And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Yahweh commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.
- BSB Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put his sword back into its sheath.
- 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, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
- Jer 47:6O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
- Ezek 21:30Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.
- 1 Chr 21:15–16And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
- Heb 1:14Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
- John 18:11Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
- Matt 26:52Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
- 2 Sam 24:16And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
- 1 Chr 21:20And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
- 1 Chr 21:12Either 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.
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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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