the similarity of the letters. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Samuel 24:14

I am in a great strait : let us fall now into the hand of the Lord - David acted nobly in this business. Had he chosen war, his own personal safety was in no danger, because there was already an ordinance preventing him from going to battle. Had he chosen famine, his own wealth would have secured his and his own family's support. But he showed the greatness of his mind in choosing the pestilence, to the ravages of which himself and household were exposed equally... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Samuel 24:15

From the morning - to the time appointed - That is, from the morning of the day after David had made his election till the third day, according to the condition which God had proposed, and he had accepted: but it seems that the plague was terminated before the conclusion of the third day, for Jerusalem might have been destroyed, but it was not. Throughout the land, independently of the city, seventy thousand persons were slain! This was a terrible mortality in the space of less... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:9-19

( 1 Chronicles 21:9-13 , 1 Chronicles 21:18 , 1 Chronicles 21:19 ). The Prophet Gad. "And when David was up in the morning," etc. Gad had formerly given valuable direction to David ( 1 Samuel 22:5 ); and he must have been now far advanced in life. He was "David's seer," or spiritual counsellor; a true prophet of God ( 1 Samuel 2:27 ; 1 Samuel 3:19 ; 2 Samuel 7:3 ); assisted in the arrangements for the temple service ( 1 Chronicles 9:22 ), and (like Samuel and Nathan)... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:10-17

A king's sin and a people's chastisement. The facts are: 1 . David, reflecting on the accomplishment of his purpose, comes to a consciousness of his sin, and makes confession before God. 2 . In the morning the Prophet Gad is sent to him from. the Lord, offering him, as a choice of a chastisement, either seven years' famine, or three months' defeat before his enemies, or three days' pestilence. 3 . David, in his anguish, elects to fall into the hands of God. 4 . Thereupon... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:13

Seven years of famine. In 1 Chronicles 21:12 and here in the Septuagint we find "three years." This is probably right as being in harmony with the rest. Three years of famine, three months of defeat, or three days of pestilence. In Ezekiel 14:21 famine, pestilence, and the sword are mentioned as three of God's four sore judgments. But a fourth judgment is there enumerated, namely, that of the increase of wild beasts, and Joshua the Stylite says that in Mesopotamia, as a result of the... read more

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