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2 Samuel 24:16

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does 2 Samuel 24:16 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Jehovah repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Jehovah repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
2 Samuel 24:16 — American Standard Version

Context — 2 Samuel 24

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
13So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thy foes while they pursue thee? or shall there be three days` pestilence in thy land? now advise thee, and consider what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
14And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of Jehovah; for his mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man.
15So Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed; and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men.
16And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Jehovah repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17And David spake unto Jehovah when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father`s house.
18And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
19And David went up according to the saying of Gad, as Jehovah commanded.
← 2 Samuel 24:152 Samuel 24:17 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, etc.] 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 (<132116>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…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“the Lord repented him of the evil--God is often described in Scripture as repenting when He ceased to pursue a course He had begun.”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“24:16 the Lord relented: God might stop his judgment when a third party intercedes for the intended target (Exod 32:12-14), when the sinful person repents (Jer 18:8), or simply because he decides to do so. • the death angel: Cp. Exod 12:23. • A threshing floor was an unwalled space where harvested grain was threshed and winnowed to separate the kernels from the chaff. Gideon encountered God at a threshing floor (Judg 6:37). Araunah’s threshing floor later became the site of the Temple (1 Chr 21:18–22:1; 2 Chr 3:1). • Araunah the Jebusite: Even though David had taken Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Sam 5:6-9), he had not eliminated them or driven them away.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“the angel: Exo 12:23; Kg2 19:35; Ch1 21:15, Ch1 21:16; Ch2 32:21; Psa 35:6; Act 12:23 repented: Gen 6:6; Sa1 15:11; Psa 78:38, Psa 90:13, Psa 135:14; Jer 18:7-10; Joe 2:13, Joe 2:14; Amo 7:3, Amo 7:6; Hab 3:2 It is enough: Exo 9:28; Kg1 19:4; Isa 27:8, Isa 40:1, Isa 40:2, Isa 57:16; Joe 2:13, Joe 2:14; Mar 14:41; Co2 2:6 Araunah: Sa2 24:18; Ch1 21:15; Ch2 3:1, Ornan the Jebusite: Sa2 5:8; Gen 10:16; Jos 15:63; Jdg 1:21, Jdg 19:11; Zac 9:7 2 Kings (2 Samuel) 24:17”
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Related study paths

Read 2 Samuel 24 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification