2 Samuel 24:15

Hebrew Bible

14 David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer that we be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is great; I do not want to be attacked by human hands!” 15 So the Lord sent a plague through Israel from the morning until the completion of the appointed time, and 70,000 people died from Dan to Beer Sheba. 16 When the angel extended his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented from his judgment. He told the angel who was killing the people, “That’s enough! Stop now!” (Now the angel of the Lord was near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.)

LXX 2 Samuel 24:15

Septuagint

14 And David said to Gad, “It is very narrow for me on every side. I will now fall in the Lord’s hand because his compassion is very great, but I must not fall into a human’s hands.” 15 So David chose for himself the death. And it was the days of the harvest of wheat and the Lord allowed death in Israel from early morning until lunch time and the slaughter began among the people. And they died from Dan to Beer-sheba, a total seventy thousand men. 16 And the angel of God reached his hand into Jerusalem to destroy it and the Lord relented from the wickedness and said to the angel who was destroying, “Among the people it is enough now. Release your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was before the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

 Notes and References
"... In Josephus’ narrative, David rejects both famine and war on moral grounds: they would not affect him, at least not to the same extent as his people: the king would have “much grain stored up” and “heroes around himself as well as fortresses.” Instead, he “requested a suffering common to both kings and subjects”, that is, the plague. Josephus’ formulation highlights David’s moral integrity in taking more personal risk in the punishment of his own mistake with the census and it may be based on Josephus’ somewhat idealized portrait of David. Taken separately, neither the invented theme of moral deliberation, nor the expression “he requested” would be sufficient to claim that Josephus followed the Septuagint plus “and David chose for himself death.” It is quite unclear what the Masoretic text actually implies here ..."

Kauhanen, Tuukka "Josephus' Sources and Motivations in Depicting Davidic Kingship" in Hakola, Raimo (ed.) Scriptures in the Making: Texts and Their Transmission in Late Second Temple Judaism (pp. 265-282) Peeters, 2022

Your Feedback:  
 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.