2 Samuel 24:15 - Printer Friendly

What does 2 Samuel 24:15 mean?

ESV: So 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.

NIV: So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.

NASB: So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.

CSB: So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and from Dan to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men died.

NLT: So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel that morning, and it lasted for three days. A total of 70,000 people died throughout the nation, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south.

KJV: So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.

NKJV: So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died.

Verse Commentary:

For an unknown reason, God is angry with Israel. To punish them, God incited David to take a census of the reserve fighting men (2 Samuel 24:1). David told Joab, "Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba" (2 Samuel 24:2). Joab and the other regular military commanders knew this was a horrible idea and pushed back, but David insisted.

After about ten months, they returned with the results. As traditionally translated, these are more than a million in the northern tribes and nearly a half-million men in Judah. For reasons unknown, Joab withheld the number of Levites and Benjaminites and told David the northern tribes only had about 80 percent of the actual number (2 Samuel 24:3–9; 1 Chronicles 21:5–6). It should be noted that the Hebrew word 'eleph can mean "thousand," but is also used for "clan," or "division." Whether a thousand divisions, or a million men, David's error and God's response are the same.

As soon as David heard the numbers, he realized his sin. No reason is given for this sudden turnaround. He repented, and God gave him a choice of punishments: three years of famine, three months of fleeing from his enemies, or three days of plague. David rejected war because God is more merciful than man, and God chose the plague (2 Samuel 24:10–14).

Like the census, the plague spreads "from Dan to Beersheba." Dan is a town in the far northwest corner of the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh. Beersheba is the last major city in the Negev in the south. The angel who is spreading the plague takes only three days to cover the terrain the generals took nearly ten months.

But, like Joab, God doesn't cover the entirety of the nation. He tells the angel of pestilence to stop when he reaches the top of Mt. Moriah, above Jerusalem. When David sees him, he and the elders, dressed in sackcloth, fall on their faces in repentance. God halts the plague.

It's unclear what form the "pestilence" takes. The NIV calls it a plague in the land, but 2 Samuel 24:16 reveals that this killing disease. Even if this disaster has a natural component and bodily effect, its behavior and spread are clearly supernatural. God is administering it directly, with the text evoking a sword-bearing angel.

The tally of men killed in the plague is subject to the same questions about translation as other in the Old Testament. The number 70,000 isn't necessarily tied to the number of fighting men. "Seven" is often used by God to mark completion. After six days of creation, God rested on the seventh (Genesis 2:2–3). When Joshua and Israel reached Jericho, they marched around it seven days, and on the seventh day, they marched seven times (Joshua 6:3–4). Daniel prophesied "seventy sevens," or seventy sets of seven years, and the last, the tribulation will last seven years (Daniel 9:24). And the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments during tribulation will come in sets of seven.

David is right that God is merciful. God could have continued the plague through Jerusalem, but what had been done was already enough to complete the judgment.

Second Samuel 24:15–17 (1 Chronicles 21:14–17) explains God's punishment on Israel. David orders a census of the fighting men, but the moment he receives the final number, he realizes his mistake (2 Samuel 24:1–14). God offers him a choice of punishment: starvation, combat, or disease. David chooses God's sovereignty over the unpredictability of war with men. God's destroying angel kills many thousands of men before the fast-moving plague stops right before Jerusalem. David buys the land where the angel stopped and offers sacrifices (2 Samuel 24:18–25). Later, that location will be the temple Mount.

Chapter Summary:

Second Samuel 24 (1 Chronicles 21) is the final story in the epilogue to 1 and 2 Samuel. God is angry with Israel and incites David to take a census. When it's finished, David accepts blame, and God punishes Israel with a plague. The plague's progress stops at a threshing floor just short of Jerusalem. David buys the land and offers a sacrifice. The land will later house the temple. In the chiasm—the mirror arrangement—epilogue of 1 and 2 Samuel, this story is partnered with God's punishment of Saul's family for their sin against the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21:1–14).

Chapter Context:

Second Samuel 24 (1 Chronicles 21) marks the end of the epilogue of 1 and 2 Samuel. Second Samuel 21—24 is a mirrored pattern showing how God's blessings on Israel are dependent on their obedience. Here, God is angry with Israel and incites David. The nation is disciplined by a deadly plague. In 2 Samuel 24, the story shows that God disciplines Israel's disobedience. In 1 Chronicles 21, the focus is on how David got the land for the temple.

Second Samuel continues the story of David, who will become king over Judah. The other tribes of Israel are resistant, eventually sparking a civil war. David wins and makes Jerusalem his capital. Early success is followed by moral failure and controversy in David's house. The book of 1 Kings will begin by detailing David's decline and death.

Accessed 5/25/2026 1:39:34 PM