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2 Samuel
Chapter Twenty-four
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 24
In
this chapter an account is given of David's numbering of the people, 2 Samuel 24:1; 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, 2 Samuel 24:10;
when he chose the pestilence, which carried off a great number of the people, 2 Samuel 24:14; 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, 2 Samuel 24:18.
2 Samuel 24:1 Again
the anger of the Lord
was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, number
Israel and Judah.”
YLT
1And the anger of Jehovah
addeth to burn against Israel, and [an adversary] moveth David about them,
saying, `Go, number Israel and Judah.'
And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel,.... It had
been kindled, and appeared before in sending a three years' famine among them
for Saul's ill usage of the Gibeonites, 2 Samuel 21:1; and
now it broke forth again, either for some secret sins committed, as Kimchi suggests,
or for the rebellion of Absalom, and the insurrection of Sheba, in which
multitudes of them joined; so Abarbinel; no doubt there was cause for it,
though it is not expressed:
and he moved David against them; not the Lord, but Satan,
as may be supplied from 1 Chronicles 21:1;
or "it moved him"; the anger of the Lord, as the last mentioned
writer interprets it; or the heart of David, as Ben Gersom; that is, the evil
imagination of his heart, as Kimchi; the Lord left him to the corruption of his
nature, sometimes called Satan, 2 Corinthians 12:7;
which wrought powerfully in him, and stirred him up to take a step contrary to
the interest of Israel, and what was prejudicial to them, as the event showed:
it moved him to say; to Joab and his captains:
go, number Israel and Judah: not all the individuals,
but such as were fit for war, able to bear arms, see 2 Samuel 24:9.
2 Samuel 24:2 2 So the king said to Joab
the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the
tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know
the number of the people.”
YLT
2And the king saith unto
Joab, head of the host that [is] with him, `Go to and fro, I pray thee, through
all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, and inspect ye the
people -- and I have known the number of the people.'
For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was
with him,.... Or who was with him, even Joab, who was now at court, and
was a counsellor of David, as well as his general; or which army was with Joab,
a standing army he had the command of:
go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to
Beersheba; from the northern part of the land of Israel to the southern
part of it, and this course was accordingly steered, 2 Samuel 24:6,
and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people; so that this
appears to be done not through any urgent necessity, but merely out of
curiosity, and to gratify the pride of his heart, and please himself with the
thought of ruling such a numerous people, and brag of their numbers to other
nations, and place his confidence therein; and no wonder it was displeasing to
the Lord.
2 Samuel 24:3 3 And Joab said to the king,
“Now may the Lord
your God add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the
eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire
this thing?”
YLT
3And Joab saith unto the
king, `Yea, Jehovah thy God doth add unto the people, as they are, a hundred
times, and the eyes of my lord the king are seeing; and my lord the king, why
is he desirous of this thing?'
And Joab said unto the king,.... Not so rudely and
insolently as he did on account of his mourning for Absalom, but in a more
modest, decent, and polite manner:
now the Lord thy God add unto the people (how many soever they be)
an hundredfold; he wished his subjects were an hundred times more numerous than
they were:
and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it; that he might
live to see with his own eyes so great an increase:
but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? he being now
old, and therefore it might seem strange to indulge such curiosity, pride, and
vanity, and besides quite needless and useless: the numbering of them would not
make them more or less; and they were all the king's servants, who were ready
to obey him whenever he needed them, whether numbered or not; and it might be
prejudicial to them, and bring down the wrath of God upon them, as well as be a
troublesome and expensive business; all which, though not expressed here, is
hinted at in 1 Chronicles 21:3.
2 Samuel 24:4 4 Nevertheless the king’s
word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore
Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count
the people of Israel.
YLT
4And the word of the king is
severe towards Joab, and against the heads of the force, and Joab goeth out,
and the heads of the force, [from] before the king to inspect the people, even
Israel;
Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and
against the captains of the host,.... Who it seems were of
the same mind with Joab, and were against numbering the people, yet their
arguments and remonstrances were of no avail with the king; he was determined
it should be done, and laid his commands upon them to do it, which they were
obliged to comply with:
and Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence
of the king, to number the people of Israel; seeing him resolute and
determined, they submitted, took his orders, and set out to execute them.
2 Samuel 24:5 5 And they crossed over the
Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in
the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward Jazer.
YLT
5and they pass over the
Jordan, and encamp in Aroer, on the right of the city that [is] in the midst of
the brook of Gad, and unto Jazer,
And they passed over Jordan,.... To take the number
of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh first:
and pitched in Aroer; for it seems that Joab
and the captains had the army with them, and the several captains under their
command, partly to assist in numbering the people, and partly to keep them in
awe, lest they should oppose them, not knowing what was the design of all this
Aroer was a city given to the tribe of Gad, and rebuilt by them, Numbers 32:34,
on the right side of the city; that is, of Aroer, the
south side of it, as the Targum, did Joab and his army pitch:
that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad; which was the
river Arnon, so called now from the tribe of Gad, which possessed it, and so
the Targum, in the midst of the river of the tribe of Gad; for in the midst of
the river Arnon Aroer lay, see Joshua 13:9,
and toward Jazer; another city given to the Gadites, Numbers 32:3; and,
according to BuntingF21Travels, &c. p. 147. , was sixteen miles
from Aroer.
2 Samuel 24:6 6 Then they came to Gilead
and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon;
YLT
6and they come in to Gilead,
and unto the land of Tahtim-Hodshi, and they come in to Dan-Jaan, and round
about unto Zidon,
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; BuntingF23Travels, &c. p.
147. calls it the lower country of Hodshi, near to the city Corazin, in the
half tribe of Manasseh, fifty two miles from Jerusalem, and towards the
northeast, and signifies a new land:
and they came to Danjaan; the same that is simply
called Dan, and formerly Leshem, Joshua 19:47; why
Juan is added to it is not easy to say; it lay at the northern border of the
land of Israel, and was four miles from Paneas as you go to TyreF24Hieron.
de loc. Heb. fol. 90. H. :
and about to Zidon; from Dan they went round about to Zidon, to
the parts adjacent to it; for with Zidon itself they had nothing to do, of
which See Gill on Joshua 11:8.
2 Samuel 24:7 7 and they came to the
stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites.
Then they went out to South Judah as far as Beersheba.
YLT
7and they come in to the
fortress of Tyre, and all the cities of the Hivite, and of the Canaanite, and
go out unto the south of Judah, to Beer-Sheba.
And came to the strong hold of Tyre,.... That is, old Tyre,
which stood thirty furlongs from new Tyre, the islandF25Strabo.
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 Israelites;
to all places contiguous to them, Joab and his captains came to take the number
of them:
and they went out to the south of Judah: even to Beersheba; passing
through the western part of the land, they came to the southern part of it,
even as far as Beersheba, which was the extreme part of the land to the south.
2 Samuel 24:8 8 So when they had gone
through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and
twenty days.
YLT
8And they go to and fro
through all the land, and come in at the end of nine months and twenty days to
Jerusalem,
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.
2 Samuel 24:9 9 Then Joab gave the sum of
the number of the people to the king. And there were in Israel eight hundred
thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred
thousand men.
YLT
9and Joab giveth the account
of the inspection of the people unto the king, and Israel is eight hundred
thousand men of valour, drawing sword, and the men of Judah five hundred
thousand men.
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 mustered, contrary to the law; which, according
to Cornelius BertramF26Lucubrat. Frauktall, c. 2. was David's sin,
see 1 Chronicles 27:23.
In 1 Chronicles 21:5,
they are said to be a million and an hundred thousand, which is three hundred
thousand more than the sum here given; several methods are taken to reconcile
this; but what seems to be the best solution of the difficulty is what is
observed by a JewF1R. Eliezer in Halicot Olam, tract. 4. c. 3. p.
181. , that here the number of the people in the several parts of the land of
Israel was given, which were eight hundred thousand, there along with them, the
numbers of the standing army which waited on the king in their courses, which
were twenty four thousand every, month, and amounted in the twelve months to
288,000, and reckoning lo thousand officers to them, they make the sum of three
hundred thousand wanted, see 1 Chronicles 27:1,
&c.
and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men. In 1 Chronicles 21:5,
they are said to be only 470,000, thirty thousand less than here; which may be
accounted for by making use of a round number, though something wanting, as is
often done; or else the thirty companies, consisting of a thousand each, under
the eighty captains mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:8, are
taken into the account here, but left out in the book of Chronicles; or there
were so many in the sum total of the men of Judah before the plague, but thirty
thousand being consumed thereby, are left out in the latter accounts, so
Kimchi; but the other solutions seem best: Levi and Benjamin were not counted;
it being abominable to Joab, he did not finish it, and especially being
displeasing to God, who smote Israel for it, 1 Chronicles 21:6.
2 Samuel 24:10 10 And David’s heart
condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have
sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the
iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
YLT
10And the heart of David
smiteth him, after that he hath numbered the people, and David saith unto
Jehovah, `I have sinned greatly in that which I have done, and now, O Jehovah,
cause to pass away, I pray Thee, the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have acted
very foolishly.'
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 only upon increasing his own revenue, as some think, intending to impose
a poll tax upon the people when he had numbered them; and attempting to number
a people who were not to be numbered; and numbering those who were under the
age of twenty, and therefore the plague began before it was finished, 1 Chronicles 27:23,
and David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have
done; he saw and owned his sin to be exceeding sinful, attended with
very aggravating circumstances:
and now I beseech thee, Lord, take away the iniquity of thy
servant; the guilt of it from his conscience, which lay heavy there, and
suffer not the punishment it deserves to take place on him, but grant an
application of pardon to him:
for I have done very foolishly; all sin is folly, and
some sins are exceeding foolish, and so this appeared to David; or,
"though I have done very foolishly"F2כי
"quamvis", so Goassius notes it may be rendered; so Pool. , yet
forgive my sin, see Psalm 38:5.
2 Samuel 24:11 11 Now when David arose in
the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad,
David’s seer, saying,
YLT
11And David riseth in the
morning, and the word of Jehovah hath been unto Gad the prophet, seer of David,
saying,
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"F3ויקם "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 prayed for the pardon of it; upon which the
prophet was sent to acquaint him what was the will of God concerning him:
the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer; with whom he
had used to advise about the will of God on various occasions, though in this
he had neglected to consult him; the Targum calls it the word of prophecy from
the Lord:
saying; as follows.
2 Samuel 24:12 12 “Go and tell David, ‘Thus
says the Lord:
“I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may
do it to you.”’”
YLT
12`Go, and thou hast spoken
unto David, Thus said Jehovah: Three -- I am lifting up for thee, choose thee
one of them, and I do [it] to thee.'
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 of chastisement:
choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee; here is mercy
mixed with judgment; the Lord is angry, yet shows great condescension and
goodness; a sovereign Being, who could have imposed what punishment he pleased,
and even all the three after mentioned, yet resolves but on one, and leaves
that to the option of David.
2 Samuel 24:13 13 So Gad came to David and
told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven[a] years of
famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your
enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your
land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
YLT
13And Gad cometh in unto
David, and declareth to him, and saith to him, `Do seven years of famine come
in to thee in thy land? or three months art thou fleeing before thine adversary
-- and he pursuing thee? or are three days' pestilence in thy land? now, know
and see what word I take back to Him sending me.'
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 JosephusF4Antiqu. l. 7. c. 13. sect. 2. , the Targum, the Syriac
and Arabic versions, have the number "seven"; three seems to be more
agreeable to the numbers after mentioned, and no more as to come were designed,
though seven are here expressed; for the reconciling of which let it be
observed, that there had been three years of famine already on account of the
sin of Saul, 2 Samuel 21:1; and
in the current year, through the rains not falling in the proper time, the land
was barren and unfruitful; or through the penury of the preceding years the
famine would be continued at least until the harvest; and then three years more
now proposed made seven years; or, if these three years would have immediately
followed the other three, the following in course would be a sabbatical year,
in which were no ploughing, sowing, nor reaping, or the current year was such
an one: and the sense is, shall there be a continuance of seven years of
famine, that is, three more added to what had been? which must be most dreadful
to think of; but a learned writerF5Dr. Kennicott's Dissert. 1. p.
474. thinks it a mistake of the copier, writing ז,
"seven", for ג, "three":
or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they
pursue thee? be in such a condition as not to be able to face or fight his
enemies, or, if he did, would not be able to stand his ground, but be forced to
flee before them, and be pursued by them three months running; during which
time a prodigious number might well be thought to be slain, sad devastations
made in the land, and great shame and disgrace endured, and what a man of
David's spirit could not bear the thoughts of:
or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? which in 1 Chronicles 21:12
is called "the sword of the Lord", in distinction from the sword of
man, it coming immediately from him, and the destroying angel, in all the
coasts of the land; being inflicted by means of one:
now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me; that is, consult
with himself, or with his friends, or both, what answer the prophet must return
to the Lord that sent him; for him he means.
2 Samuel 24:14 14 And David said to Gad, “I
am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies
are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
YLT
14And David saith unto Gad,
`I have great distress, let us fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah, for
many [are] His mercies, and into the hand of man let me not fall.'
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 the three judgments mentioned are by the hand of the
Lord whenever they come; but in the pestilence the hand of the Lord is more
visible, it coming immediately from his hand, as especially this was to do, and
did; it did not arise from second causes, a noxious air, &c. but by means
of an angel of God: David chose this, because he and his people would have
nothing to do with men, as in famine they must have gone into other countries
for food, and in war flee before their enemies, and lie at their mercy, and
either of them more disgraceful than this; and which he might the rather choose
on his own account, that his people might not be able to say he sought himself
and his own interest; for had he chosen famine, as his people had been lately
distressed that way already, they might, besides urging that, say, that he
could lay up stores for himself and family; or had he chosen war, they might
observe he had fortified places to flee to, one after another, and shelter
himself; but for the arrows of the pestilence he was as likely a mark as the
meanest of his subjects: but what seems to have moved him chiefly to make this
choice is, that it would not only be the soonest over, but that it wholly
depended on the pleasure of God what use he would make of it in that time; and
chiefly because he knew God was gracious and merciful, and it was upon his
great mercy he cast himself and his people.
2 Samuel 24:15 15 So the Lord sent a plague
upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba
seventy thousand men of the people died.
YLT
15And Jehovah giveth a
pestilence on Israel from the morning even unto the time appointed, and there
die of the people, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, seventy thousand men,
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, the Lord
repented of it, and stayed his hand; though many think a much shorter time is
intended; some think it lasted no more than half a day, if so much; some say
but three hoursF6Pirke Eliezer, c. 43. ; the Septuagint version,
until dinnertime; and the Syriac and Arabic versions, until the sixth hour of
the day, which was noon; and so Kimchi says, some of their Rabbins interpret it
of the half or middle of the day; the Targum is,"from the time the daily
sacrifice was slain until it was burnt;'and it is the sense of several learned
men that it was only from the morning until the time of the evening sacrifice,
or evening prayer, about three o'clock in the afternoon, and so lasted about
nine hours:
and there died of the people, from Dan even to Beersheba, seventy
thousand men; so that there was a great diminution of the people in all places
where they were numbered; and David's sin may be read in the punishment of it;
his heart was lifted up by the numbers of his people, and now it must be
humbled by the lessening of them.
2 Samuel 24:16 16 And when the angel[b] stretched
out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from
the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is
enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the
threshing floor of Araunah[c] the
Jebusite.
YLT
16and the messenger putteth
forth his hand to Jerusalem to destroy it, and Jehovah repenteth concerning the
evil, and saith to the messenger who is destroying among the people, `Enough, now,
cease thy hand;' and the messenger of Jehovah was near the threshing-floor of
Araunah the Jebusite.
And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to
destroy it,.... Which, as it was perhaps the last place where the people
were numbered, it was the last to which the plague came: this angel appeared in
an human form, standing "between the earth and the heaven"; in the
midst of the heaven, in the air, right over Jerusalem: "having a drawn
sword in his hand stretched over the city"; as is said in 1 Chronicles 21:16;
which was done as a menace, and to inject terror into David and the inhabitants
of the city, and to give them notice of what they must expect:
the Lord repented him of the evil; he was inflicting, and
now threatened Jerusalem with; having compassion on the place where the ark,
the symbol of his presence, was, where a temple was to be built to the honour
of his name, and where he should be worshipped; and therefore stopped
proceeding; as men, when they repent of anything done by them, cease from it,
so did the Lord now; otherwise repentance, properly speaking, falls not on him,
and so it is next explained:
and said to the angel that destroyed the people; not the angel
of death, the devil, but a good angel, who had a commission from God for this
business:
it is enough: stay now thine hand: there is a sufficient
number slay no more:
and the angel of the Lord was by the threshing place of Araunah
the Jebusite; that is, he was in the air, right over the spot, or near it,
where was this man's threshingfloor; and was seen by Araunah and his four sons,
who upon it hid themselves, perhaps among the sheaves they were threshing, 1 Chronicles 21:20;
and this threshingfloor was on Mount Moriah, 2 Chronicles 3:1;
as threshingfloors commonly were on mountains for the sake of winnowing the
corn when threshed; See Gill on 3:2; who,
according to Ben Gersom, though he was by birth a Jebusite, was proselyted to
the Jewish religion.
2 Samuel 24:17 17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw
the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I
have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I
pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”
YLT
17And David speaketh unto
Jehovah, when he seeth the messenger who is smiting among the people, and
saith, `Lo, I have sinned, yea, I have done perversely; and these -- the flock
-- what have they done? Let, I pray Thee, Thy hand be on me, and on the house
of my father.'
And David spake unto the Lord,.... In prayer; he and
the elders of Israel being clothed in sackcloth, and fallen on their faces, he
prayed, not unto the angel, but to Jehovah that sent him; see 1 Chronicles 21:16,
when he saw the angel that smote the people; in the air
over Jerusalem, with a drawn sword in his hand, which made him appear terrible:
and said, lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; in numbering
the people:
but these sheep, what have they done? he looked
upon himself as the only transgressor, and his people as innocent, and as
harmless as sheep; he thought of no sins but his own; these were uppermost in
his mind, and lay heavy on his conscience; and it grieved him extremely the his
people should suffer on his account: but they were not so innocent as he
thought and suggests; and it was not only for his, but their sins, this evil
came; he was suffered to do what he did, to bring upon them deserved punishment
for their rebellion against him, and other sins; however, this shows the high
opinion he had of them, the great affection he had for them, and his sympathy
with them in this time of distress:
let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my
father's house; let me and mine die, and not they; a type of Christ, the good
Shepherd, willing to lay down his life for the sheep, and suffer in their
stead, that they might go free.
2 Samuel 24:18 18 And Gad came that day to
David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the
threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
YLT
18And Gad cometh in unto
David on that day, and saith to him, `Go up, raise to Jehovah an altar in the
threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite;'
And Gad came that day to David,.... Ordered and directed
by the angel of the Lord, 1 Chronicles 21:18,
and said unto him, go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the
threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite: it was too far to go to
Gibeon, where the tabernacle was, at such a time of extremity, when the sword
of the angel was stretched out over Jerusalem, 1 Chronicles 21:29;
and this was the most proper place, as it was the very spot over and nearest to
which the angel was; and was on Mount Moriah, where the Jews say Abraham
offered up Isaac; and where the temple was afterwards built, as Kimchi and Ben
Gersom observe; and Eupolemus, an Heathen writerF7Apud Euseb.
Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 30. p. 447. , says, that when David desired to build
a temple for God, and that he would show him the place of the altar, an angel
appeared to him, standing over the place where the altar at Jerusalem was to be
built.
2 Samuel 24:19 19 So David, according to the
word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded.
YLT
19and David goeth up,
according to the word of Gad, as Jehovah commanded.
And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the Lord
commanded. From the place where he was in a lower part of the city to Mount
Moriah, on which was the threshing floor, a place fit for winnowing corn when
threshed.
2 Samuel 24:20 20 Now Araunah looked, and
saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed
before the king with his face to the ground.
YLT
20And Araunah looketh, and
seeth the king and his servants passing over unto him, and Araunah goeth out
and boweth himself to the king -- his face to the earth.
And Araunah looked,.... Peeped up out of the place in which he
had hid himself with his four sons, for fear of the angel, and which they saw, 1 Chronicles 21:20,
and saw the king and his servants coming towards him; he perceived,
by the course they steered, that they were coming to him:
and Araunah went out; of the threshingfloor,
out of the place where he had hid himself, for he had been threshing wheat, 1 Chronicles 21:20;
nor was it thought below great personages in those times to be employed in such
work; so Gideon was threshing, when the angel of the Lord appeared to him, Judges 6:11; Boaz
winnowed barley in his threshingfloor, 3:2,
and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground; in reverence
of the king.
2 Samuel 24:21 21 Then Araunah said, “Why
has my lord the king come to his servant?”
And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an
altar to the Lord,
that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”
YLT
21And Araunah saith,
`Wherefore hath my lord the king come unto his servant?' and David saith, `To
buy from thee the threshing-floor, to build an altar to Jehovah, and the plague
is restrained from the people.'
And Araunah said, wherefore is my lord the king come to his
servant?.... Which both implies admiration in him, that so great a person
should visit him in his threshingfloor; that a king should come to a subject
his servant, who should rather have come to him, and would upon the least
intimation; it was a piece of condescension he marvelled at; and it expresses a
desire to know his pleasure with him, supposing it must be something very
urgent and important, that the king should come himself upon it: and to this
David made answer:
and David said, what he was come for:
to buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar to the Lord,
that the plague may be stayed from the people; for though David had
acknowledged his sin, and God had repented of the evil he inflicted for it, and
given orders for stopping it; yet he would have an altar built, and sacrifices
offered, to show that the only way to have peace, and pardon, and safety from
ruin and destruction, deserved by sin, is through the expiatory sacrifice of
Christ, of which fill sacrifices were typical, and were designed to lead the
faith of the Lord's people to that.
2 Samuel 24:22 22 Now Araunah said to David,
“Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him.
Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and
the yokes of the oxen for wood.
YLT
22And Araunah saith unto
David, `Let my lord the king take and cause to ascend that which is good in his
eyes; see, the oxen for a burnt-offering, and the threshing instruments, and
the instruments of the oxen, for wood;'
And Araunah said unto David, let my lord the king take and offer
up what seemeth good unto him,.... Build an altar,
offer sacrifices of whatsoever he found upon the premises fit for the same, and
make use of whatever came to hand proper to perform such service with, as
follows:
behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice: which were
employed in treading the corn, hence the law in Deuteronomy 25:4,
and threshing instruments; not flails, such as are
used by us, but wooden sledges, drays or carts drawn on wheels, which were
filled with stones, and the bottom of them stuck with iron teeth, and were drawn
by oxen to and fro over the sheaves of corn; see Isaiah 28:27,
and other instruments of the oxen for wood; as their
yokes; these Araunah gave leave to take to burn the sacrifice with; and in 1 Chronicles 21:23,
it is added, "and the wheat for the meat offering", which was upon
the threshingfloor; and there always went a meat offering with a burnt
offering.
2 Samuel 24:23 23 All these, O king, Araunah
has given to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God
accept you.”
YLT
23the whole hath Araunah
given, [as] a king to a king; and Araunah saith unto the king, `Jehovah thy God
doth accept thee.'
All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto
the king,.... The note of similitude as is not in the text; from whence
some have thought he was king of the Jebusites before Jerusalem was taken out
of their hands, or however was of the royal race, perhaps the son and heir of
the then king at that time; or he has this title given him, because of his
great liberality, having the spirit of a prince in him, even of a king; so
Ulysses addressed Antinous, saying, thou art like a king, and therefore should
give more largely than othersF8Homer. Odyss. 17. ver. 335. :
and Araunah said unto the king, the Lord thy God accept thee; thine
offering with a good will; with pleasure and delight, as the Targum; that so
the plague might be removed, and which no doubt made him the more ready to part
with the above things, and all that he had; so dreadful did the calamity appear
to him, and especially after he saw the angel with his drawn sword just over
him.
2 Samuel 24:24 24 Then the king said to
Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I
offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which
costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty
shekels of silver.
YLT
24And the king saith unto
Araunah, `Nay, for I do surely buy from thee for a price, and I do not cause to
ascend to Jehovah my God burnt-offerings for nought;' and David buyeth the
threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver,
And the king said unto Araunah, nay, but I will surely buy it
of thee at a price,.... And a full price too, 1 Chronicles 21:24;
that is, give him as much for it as it was worth:
neither will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God of that
which doth cost me nothing; which shows an ingenuous spirit, and
contrary to the temper of many, who like to serve the Lord in the cheapest
manner, or with little cost to themselves:
so David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels
of silver; which, reckoning a shekel at two shillings and sixpence, made
but just six pounds five shillings of our money; though its value is but about
two shillings and four pence farthing, which reduces the sum; in 1 Chronicles 21:25,
David is said to give six hundred shekels of gold by weight; two ways are
proposed by the JewsF9T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 116. 2. for the
reconciling of the difficulty; the one is, that fifty shekels were collected
out of every tribe, and twelve times fifty make six hundred shekels, and these
were of the value or weight of gold; but this seems not likely, that it should
be collected out of all the tribes, and since it appears plainly to be the
king's purchase, and with his money: the other is, that there were two
purchases, the first was of the threshingfloor, oxen, and instruments, which
were bought for fifty shekels of silver, as here, and the other was a purchase
of the place, as it is called in the book of Chronicles; that large space of
ground on which afterwards the temple, and all the courts adjoining to it, were
built, and which was now Araunah's farm, and on which were his dwelling house,
and other buildings; and for all this David gave him six hundred shekels of
gold, which made three hundred ouncesF11Vid. Gronov. de Pecunia Vet.
l. 3. c. 7. p. 369. and reckoning gold as twelve times the value of silver,
according to BrerewoodF12De Ponder. & Pretiis, c. 5. , it
amounted to four hundred fifty pounds of our money; and learned men have not
been able to give a better solution of this difficulty; and with this MontanusF13Tubal-Cain,
p. 15. So Hieron. Trad. Heb. fol. 80. F. agrees. Bochart and Noldius have taken
another way, but not so clear and satisfactory; the Septuagint of 1 Chronicles 21:25
has fifty shekels, as here.
2 Samuel 24:25 25 And David built there an
altar to the Lord,
and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the
prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.
YLT
25and David buildeth there an
altar to Jehovah, and causeth to ascend burnt-offerings and peace-offerings,
and Jehovah is entreated for the land, and the plague is restrained from
Israel.
And David built there an altar unto the Lord,.... After he
had made the purchase:
and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings; the one to
expiate the sin or sins committed, the other to give thanks for the intimation
given, that the plague would be stayed upon this:
so the Lord was entreated for the land; was pacified
and prevailed upon to remove the pestilence from it; which was signified by
fire descending upon the altar of burnt offering, which showed the sacrifice
was accepted, and by the angel being ordered to put his sword into its sheath, 1 Chronicles 21:26;
and the Targum is,"and the Lord received the prayer of the inhabitants of
the land:"
and the plague was stayed from Israel; no more died
of the pestilence, either at Jerusalem, or in any other part of the land
Israel.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)