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1 Chronicles 21:16

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does 1 Chronicles 21:16 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of Jehovah standing between earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of Jehovah standing between earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
1 Chronicles 21:16 — American Standard Version

Context — 1 Chronicles 21

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
13And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall, I pray, into the hand of Jehovah; for very great are his mercies: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
14So Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel; and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.
15And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
16And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of Jehovah standing between earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
17And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, O Jehovah my God, be against me, and against my father`s house; but not against thy people, that they should be plagued.
18Then the angel of Jehovah commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and rear an altar unto Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
19And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of Jehovah.
← 1 Chronicles 21:151 Chronicles 21:17 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“David and the elders . . . clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces--They appeared in the garb and assumed the attitude of humble penitents, confessing their sins, and deprecating the wrath of God.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Here a picture of awful grandeur takes the place of the bare statement of the earlier historian 2 Samuel 24:17. And here, as elsewhere, the author probably extracts from the ancient documents such circumstances as harmonize with his general plan. As the sanctity of the temple was among the points whereon he was most anxious to lay stress, he gives in full all the miraculous circumstances attending this first designation of what became the temple site (marginal reference “k”) as a place “holy to the Lord.” David and the elders ... clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces - Facts additional to the narrative of Samuel; But facts natural in themselves, and in harmony with that narrative.…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Sackcloth - In mourning garments, humbling themselves before God for their sins, and deprecating his wrath against the people. 1 Chronicles 21:18”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“21:16-17 These verses provide a more detailed description of the angel and of David’s response than the parallel text (2 Sam 24:17). The sight of the angel carrying out his mission inspired David to plead on behalf of the people.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“saw the angel: Gen 3:24; Exo 14:19, Exo 14:20; Num 22:31; Jos 5:13, Jos 5:14; Kg2 6:17 clothed: Kg1 21:27; Kg2 19:1; Psa 35:13, Psa 35:14; Jon 3:6-8 fell upon: Num 14:5, Num 16:22 1 Chronicles 21:17”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“The account of David's repentant beseeching of the Lord to turn away the primitive judgment, and the word of the Lord proclaimed to him by the prophet, commanding him to build an altar to the Lord in the place where the destroying angel visibly appeared, together with the carrying out of this divine command by the purchase of Araunah's threshing-floor, the erection of an altar, and the offering of burnt-offering, is given more at length in the Chronicle than in Sa2 24:17-25, where only David's negotiation with Araunah is more circumstantially narrated than in the Chronicle. In substance both accounts perfectly correspond, except that in the Chronicle several subordinate circumstances are…”
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Related study paths

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