Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 21:13
David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David speaks to the prophet Gad immediately after receiving three punishment options from God. He formulates his reply while the angel of the LORD stands with a drawn sword to execute judgment on Israel.
The words — The Hebrew צַר (tzar) and מְאֹד (me'od) literally render "it is distress exceedingly," marking acute anguish. The verb אֶפְּלָה ('epleh) combined with the particle נָא (na') constructs the direct plea "let me fall, please."
The thread — This preference for divine mercy over human violence aligns with the hope placed in the Lord’s abundant redemption in Psalm 130:7. The tension of choosing between two fates mirrors Paul’s expressed desire to depart and be with Christ in Philippians 1:23.
Why it lands — The text requires a reader to recognize that submitting to God’s measured discipline is preferable to facing unmitigated human cruelty. It frames the choice as a pragmatic appeal to known divine character rather than a surrender to fate.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.
Cross-references
- Psalms 130:7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is loving devotion, and with Him is redemption in abundance.
- Philippians 1:23 I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.
- Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.
- Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
- John 12:27 Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? No, it is for this purpose that I have come to this hour.
- Exodus 34:6 Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- 2 Kings 6:15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, behold, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?”
- 2 Kings 7:4 If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ we will die there from the famine in the city; but if we sit here, we will also die. So come now, let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.”
- 2 Chronicles 28:9 But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the LORD, the God of your fathers, has delivered them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.
- Esther 4:11 “All the royal officials and the people of the king’s provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the gold scepter may that person live. But I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the past thirty days.”