Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 21:17
And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David addresses God immediately after witnessing the angel of the LORD standing over Jerusalem with a drawn sword. He confesses his personal responsibility for the census and pleads for the plague to stop.
The words — The phrase הֲ/לֹא־אֲנִי־אָמַרְתִּי לִמְנוֹת (ha-lo-'ani-'amar-ti li-menot) literally translates "was it not I who said to count," isolating the king’s command from the people’s compliance. This phrasing explicitly marks David as the sole author of the sin.
The thread — David’s offer to bear punishment alone parallels the voluntary substitution in Genesis 44:33 and stands against the corporate consequence warnings of Exodus 20:5. The movement from confession to divine atonement anticipates the pattern described in Ezekiel 16:63.
Why it lands — The text requires a clear distinction between personal guilt and the suffering of the innocent. It demands that the reader direct repentance specifically to God and accept personal accountability before seeking relief for others.
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 God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 16:63 so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Genesis 44:33 Now please let your servant stay here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy. Let him return with his brothers.
- Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
- Exodus 32:32 Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”
- Joshua 22:18 And now, would you turn away from the LORD? If you rebel today against the LORD, tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.
- 2 Samuel 7:8 Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My people Israel.
- 2 Samuel 12:10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
- 2 Samuel 24:1 Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
- 2 Samuel 24:17 When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”
- 1 Kings 22:17 So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”