The Meaning of 2 Samuel 24:12 Explained

2 Samuel 24:12

KJV: Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.

YLT: Go, and thou hast spoken unto David, Thus said Jehovah: Three -- I am lifting up for thee, choose thee one of them, and I do it to thee.'

Darby: Go and say to David, Thus saith Jehovah: I impose on thee three things; choose one of them that I may do it unto thee.

ASV: Go and speak unto David, Thus saith Jehovah, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Go  and say  unto David,  Thus saith  the LORD,  I offer  thee three  [things]; choose  thee one  of them, that I may [do it] unto thee. 

What does 2 Samuel 24:12 Mean?

Context Summary

2 Samuel 24:1-14 - A Proud Heart Humbled
The sin of numbering the people lay in its motive. David was animated by a spirit of pride and vainglory. He was eager to make a fine showing among the surrounding nations, and to impress them with such a conception of Israel's greatness that they would not dare to attack any point of the long frontier line. He yielded to the temptation of trusting in chariots and horses, instead of in the victories of faith.
When the enumeration was nearly complete, David's heart smote him. He saw how far he had swerved from the idea of the theocracy, in which God's will was the sole guide of national policy. He had substituted his own wisdom for the divine edict. A night of anguish followed on this self-discovery, but David submitted himself to God's dealings.
It was wise to choose to fall into the hands of God. They are very loving and tender hands, but David viewed them as punitive and not redemptive; and the plague, which devastated the people, cut him to the quick. [source]

Chapter Summary: 2 Samuel 24

1  David, tempted by Satan, forces Joab to number the people
5  The captains, in nine months and twenty days, gather 1,300,000 fighting men
10  David repents, and having three plagues proposed by God, chooses pestilence
15  After the death of 70,000, David by prayer prevents the destruction of Jerusalem
18  David, by God's direction, purchases Araunah's threshing floor;
25  and the plague stops

What do the individual words in 2 Samuel 24:12 mean?

go and tell unto David thus says Yahweh: three [things] I offer you choose for yourself one of them that I may do [it] to you
הָל֞וֹךְ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֣ אֶל־ דָּוִ֗ד כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה שָׁלֹ֕שׁ אָנֹכִ֖י נוֹטֵ֣ל עָלֶ֑יךָ בְּחַר־ לְךָ֥ אַֽחַת־ מֵהֶ֖ם וְאֶֽעֱשֶׂה־ לָּֽךְ

הָל֞וֹךְ  go 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive absolute
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
וְדִבַּרְתָּ֣  and  tell 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: דָּבַר 
Sense: to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing.
אֶל־  unto 
Parse: Preposition
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
דָּוִ֗ד  David 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּוִד  
Sense: youngest son of Jesse and second king of Israel.
כֹּ֚ה  thus 
Parse: Adverb
Root: כֹּה  
Sense: thus, here, in this manner.
אָמַ֣ר  says 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
יְהוָ֔ה  Yahweh: 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
שָׁלֹ֕שׁ  three  [things] 
Parse: Number, feminine singular
Root: מִשְׁלֹשׁ 
Sense: three, triad.
נוֹטֵ֣ל  offer 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: נָטַל  
Sense: to lift, bear, bear up.
בְּחַר־  choose 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: בָּחוּר 
Sense: to choose, elect, decide for.
לְךָ֥  for  yourself 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine singular
אַֽחַת־  one  of 
Parse: Number, feminine singular
Root: אֶחָד  
Sense: one (number).
וְאֶֽעֱשֶׂה־  that  I  may  do  [it] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual, first person common singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
לָּֽךְ  to  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular