So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
Ver. 13. Shall seven years of famine?] That is, Shall there to the three bygone years of famine, and to this Sabbatical year - qui nova messe destitutus priora damna resarcire non potest, which, having no new harvest, cannot make up the losses of the last years - be added three more such? 1Ch 21:11
Or that there be three days' pestilence in the land?] An extraordinary pestilence, inflicted by the hand of a destroying angel. Hippocrates Pestem το Yειον, vocat. a But how happy was Ferdinand III, king of Spain, who reigned thirty-five years, and during all that time there was neither famine nor pestilence in his dominions. b
a In Prognost.
b Lopez, Gloss. in Prolog., part. i.