Bible Strands
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 time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text records the moment the angel of the LORD extends his hand to execute judgment on Jerusalem, prompting Yahweh to halt the plague and command the angel to withdraw his hand. This intervention occurs precisely as the angel stands positioned at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
The words — וַיִּנָּחֶם (va/yi.Na.chem) translates literally as "and he relented" or "and he changed his mind," while שָׁלַח (sha.Lach) means "he stretched out" or "he sent." These verbs frame the narrative pivot from execution to cessation.
The thread — This divine reversal mirrors Yahweh's regret in Genesis 6:6 over human wickedness and aligns with Joel 2:13's description of God as compassionate and slow to anger. The motif of a divine agent halting destruction also echoes the protective passover pattern in Exodus 12:23.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that judgment is strictly bounded by sovereign command, not autonomous force. It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine compassion actively interrupts calamity at a precise geographic and temporal point.
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 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.
Cross-references
- Exodus 12:23 When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
- Joel 2:13 So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
- Genesis 6:6 And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
- 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 dead bodies!
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
- 1 Samuel 15:11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all that night.
- Acts 12:23 Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
- Genesis 10:16 the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,
- Exodus 9:28 Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”
- Exodus 12:13 The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a sign; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.