1 Chronicles 21:14
New International Version
So the LORD sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.

New Living Translation
So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and 70,000 people died as a result.

English Standard Version
So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell.

Berean Standard Bible
So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.

King James Bible
So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

New King James Version
So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell.

New American Standard Bible
So the LORD sent a plague on Israel; seventy thousand men of Israel fell.

NASB 1995
So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel; 70,000 men of Israel fell.

NASB 1977
So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel; 70,000 men of Israel fell.

Legacy Standard Bible
So Yahweh sent a pestilence against Israel; and 70,000 men of Israel fell.

Amplified Bible
So the LORD sent a plague on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell.

Christian Standard Bible
So the LORD sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand Israelite men died.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So the LORD sent a plague on Israel, and 70,000 Israelite men died.

American Standard Version
So Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel; and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

Contemporary English Version
So the LORD sent a horrible disease on Israel, and 70,000 Israelites died.

English Revised Version
So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
So the LORD sent a plague on Israel, and 70,000 Israelites died.

Good News Translation
So the LORD sent an epidemic on the people of Israel, and seventy thousand of them died.

International Standard Version
Then the LORD sent a pestilence to Israel, and 70,000 men died in Israel.

Majority Standard Bible
So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.

NET Bible
So the LORD sent a plague through Israel, and 70,000 Israelite men died.

New Heart English Bible
So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel; and seventy thousand men of Israel fell.

Webster's Bible Translation
So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

World English Bible
So Yahweh sent a pestilence on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And YHWH gives a pestilence in Israel, and there falls from Israel seventy thousand men,

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah giveth a pestilence in Israel, and there fall of Israel seventy thousand men,

Smith's Literal Translation
And Jehovah will give death upon Israel: and there will fall from Israel seventy thousand men.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel. And there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Therefore, the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel. And there fell from Israel seventy thousand men.

New American Bible
Therefore the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand Israelites died.

New Revised Standard Version
So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel; and seventy thousand persons fell in Israel.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel; and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And LORD JEHOVAH gave a plague in Israel, and there fell seventy thousand men of Israel.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel; and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
So the Lord brought pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
A Plague on Israel
14So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. 15Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.…

Cross References
2 Samuel 24:15
So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.

Exodus 12:29
Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.

Numbers 16:46-49
Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.” / So Aaron took the censer as Moses had ordered and ran into the midst of the assembly. And seeing that the plague had begun among the people, he offered the incense and made atonement for the people. / He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted. ...

2 Samuel 24:13
So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”

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.

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!

Ezekiel 14:19-21
Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath upon it through bloodshed, cutting off from it both man and beast, / then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. Their righteousness could deliver only themselves. / For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?

Amos 4:10
“I sent plagues among you like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.

Revelation 6:8
Then I looked and saw a pale green horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed close behind. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword, by famine, by plague, and by the beasts of the earth.

Matthew 24:7
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

Luke 21:11
There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, along with fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

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.

Revelation 16:9
And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues. Yet they did not repent and give Him glory.

1 Corinthians 10:10
And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.

Hebrews 12:29
“For our God is a consuming fire.”


Treasury of Scripture

So the LORD sent pestilence on Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

the Lord

Numbers 16:46-49
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun…

2 Samuel 24:15
So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.

seventy

Exodus 12:20
Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.

Numbers 25:9
And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

1 Samuel 6:19
And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.

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Causing Dead Death Disease Fall Fell Israel Pestilence Plague Seventy Thousand
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Causing Dead Death Disease Fall Fell Israel Pestilence Plague Seventy Thousand
1 Chronicles 21
1. David, tempted by Satan, forces Joab to number the people
5. The number of the people being brought, David repents of it
9. David having three plagues proposed by God, chooses the pestilence
14. After the death of 70,000, David by repentance prevents the destruction of Jerusalem
18. David, by Gad's direction, purchases Ornan's threshing floor;
26. where having built an altar, God gives a sign of his favor by fire.
28. David sacrifices there, being restrained from Gibeon by fear of the angel














So the LORD sent a plague
The phrase begins with "So the LORD," emphasizing the divine authority and sovereignty of God. In Hebrew, "Yahweh" is used, which is the personal name of God, highlighting His covenant relationship with Israel. The word "sent" indicates a direct action from God, reflecting His control over nature and history. The "plague" is a form of divine judgment, often used in the Old Testament to bring about repentance or to demonstrate God's power and holiness. Historically, plagues were seen as manifestations of divine displeasure, and in this context, it serves as a consequence of David's sin of conducting a census, which was against God's will.

on Israel
This phrase specifies the target of the divine judgment. "Israel" refers to the united kingdom under David, encompassing all twelve tribes. Theologically, it underscores the collective responsibility and the communal nature of sin and its consequences. The nation of Israel, chosen by God to be a holy people, is being disciplined to bring them back to righteousness. This reflects the biblical principle that God disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:6).

and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead
The number "seventy thousand" is significant, indicating the severity of the judgment. In biblical numerology, the number seven often symbolizes completeness or perfection, suggesting the thoroughness of the divine judgment. The phrase "men of Israel" highlights the loss of life among the fighting men, which would have had a profound impact on the nation's military and social structure. The term "fell dead" is a stark reminder of the mortality and frailty of human life in the face of divine judgment. This tragic outcome serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of disobedience to God's commands and the seriousness with which God views sin.

(14-17) The Pestilence.

(14) So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel.--So Samuel. The rest of our verse is abridged. From Samuel we learn that the plague raged throughout the land from dawn to the time of the evening sacrifice.

Verse 14. - So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel. This sentence is followed in the parallel place by "from the morning even to the time appointed." It has been suggested that "the time appointed" may mean the time of the evening sacrifice, and that God shortened thus the three days to a short one day. There seems nothing sufficient to support the suggestion, unless it might lie in the "repenting" of the Lord, and his "staying" of the angel's hand, in ver. 15. There fell of Israel seventy thousand men. The whole number of Israel, including women, must have reached near to five millions. On this assumption, the sacrifice of life for Israel would be something like 14 per cent., or fourteen in the thousand.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
So the LORD
יְהוָ֛ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

sent
וַיִּתֵּ֧ן (way·yit·tên)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

a plague
דֶּ֖בֶר (de·ḇer)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1698: A pestilence

on Israel,
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל (bə·yiś·rā·’êl)
Preposition-b | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

and seventy
שִׁבְעִ֥ים (šiḇ·‘îm)
Number - common plural
Strong's 7657: Seventy (a cardinal number)

thousand
אֶ֖לֶף (’e·lep̄)
Number - masculine singular
Strong's 505: A thousand

men
אִֽישׁ׃ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

of Israel
מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֔ל (mî·yiś·rā·’êl)
Preposition-m | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

fell dead.
וַיִּפֹּל֙ (way·yip·pōl)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5307: To fall, lie


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OT History: 1 Chronicles 21:14 So Yahweh sent a pestilence on Israel (1 Chron. 1Ch iCh i Ch 1 chr 1chr)
1 Chronicles 21:13
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