2 Samuel 24:16-23

24:16 When the angel ¹  extended his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented from his judgment. ²  He told the angel who was killing the people, “That’s enough! Stop now!” ³  (Now the Lord’s angel was near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.)

24:17 When he saw the angel who was destroying the people, David said to the Lord, “Look, it is I who have sinned and done this evil thing! As for these sheep – what have they done? Attack me and my family.” ⁴ 

David Acquires a Threshing Floor and Constructs an Altar There

24:18 So Gad went to David that day and told him, “Go up and build an altar for the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 24:19 So David went up as Gad instructed him to do, according to the Lord’s instructions.

24:20 When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants approaching him, he ⁵  went out and bowed to the king with his face ⁶  to the ground. 24:21 Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David replied, “To buy from you the threshing floor so I can build an altar for the Lord, so that the plague may be removed from the people.” 24:22 Araunah told David, “My lord the king may take whatever he wishes ⁷  and offer it. Look! Here are oxen for burnt offerings, and threshing sledges ⁸  and harnesses ⁹  for wood. 24:23 I, the servant of my lord ¹⁰  the king, give it all to the king!” Araunah also told the king, “May the Lord your God show you favor!”

2 Samuel 24:1

David Displeases the Lord by Taking a Census

24:1 The Lord’s anger again raged against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go count Israel and Judah.” ¹¹ 

2 Samuel 11:4-6

11:4 David sent some messengers to get her. ¹²  She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. ¹³  (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.) ¹⁴  Then she returned to her home. 11:5 The woman conceived and then sent word to David saying, “I’m pregnant.”

11:6 So David sent a message to Joab that said, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David.

2 Samuel 21:15

Israel Engages in Various Battles with the Philistines

21:15 Another battle was fought between the Philistines and Israel. So David went down with his soldiers ¹⁵  and fought the Philistines. David became exhausted.

2 Samuel 22:1

David Sings to the Lord

22:1 ¹⁶ David sang ¹⁷  to the Lord the words of this song when ¹⁸  the Lord rescued him from the power ¹⁹  of all his enemies, including Saul. ²⁰ 

[24:16]  ¹ tn Heb “messenger.”

[24:16]  ² tn Heb “concerning the calamity.”

[24:16]  ³ tn Heb “Now, drop your hand.”

[24:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “let your hand be against me and against the house of my father.”

[24:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “Araunah.” The name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

[24:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “nostrils.”

[24:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “what is good in his eyes.”

[24:22]  ⁸ sn Threshing sledges were heavy boards used in ancient times for loosening grain from husks. On the bottom sides of these boards sharp stones were embedded, and the boards were then dragged across the grain on a threshing floor by an ox or donkey.

[24:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “the equipment of the oxen.”

[24:23]  ¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text is difficult here. The translation reads עֶבֶד אֲדֹנָי (’eved ’adoni, “the servant of my lord”) rather than the MT’s אֲרַוְנָה (’Aravnah). In normal court etiquette a subject would not use his own name in this way, but would more likely refer to himself in the third person. The MT probably first sustained loss of עֶבֶד (’eved, “servant”), leading to confusion of the word for “my lord” with the name of the Jebusite referred to here.

[24:1]  ¹¹ sn The parallel text in 1 Chr 21:1 says, “An adversary opposed Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had.” The Samuel version gives an underlying theological perspective, while the Chronicler simply describes what happened from a human perspective. The adversary in 1 Chr 21:1 is likely a human enemy, probably a nearby nation whose hostility against Israel pressured David into numbering the people so he could assess his military strength. See the note at 1 Chr 21:1.

[11:4]  ¹² tn Heb “and David sent messengers and he took her.”

[11:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “he lay with her” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “he made love to her”; NIV, CEV, NLT “he slept with her.”

[11:4]  ¹⁴ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause further heightens the tension by letting the reader know that Bathsheba, having just completed her menstrual cycle, is ripe for conception. See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 286. Since she just had her period, it will also be obvious to those close to the scene that Uriah, who has been away fighting, cannot be the father of the child.

[21:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his servants.”

[22:1]  ¹⁶ sn In this long song of thanks, David affirms that God is his faithful protector. He recalls in highly poetic fashion how God intervened in awesome power and delivered him from death. His experience demonstrates that God vindicates those who are blameless and remain loyal to him. True to his promises, God gives the king victory on the battlefield and enables him to subdue nations. A parallel version of the song appears in Ps 18.

[22:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “spoke.”

[22:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in the day,” or “at the time.”

[22:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “hand.”

[22:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and from the hand of Saul.”