2 Samuel 24:16

Verse 16. The angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem] By what means this destruction took place, we know not: it appears that an angel was employed in it, and that this minister of Divine justice actually appeared as an object. of sight; for it is said, 2Sa 24:17, When David saw the angel that smote the people, he said, c. and both Ornan and his four sons saw him and were affrighted, 1Ch 21:20.

The threshing-place of Araunah] These threshing-places, we have already seen, were made in the open air. In the parallel place, 1Ch 21:15; 1Ch 21:20, c., this person is called Ornan. The word that we render Araunah is written in this very chapter אורנה Auarnah, 2Sa 24:16, ארניה Araniah, 2Sa 24:18, ארונה Araunah or Araunah, 2Sa 24:20, and the following: but in every place in 1Ch 21:1-30 where it occurs it is written ארנן Ornan. It is likely he had both names, Araunah and Ornan: but the varieties of spelling in 2 Samuel must arise from the blunders of transcribers.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. the angel] Angels are God’s ministers in temporal judgment now, as well as in the final judgment hereafter. Cp. Exo_12:23; Psa_78:49; 2Ki_19:35; Act_12:23; Mat_13:41.

the Lord repented him of the evil] Cp. Exo_32:14; Jer_26:13; Jer_26:19; Jon_3:10. On the one hand Scripture teaches us that “God is not a man that he should repent” (Num_23:19; 1Sa_15:29); on the other hand it does not shrink from saying that God repents (a) when, as here, upon man’s penitence He withdraws or mitigates a punishment: (b) when, upon man’s faithlessness or disobedience, He cancels a promise or revokes a blessing which He had given. God’s repentance does not mean that He who foreknows all things regrets His action, nor is it a sign of mutability. Scripture boldly states the two apparently contradictory truths, and leaves conscience to harmonize them. See notes on 1Sa_15:11; 1Sa_15:29.

the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite] The threshingfloor: precisely the same word as in 2Sa_24:18; 2Sa_24:21; 2Sa_24:24. Threshingfloors were constructed on eminences, to catch the wind for winnowing the grain. Araunah’s threshingfloor was on Mount Moriah, the hill to the eastward of Jerusalem, and was the site upon which the Temple was afterwards built (2Ch_3:1). See Additional Note VI. p. 240. This Mount Moriah was identified by Jewish tradition (e.g. Josephus Ant. VII. 13. 4) with the mountain in the land of Moriah which was the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen_22:2 ff.), but the identification has been questioned. See Sinai and Pal. p. 251.

It has been supposed by some that the sacred rock of the Moslems, which is the highest point of the Temple hill, and is now covered by the Kubbet es Sakhrah or “Dome of the Rock,” marks the actual site of Araunah’s threshing-floor. See Sinai and Pal. p. 178 ff.

Araunah] The name is variously spelt Aravnah (2Sa_24:16 Qrî), Avarnah (2Sa_24:16 Kthîbh), Aranyah (2Sa_24:18 Kthîbh); in Chron. it is written Ornan; and in the Sept. in both books “Ὄρνα (Orna). This variety of form is probably due to different attempts to represent a non-Hebraic name. There is no ground for the popular belief (based on a misunderstanding of 2Sa_24:23) that Araunah was the old king of Jebus before its conquest by David, and had been permitted by David to reside on his estate just outside Jerusalem. But his presence there is an evidence that the old inhabitants had been allowed to remain, and even to retain their property. Cp. 1Ki_9:20.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Sa 24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.

Ver. 16. And when the angel stretched out his hand,] viz., To execute his commission. Even the good angels are ready executioners of God’s judgments, as here, and at Sodom. There cannot be a better or more noble act than to do justice upon malefactors: it is an office beseeming an angel.

The Lord repented him of the evil.] This was mutatio Rei non Dei; for God is not as man, that he can repent. {Num 23:19} {See Trapp on "2Sa 24:15"}

The threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.] That noble Jebusite, famous in later ages. {Zec 9:7}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Sa 24:16. The angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem — Which he had begun to smite, and in which he was proceeding to make a far greater slaughter. This angel appeared in the shape of a man, with a sword drawn in his hand, to convince the people more fully that this was no natural plague, but one inflicted by the immediate hand of God. The Lord repented him of the evil — That is, he in part recalled his sentence of the plague’s continuance for three whole days; and this he did upon David’s prayers and sacrifices, as appears from 2Sa 24:25, though these be mentioned afterward. This was on mount Moriah; in the very same place where Abraham, by a countermand from heaven, was stayed from slaying his son, this angel, by a like countermand, was stayed from destroying Jerusalem. It is for the sake of the great sacrifice, that our forfeited lives are preserved from the destroying angel.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24:16 the Lord relented: God might stop his judgment when a third party intercedes for the intended target (Exod 32:12-14), when the sinful person repents (Jer 18:8), or simply because he decides to do so. • the death angel: Cp. Exod 12:23. • A threshing floor was an unwalled space where harvested grain was threshed and winnowed to separate the kernels from the chaff. Gideon encountered God at a threshing floor (Judg 6:37). Araunah’s threshing floor later became the site of the Temple (1 Chr 21:18–22:1; 2 Chr 3:1). • Araunah the Jebusite: Even though David had taken Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Sam 5:6-9), he had not eliminated them or driven them away.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Lord spared this place, because he had chosen it to build his Temple there.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the Lord repented him of the evil--God is often described in Scripture as repenting when He ceased to pursue a course He had begun.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it,.... Which, as it was perhaps the last place where the people were numbered, it was the last to which the plague came: this angel appeared in an human form, standing "between the earth and the heaven"; in the midst of the heaven, in the air, right over Jerusalem: "having a drawn sword in his hand stretched over the city"; as is said in Ch1 21:16; which was done as a menace, and to inject terror into David and the inhabitants of the city, and to give them notice of what they must expect:

the Lord repented him of the evil; he was inflicting, and now threatened Jerusalem with; having compassion on the place where the ark, the symbol of his presence, was, where a temple was to be built to the honour of his name, and where he should be worshipped; and therefore stopped proceeding; as men, when they repent of anything done by them, cease from it, so did the Lord now; otherwise repentance, properly speaking, falls not on him, and so it is next explained:

and said to the angel that destroyed the people; not the angel of death, the devil, but a good angel, who had a commission from God for this business:

it is enough: stay now thine hand: there is a sufficient number slay no more:

and the angel of the Lord was by the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite; that is, he was in the air, right over the spot, or near it, where was this man's threshingfloor; and was seen by Araunah and his four sons, who upon it hid themselves, perhaps among the sheaves they were threshing, Ch1 21:20; and this threshingfloor was on Mount Moriah, Ch2 3:1; as threshingfloors commonly were on mountains for the sake of winnowing the corn when threshed; See Gill on Rut 3:2; who, according to Ben Gersom, though he was by birth a Jebusite, was proselyted to the Jewish religion.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Areuna. Hebrew styles him, Araniah, (ver. 18.; Calmet) i being substituted for u, and placed after n. He is called Ornan, 1 Paralipomenon xxi. 18, (Haydock) and has the title of Jebusite, as he was originally of that nation, and had been permitted to retain his effects, on his embracing the true religion. Moria was his property, and seems not to have been much inhabited. It was not yet enclosed within the city walls. Here David saw the angel, in the air, ready to strike the inhabitants, and heard the voice from heaven. (Calmet) --- He had already witnessed the death of many in the city, 1 Paralipomenon xxi. 14. The angel waited for God’s orders how many to destroy. (Haydock) --- He did not sheath his sword till David had offered sacrifice to appease the Lord; (ver. 21) though others think that the sacrifice was to thank God for the deliverance. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The angel appeared in the shape of a man with a sword in his hand, 1Ch 21:16, to convince them more fully that this was no natural nor common plague, but inflicted immediately by the hand of God.

Upon Jerusalem; which he had begun to smite, and was proceeding to make a far greater slaughter.

The Lord repented him of the evil, i.e. he moderated, and in part recalled, his sentence of the plague’s continuance for three whole days, and this he did upon David’s prayers and sacrifices, as appears from 2Sa 24:25, though these be mentioned afterward.

Araunah, called also Araniah in the Hebrew of 2Sa 24:18, and Ornan, 1Ch 21:22; such changes in the pronunciation of the names being usual in Scripture.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. The Lord repented him — He saw the penitence and humiliation of David and his people, and in his sympathetic relation to them his divine emotionality changed. See the note on 1Sa_15:11.

The angel that destroyed — It is clearly a doctrine of Holy Scripture that God uses angels as ministers and messengers of his will. Not only do they minister for the heirs of salvation, (Heb_1:14; Mat_18:10; Act_12:7-10,) but also, under God, execute the divine judgments upon the wicked. 2Ki_19:35; Act_12:23.

It is enough — This certainly does not mean, as some assume, that the plague was stayed before the third day, but only that it fell not on Jerusalem.

Threshing-place — See on Rth_3:2.

Araunah — Called Ornan in Chronicles. Josephus says of him: “He was a wealthy man among the Jebusites, but was not slain by David in the siege of Jerusalem because of the good will he bore to the Hebrews, and a particular benignity and affection which he had to the king himself.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The angel. In the next verse we are told that David saw the angel, and more fully in 1Ch_21:16 that he beheld him "standing between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand." The pestilence plainly was not a natural visitation; though possibly the means used was a simoom, or poisonous wind, advancing with terrible rapidity throughout Israel. The Lord repented. In all the dealings of God"s providence, his actions are made to depend upon human conduct. Looked at from above, from God"s side, all things are foreknown and immutably fixed; looked at from man"s side, all is perpetually changing as man changes. The rescue of Jerusalem as the result of David"s penitence and prayers, is thus to human view a change in the counsels and even in the feelings of him who changeth not. The threshing place. "The threshing floor," as rightly translated in vers. 18, 21, 24. Threshing floors were constructed, whenever possible, on eminences, that the wind might drive the chaff and dust away. Araunah"s was on the east of Jerusalem, outside the walls, upon Mount Moriah, and was the site on which the temple was built. (see 2Ch_3:1) Araunah . The name is so spelt seven times in vers. 20-24, for which reason the Massorites have substituted it for Avarnah, found in this verse in the Hebrew text, and for Aranyah in ver. 18. In 1Ch 21 the name is spelt Ornan; in the Septuagint in all places, jOrna, Orna, and in the Syriac, Oron. The name is, of course, a Jebusite word, and the variation arises from the narrators having written down the sound as it caught their ears. In this, as in many other particulars, it is clear that the chronicler derived his account from independent Sources.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

angel (See Scofield "Heb 1:4").

repent (See Scofield "Zec 8:14").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Yevusite. He was the chief officer of the Zion fortress the name of which is Yevusi.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

And the angel stretched out his hand - The Holy One projected the image of an angel with a drawn sword in his hand stretched over Jerusalem. He placed it next to the threshing floor of Aravnah the Jebusite in order that David would see it there and pray, and that Gd would be entreated of him there in that place. Then when the plague stopped it would be a sign to David that this is the place of entreaty and there will be the Holy Temple, the house of prayer and service - just as Gd commanded him through the prophet Gad to build there an altar. His prayer was answered through fire which came down from the heavens to consume his offering as it says in Divre HaYamim.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.