2 Samuel 24

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:6

Then they came to Gilead ,.... The land of Gilead, half of which was given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the other half to the half tribe of Manasseh, Deuteronomy 3:12 ; which tribes were numbered, and the first of all: and to the land of Tahtimhodshi ; or the low lands of a new place; it seems to be a country newly possessed and inhabited; the Targum calls it the southern land of Hodshi; Bunting F23 Travels, &c.; p. 147. calls it the lower country of Hodshi, near to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:7

And came to the strong hold of Tyre ,.... That is, old Tyre, which stood thirty furlongs from new Tyre, the island F25 Strabo. Geograph. l. 16. p. 521. ; of which See Gill on Isaiah 23:1 ; this must be understood of the parts near unto it; for that itself was not within the land of Israel, and so its inhabitants not to be numbered: and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites : which were possessed by them, and from whence they were not driven out by the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:8

So when they had gone through all the land ,.... Beginning at the east, and from thence to the north, and then going about to the west, came to the south, which finished their circuit: they came to Jerusalem, at the end of nine months and twenty days : they were ten months wanting ten days in numbering the people; in which they seem to have been very expeditious. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:9

And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king ,.... Having collected from the several captains employed in this work their several particular numbers, he put them together, and gave in the sum total to David: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword ; though many of them might be under the age of twenty, yet being robust and tall, and fit to bear arms, though but sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, or nineteen years of age, were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:10

And David's heart smote him, after that had numbered the people ,.... For nine or ten months his conscience lay asleep, but now the thing was done, it is awakened, and accuses him for it, and he repents of it; now he began to see the pride and haughtiness of his heart; his vanity and confidence in the creature, which led him to it; aggravated by doing it without seeking to know the mind of God, and without giving him his due, the half shekel, according to the law, Exodus 30:12 ; intent... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:11

For when David was up in the morning ,.... Which it is probable was very early, he not being able to sleep through the distress of mind he was in; for the words should be rendered, "and David arose in the morning" F3 ויקם "et surrexit", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.; , for, as we render them, they seem to imply as if he had no sense of his sin before the prophet came to him next mentioned; whereas it was in the night he had been under the conviction of it, and had acknowledged it, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible 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... 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

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:12

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

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

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

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