2Sa 24:10-25 | TNotes | STEP | 24:10 I have sinned: See study note on 24:1. David believed his sin was the cause of the plague and that the removal of his sin would make things right (see also 24:17 ). It is clear, however, that Israel rather than David was the true object of God’s wrath (24:1 ).

24:10 ^a I have sinned: See study note on 24:1. David believed his sin was the cause of the plague and that the removal of his sin would make things right (see also 24:17 ^b). It is clear, however, that Israel rather than David was the true object of God’s wrath (24:1 ^c).
24:11 ^d Gad ... David’s seer appears only here and in 1 Sam 22:5 ^e. Seer is an early name for a prophet (1 Sam 9:9 ^f, 19 ^g). Unlike pagan magicians or sorcerers, biblical seers had divinely inspired visions (see also 2 Kgs 17:13 ^h; Isa 29:10 ⁱ; 30:9-10 ^j; Amos 7:12 ^k; Mic 3:7 ^l) and functioned as God’s messengers.
24:13 ^m David had already experienced the first two options—fleeing from Saul and Absalom, and famine because Saul had murdered the Gibeonites (21:1 ⁿ). While three days of severe plague sounded less traumatic, 70,000 people perished (24:15 ^o).
24:16 ^p the Lord relented: God might stop his judgment when a third party intercedes for the intended target (Exod 32:12-14 ^q), when the sinful person repents (Jer 18:8 ^r), or simply because he decides to do so.

• the death angel: Cp. Exod 12:23 ^s.

• 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 ^t). Araunah’s threshing floor later became the site of the Temple (1 Chr 21:18–22:1 ^u; 2 Chr 3:1 ^v).

• Araunah the Jebusite: Even though David had taken Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Sam 5:6-9 ^w), he had not eliminated them or driven them away.
24:17 ^x I am the one who has sinned: David’s earlier confession of sin was limited to his circumstances (“forgive my guilt,” 24:10 ^y); now he prayed for those he considered innocent (but see 24:1 ^z) and offered to die in their place.

• as sheep: David was the shepherd of Israel (see study note on 7:8).
24:21 ^aa so that he will stop the plague: David did not know that God had already announced the end of the plague to the angel (24:16 ^ab).
24:25 ^ac David performed priestly functions when he built an altar, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and prayed for his people; in response, the Lord answered his prayer (cp. 21:14 ^ad).