20:1 In the spring, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, 1 Joab led the army into battle and devastated the land of the Ammonites. He went and besieged Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem. Joab defeated Rabbah and tore it down.
21:15 God sent an angel 4 to ravage 5 Jerusalem. As he was doing so, 6 the Lord watched 7 and relented from 8 his judgment. 9 He told the angel who was destroying, “That’s enough! 10 Stop now!” 11
Now the Lord’s angel was standing near the threshing floor of Ornan 12 the Jebusite.
1 tn Heb “and it was at the time of the turning of the year, at the time of the going out of kings.”
2 tc The Hebrew text reads “saws,” but since saws were just mentioned, it is preferable to emend מְגֵרוֹת (mÿgerot, “saws”) to מַגְזְרוֹת (magzÿrot, “axes”).
3 tn Heb “and so he would do.”
3 tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 24:15 reports that God sent a plague, while 24:16-17 attributes this to the instrumentality of an angel.
4 tn Or “destroy.”
5 tn Heb “while he was destroying.”
6 tn Or “saw.”
7 tn Or “was grieved because of.”
8 tn Heb “concerning the calamity.”
9 tn For this nuance of the Hebrew word רַב (rav), see BDB 913 s.v. 1.f.
10 tn Heb “Now, drop your hand.”
11 tn In the parallel text in 2 Sam 24:16 this individual is called אֲרַוְנָא (’aravna’, “Aravna”), traditionally “Araunah.” The form of the name found here also occurs in vv. 18-28.