1 Chronicles 21 · Verse 13

1 Chronicles 21:13

And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.
1 Chronicles 21:13, King James Version

1 Chronicles 21:13 in other translations

BSBDavid answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”
WEBDavid said to Gad, “I am in distress. Let me fall, I pray, into the LORD’s hand, for his mercies are very great. Don’t let me fall into man’s hand.”
ASVAnd David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall, I pray, into the hand of Jehovah; for very great are his mercies: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
YLTAnd David saith unto Gad, ‘I am greatly distressed, let me fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah, for very many are His mercies, and into the hand of man let me not fall.'
DARBYAnd David said to Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah, for his mercies are very great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.
BBEAnd David said to Gad, This is a hard decision for me to make: let me come into the hands of the Lord, for great are his mercies: let me not come into the hands of men.
WebsterAnd David said to Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

What does 1 Chronicles 21:13 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
13. let me fall now into the hand of the Lord ... let me not fall into the hand of man--Experience had taught him that human passion and vengeance had no bounds, whereas our wise and gracious Father in heaven knows the kind, and regulates the extent, of chastisement which every one needs.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 13 David said - I am in a great strait - The Targum reasons thus: "And David said to Gad, If I choose famine, the Israelites may say, The granaries of David are full of corn; neither doth he care should the people of Israel die with hunger. And if I choose war, and fly before an enemy, the Israelites may say, David is a strong and warlike man, and he cares not though the people of Israel should fall by the sword. I am brought into a great strait; I will deliver myself now into the Hand of the Word of the Lord, ביד מימרא דיי beyad meymera dayai, for his mercies are many; but into the hands of the children of men I will not deliver myself."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

1 Chronicles 21:13 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּ֧אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
דָּוִ֛ידda.VidDavidH1732
אֶל\־'el-toH413
גָּ֖דgadGadH1410
צַר\־tzar-it is distressH6862
לִ֣יlito me
מְאֹ֑דme.'OdexceedinglyH3966
אֶפְּלָה\־'e.pe.lah-let me fallH5307
נָּ֣אna'pleaseH4994
בְיַד\־ve.yad-in [the] hand ofH3027
יְהוָ֗הYah.wehYahwehH3068
כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588
רַבִּ֤יםra.Bim[are] greatH7227
רַחֲמָיו֙ra.cha.Mavcompassion<s> hisH7356
מְאֹ֔דme.'OdexceedinglyH3966
וּבְיַד\־u.ve.yad-and in [the] hand ofH3027
אָדָ֖ם'a.Dama humanH120
אַל\־'al-may notH408
אֶפֹּֽל\׃'e.PolI fallH5307

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Chronicles 21:13

  • Psalms 130:7

    Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

  • Philippians 1:23

    For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

  • Hebrews 10:31

    It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

  • Isaiah 55:7

    Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

  • John 12:27

    Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

  • Esther 4:11

    All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.

  • Psalms 130:4

    But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

  • Esther 4:16

    Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

  • Psalms 5:7

    But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

  • Isaiah 46:7

    They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

  • Psalms 106:7

    Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

  • Psalms 86:15

    But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I am in.
2Ki 6:15; 7:4; Es 4:11,16; Joh 12:27; Php 1:23
let me fall.David here acted nobly: had he chosen war, his personal safety was in no danger, as there was an ordinance preventing him from going to battle; and in famine, his wealth would have secured his and his family's support; but all were equally exposed to the pestilence.
Heb 10:31
great. or, many.
Ex 34:6,7; Ps 5:7; 51:1,2; 69:13,16; 86:5,15; 103:8; 106:7; 130:7
Isa 55:7; 63:7,15; La 3:32; Jon 3:9; 4:2; Mic 7:18; Hab 3:2
but let me.
2Ch 28:9; Pr 12:10; Isa 46:7; 47:6

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Chronicles 21:12

    Either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

  • 1 Chronicles 21:13

    And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

  • 1 Chronicles 21:14

    So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

Read all of 1 Chronicles 21

1 Chronicles 21:13 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Entonces David dijo á Gad: Estoy en grande angustia: ruego que yo caiga en la mano de Jehová; porque sus misericordias son muchas en extremo, y que no caiga yo en manos de hombres.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et David dit à Gad: Je suis dans une grande détresse. Que je tombe, je te prie, dans les mains de l’ Éternel, car ses compassions sont très grandes; et que je ne tombe point dans la main des hommes.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und David sprach zu Gad: Mir ist sehr angst! Möge ich doch in die Hand Jehovas fallen, denn seine Erbarmungen sind sehr groß; aber in die Hand der Menschen laß mich nicht fallen!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et dixit David ad Gad: Ex omni parte me angustiæ premunt: sed melius mihi est ut incidam in manus Domini, quia multæ sunt miserationes ejus, quam in manus hominum.