2 Samuel 24:15
in 2 Samuel 24So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So 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.
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 Beer–sheba seventy thousand men.
⋯
This verse in 2 Samuel 24
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The time appointed - Perhaps “the time of the assembly,” meaning the time of the evening sacrifice, at three o’clock, when the people assembled for prayer, more commonly described as “the time of the evening oblation” Dan 9:21; 1Ki 18:29, 1Ki 18:36; Act 3:1; Luk 1:10. Seventy thousand - It is the most destructive plague recorded as having fallen upon the Israelites. In the plague that followed the rebellion of Korah there died 14,700 Num 16:49; in the plague, on account of Baal-Peor, 24,000 Num 25:9; 1Co 10:8.
This site's exposition
seventy thousand men
The third judgment falls on the whole land, from Dan to Beersheba, the same reach used for the census in verse 2 now measuring the dead. Albert Barnes calls it the most destructive plague recorded against Israel, exceeding the fourteen thousand seven hundred of Numbers 16 and the twenty four thousand of Numbers 25. The stroke runs only until an appointed hour, a limit set before any word of mercy is spoken.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Bring a yet graver charge against God and ask him why, when Esau and Jacob were still in the womb, he said, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." Accuse him of injustice because, when Achan the son of Carmi stole part of the spoil of Jericho, he butchered so many thousands for the fault of one. Ask him why for the sin of the sons of Eli the people were well-nigh annihilated and the ark captured.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, Those who truly repent of their sins, and have them pardoned are yet often made to smart for them in this world. (2.) The punishment must answer to the sin. He was proud of the judgment he must be chastised with for this sin must be such as will make them fewer.
The number slain amounted to almost half a decimation, 70,000 being about one in twenty. Now, we may suppose, David's flesh trembled for fear of God and he was afraid of his judgments, Ps. cxix. God's gracious relaxation of the judgment, when it began to be inflicted upon Jerusalem (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
from the morning--rather that morning when Gad came [2Sa 24:18], till the end of the three days. there died of the people . . . seventy thousand men--Thus was the pride of the vainglorious monarch, confiding in the number of his population, deeply humbled.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
From the morning - to the time appointed - That is, from the morning of the day after David had made his election till the third day, according to the condition which God had proposed, and he had accepted: but it seems that the plague was terminated before the conclusion of the third day, for Jerusalem might have been destroyed, but it was not. Throughout the land, independently of the city, seventy thousand persons were slain! This was a terrible mortality in the space of less than three days.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּתֵּ֨ן | vaiyiten | and he gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| דֶּ֙בֶר֙ | dever | pestilence | H1698 → | |
| בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | beyisrael | in Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| מֵהַבֹּ֖קֶר | mehaboker | from the morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| וְעַד־ | vead- | and until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| עֵ֣ת | ʾet | a time of | H6256 → | 296 times |
| מוֹעֵ֑ד | moed | an appointed time | H4150 → | |
| וַיָּ֣מָת | vaiyamot | and he died | H4191 → | 839 times |
| מִן־ | min- | of | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָעָ֗ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| מִדָּן֙ | midan | from Dan | H1835 → | 70 times |
| וְעַד־ | vead- | and to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| בְּאֵ֣ר | beer | Beer | H884 → | 68 times |
| שֶׁ֔בַע | sheva' | Sheba | H884 → | 68 times |
| שִׁבְעִ֥ים | shivim | seventy | H7657 → | |
| אֶ֖לֶף | ʾelef | thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| אִֽישׁ׃ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
וַיִּתֵּ֨ןand he gave
vaiyitenH5414 →2011 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
דֶּ֙בֶר֙pestilence
deverH1698 →
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔לin Israel
beyisraelH3478 →2507 times
מֵהַבֹּ֖קֶרfrom the morning
mehabokerH1242 →214 times
וְעַד־and until
vead-H5704 →1261 times
עֵ֣תa time of
ʾetH6256 →296 times
מוֹעֵ֑דan appointed time
moedH4150 →
וַיָּ֣מָתand he died
vaiyamotH4191 →839 times
מִן־of
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָעָ֗םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
מִדָּן֙from Dan
midanH1835 →70 times
וְעַד־and to
vead-H5704 →1261 times
בְּאֵ֣רBeer
beerH884 →68 times
שֶׁ֔בַעSheba
sheva'H884 →68 times
שִׁבְעִ֥יםseventy
shivimH7657 →
אֶ֖לֶףthousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
אִֽישׁ׃man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 37:36Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
it leads to
- 2 Kings 19:35
And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 10:12
So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud…
- 2 Samuel 24:16
But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3
For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
- Isaiah 31:8
“Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals. They will flee before the sword, and their young men will be…
- 2 Kings 19:35
Through
Numbers 25:9but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:8
We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
- Deuteronomy 4:3–4
Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor.
- 1 Corinthians 10:8
Through
1 Chronicles 27:4Dodai the Ahohite was in charge of the division for the second month, and Mikloth was the leader. There were 24,000 men in his division.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 23:9
Next in command was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he went with David to taunt the Philistines who had gathered for battle at Pas-dammim. The men…
- 2 Samuel 23:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceThe NegevBeershebaThe well of the oath at the south of the land, where Abraham made his covenant with Abimelech and planted a tamarisk, where Isaac…
- PlaceNorthern border, at the foot of HermonDanThe northern limit of the land, where the tribe of Dan settled after taking Laish and where Jeroboam set up one of his two golden…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, LETTER 133.9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.