Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 24:10
HE, HAVING THREE PLAGUES PROPOUNDED BY GAD, REPENTS, AND CHOOSES THREE DAYS' PESTILENCE. (Sa2 24:10-14)
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 conquest, in furtherance of which he was determined to force the people into military service, and to ascertain whether he could muster an army…
Read the whole note in the consoleAdam Clarke on 2 Samuel 24:11
For when David was up - It is supposed that David's contrition arose from the reproof given by Gad, and that in the order of time the reproof came before the confession stated in the 10th verse.
David's seer - A holy man of God, under the Divine influence, whom David had as a domestic chaplain.
John Gill on 2 Samuel 24:12
Go, and say unto David,.... Not my servant David, as Nathan was bid to say to him when it was in his heart to build an house for him, 2 Samuel 7:5; but now he had sinned and displeased the Lord, and therefore it is only plain David:
thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things; or lay them before thee to consider of which thou wouldest have done; the Targum is,"one of three things I cast upon thee,''as a burden to bear; one of the three I will certainly inflict upon thee by way of chastisement:
choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee; here is mercy mixed with judgment; the Lord is angry, yet shows great condescension and goodness; a sovereign Being, who could have imposed wha…
Read the whole note in the consoleKeil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 24:10-18
David's heart, i.e., his conscience, smote him, after he had numbered the people, or had given orders for the census to be taken. Having now come to a knowledge of his sin, he prayed to the Lord for forgiveness, because he had acted foolishly. The sin consisted chiefly in the self-exaltation which had led to this step (see the introductory remarks).
Sa2 24:11-13
When he rose up in the morning, after he had calmly reflected upon the matter during the night upon his bed, and had been brought to see the folly of his determination, the prophet Gad came to him by the command of God, pointed out to him his fault, and foretold the punishment that would come from God. "Shall seven years of famine co…
