English Standard Version
2 Samuel 24:13
13So 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."
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.”
- 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.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)So Gad came to David and asked him, “Will you choose three years of famine throughout your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land? Think this over and decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.”
Context of 2 Samuel 24:13
11And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, 12"Go and say to David, 'Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.'" 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." 14Then David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man." 15So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men.
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 21:1Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, "There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death."
- Leviticus 26:20And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.
- 1 Kings 17:1Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word."
- 1 Chronicles 21:12either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.' Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me."
- Ezekiel 14:13"Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast,
- Luke 4:25But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,
- Leviticus 26:17I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you.
- Deuteronomy 28:25"The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Leviticus 26:16then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
- Deuteronomy 28:22The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.
- Psalms 91:6nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
- Ezekiel 14:19"Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast,
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries