Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put his sword back into its sheath.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Yahweh commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.
- KJV And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.
- NKJV So the Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.
- NASB The Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.
- NLT Then the Lord spoke to the angel, who put the sword back into its sheath.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
At the LORD's command, the angel returned his sword to its sheath. The sign of judgment was stayed because atonement had been made.
Overview
The sheathing of the angel's sword marks the end of the plague and the turning away of divine wrath. Judgment ceased not arbitrarily but because sacrifice had been offered on the appointed altar. This pattern, wrath averted through a substitutionary offering, foreshadows the cross, where God's just judgment against sin was fully satisfied in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 103:20Bless the LORD, all His angels mighty in strength who carry out His word, who hearken to the voice of His command.
- Jer 47:6‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’
- Ezek 21:30Return the sword to its sheath! In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.
- 1 Chr 21:15–16Then 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.
- Heb 1:14Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
- John 18:11“Put your sword back in its sheath!” Jesus said to Peter. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?”
- Matt 26:52“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him. “For all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
- 2 Sam 24:16But 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.
- 1 Chr 21:20Now Ornan was threshing wheat when he turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves.
- 1 Chr 21:12between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the LORD—days of plague upon the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”
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Christ at the center
The genealogies and the everlasting covenant with David trace the single thread of promise running through the generations straight to the Christ in whom the line reaches its goal.
How 1 Chronicles 21:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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