Christian Standard Bible
2 Samuel 24:13
13So Gad went to David, told him the choices, and asked him, “Do you want three years of famine to come on your land, to flee from your foes three months while they pursue you, or to have a plague in your land three days? Now, consider carefully what answer I should take back to the one who sent me.”
2 Samuel 24:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)So 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 thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
- New International Version (NIV)So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come on you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, "Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me."
- New King James Version (NKJV)So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven 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.”
Context of 2 Samuel 24:13
11When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Gad, David’s seer: 12“Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three choices. Choose one of them, and I will do it to you.’” So Gad went to David, told him the choices, and asked him, “Do you want three years of famine to come on your land, to flee from your foes three months while they pursue you, or to have a plague in your land three days? Now, consider carefully what answer I should take back to the one who sent me.” 14David answered Gad, “I have great anxiety. Please, let us fall into the Lord’s hands because his mercies are great, but don’t let me fall into human hands.” 15So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and from Dan to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men died.
Read all of 2 Samuel 242 Samuel 24:13 word by word
וַיָּבֹא־גָ֥ד אֶל־דָּוִ֖ד וַיַּגֶּד־ל֑וֹ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֡וֹ הֲתָב֣וֹא לְךָ֣ שֶֽׁבַע שָׁנִ֣ים׀ רָעָ֣ב׀ בְּאַרְצֶ֡ךָ אִם־שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה חֳ֠דָשִׁים נֻסְךָ֨ לִפְנֵֽי־צָרֶ֜יךָ וְה֣וּא רֹדְפֶ֗ךָ וְאִם־הֱ֠יוֹת שְׁלֹ֨שֶׁת יָמִ֥ים דֶּ֙בֶר֙ בְּאַרְצֶ֔ךָ עַתָּה֙ דַּ֣ע וּרְאֵ֔ה מָה־אָשִׁ֥יב שֹׁלְחִ֖י דָּבָֽר׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- So Gadגָּדgâd · GadH1410
- cameבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- to Davidדָּוִדdâvid dâvîyd · DavidH1732
- and toldנָגַדnâgad · to tellH5046
- him, and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- unto him, Shall sevenשֶׁ֫בַעsheba‛ shib‛âh · sevenH7651
- yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141
- of famineרָעָבrâ‛âb · famineH7458
- unto thee in thy landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- or wilt thou fleeנוּסnûs · to fleeH5127
- threeשָׁלֹשׁshâlôsh shâlôsh shelôshâh shelôshâh · threeH7969
- monthsחֹ֫דֶשׁchôdesh · monthH2320
- beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- thine enemiesצַרtsar tsâr · enemyH6862
- while they pursueרָדַףrâdaph · to pursueH7291
- days’יוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- pestilenceדֶּ֫בֶרdeber · pestilenceH1698
- now adviseיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
- and seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: selectH7200
- what answerדָּבָרdâbâr · word: speakingH1697
- I shall returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- to him that sentשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
Cross-references for 2 Samuel 24:13
- 2 Samuel 21:1During David’s reign there was a famine for three successive years, so David inquired of the Lord. The Lord answered, “It is due to Saul and to his bloody family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
- Leviticus 26:20and your strength will be used up for nothing. Your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.
- 1 Kings 17:1Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”
- 1 Chronicles 21:12three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes with the sword of your enemy overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord — a plague on the land, the angel of the Lord bringing destruction to the whole territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I should take back to the one who sent me.”
- Ezekiel 14:13“Son of man, suppose a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its supply of bread, to send famine through it, and to wipe out both people and animals from it.
- Luke 4:25But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land.
- Leviticus 26:17I will turn against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even though no one is pursuing you.
- Deuteronomy 28:25The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Leviticus 26:16then I will do this to you: I will bring terror on you — wasting disease and fever that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it.
- Deuteronomy 28:22The Lord will afflict you with wasting disease, fever, inflammation, burning heat, drought, blight, and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.
- Psalms 91:6the plague that stalks in darkness, or the pestilence that ravages at noon.
- Ezekiel 14:19“Or suppose I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out both people and animals from it.
Commentaries on 2 Samuel 24:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Shall 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 the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Compare Ezekiel 14:13-21. The “seven” years of famine correspond with the “seven” years of famine in Genesis 41:27, Genesis 41:30, and with the same number of years in 2 Kings 8:1. But in Chronicles, it is “three years,” which agrees better with the “three” months and “three” days. The whole passage is amplified in Chronicles, which has less the aspect of an original text than this.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-15Verses 10-15 It is well, when a man has sinned, if he has a heart within to smite him for it. If we confess our sins, we may pray in faith that God would forgive them, and take away, by pardoning mercy, that sin which we cast away by sincere repentance. What we make the matter of our pride, it is just in God to take from us, or make bitter to us, and make it our punishment. This must be such a punishment as the people have a large share in, for though it…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13David had already experienced the first two options. He had fled from Saul and later from Absalom. He had also lived through a famine caused by Saul’s murder of the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21:1). At first, three days of severe plague may have seemed less frightening. However, the plague caused the deaths of 70,000 people (2 Samuel 24:15).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 10-1310-13. David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned--The act of numbering the people was not in itself sinful; for Moses did it by the express authority of God. But David acted not only independently of such order or sanction, but from motives unworthy of the delegated king of Israel; from pride and vainglory; from self-confidence and distrust of God; and, above all, from ambitious designs of…Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Samuel 24:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Samuel 24
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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