1Again the anger of Jehovah burned against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. 2So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people. 3And Joab said to the king, Now may Jehovah your God add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing? 4Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. Therefore Joab and the commanders of the army went out from before the king to number the people of Israel. 5And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the valley of Gad, and toward Jazer. 6Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon; 7and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to the south of Judah as far as Beer-sheba. 8So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men. 10And David's heart was smitten after he had numbered the people. So David said to Jehovah, I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Jehovah, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly. 11And when David arose in the morning, the Word of Jehovah came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, 12Go and say to David, Thus says Jehovah: I am setting before you three things; choose one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you. 13So Gad came to David and reported to him; and he said to him, Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now consider and see what word I shall take back to Him who sent me. 14And David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Let us fall now into the hand of Jehovah, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man. 15So Jehovah sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men of the people died. 16And when the Angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, Jehovah was moved to compassion regarding the evil, and said to the Angel who was destroying the people, Enough! Now restrain your hand. And the Angel of Jehovah was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17Then David spoke to Jehovah when he saw the Angel who was striking the people, and said, Surely I have sinned, and I have committed iniquity; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father's house. 18And Gad came that day to David and said to him, Go up, build an altar unto Jehovah on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 19And David, according to the word of Gad, went up as Jehovah commanded. 20And Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. 21And Araunah said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar unto Jehovah, that the plague may be restrained from the people. 22And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever is good in his eyes. Behold, the oxen for the burnt offering, and the threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king. And Araunah said to the king, May Jehovah your God accept you. 24And the king said to Araunah, No, but I will buy to acquire it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings unto Jehovah my God for free. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25And David built there an altar unto Jehovah, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And Jehovah was entreated for the land, and the plague was restrained from Israel.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 DAVID NUMBERS THE PEOPLE. (
2Sam 24:1-9)
again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah--"Again" carries us back to the former tokens of His wrath in the three years' famine [
2Sam 21:1]. God, though He cannot tempt any man (
Jas 1:13), is frequently described in Scripture as doing what He merely permits to be done; and so, in this case, He permitted Satan to tempt David. Satan was the active mover, while God only withdrew His supporting grace, and the great tempter prevailed against the king. (See
Exod 7:13;
1Sam 26:19;
2Sam 16:10;
Ps 105:25;
Isa 7:17, &c.). The order was given to Joab, who, though not generally restrained by religious scruples, did not fail to present, in strong terms (see on
1Chr 21:3), the sin and danger of this measure. He used every argument to dissuade the king from his purpose. The sacred history has not mentioned the objections which he and other distinguished officers urged against it in the council of David. But it expressly states that they were all overruled by the inflexible resolution of the king.
5 they passed over Jordan--This census was taken first in the eastern parts of the Hebrew kingdom; and it would seem that Joab was accompanied by a military force, either to aid in this troublesome work, or to overawe the people who might display reluctance or opposition.
the river of Gad--"Wady" would be a better term. It extends over a course estimated at about sixty miles, which, though in summer almost constantly dry, exhibits very evident traces of being swept over by an impetuous torrent in winter (see
Deut 2:36).
6 the land of Tahtim-hodshi--that is, the land lately acquired; namely, that of the Hagarites conquered by Saul (
1Chr 5:10). The progress was northward. Thence they crossed the country, and, proceeding along the western coast to the southern extremities of the country, they at length arrived in Jerusalem, having completed the enumeration of the whole kingdom in the space of nine months and twenty days.
9 Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king--The amount here stated, compared with
1Chr 21:5, gives a difference of three hundred thousand. The discrepancy is only apparent, and admits of an easy reconciliation; thus (see
1Chr 27:1-15), there were twelve divisions of generals, who commanded monthly, and whose duty was to keep guard on the royal person, each having a body of troops consisting of twenty-four thousand men, which, together, formed an army of two hundred eighty-eight thousand; and as a separate detachment of twelve thousand was attendant on the twelve princes of the twelve tribes mentioned in the same chapter, so both are equal to three hundred thousand. These were not reckoned in this book, because they were in the actual service of the king as a regular militia. But
1Chr 21:5 joins them to the rest, saying, "all those of Israel were one million, one hundred thousand"; whereas the author of Samuel, who reckons only the eight hundred thousand, does not say, "all those of Israel," but barely "and Israel were," &c. It must also be observed that, exclusive of the troops before mentioned, there was an army of observation on the frontiers of the Philistines' country, composed of thirty thousand men, as appears from
2Sam 6:1; which, it seems, were included in the number of five hundred thousand of the people of Judah by the author of Samuel. But the author of Chronicles, who mentions only four hundred seventy thousand, gives the number of that tribe exclusive of those thirty thousand men, because they were not all of the tribe of Judah, and therefore he does not say, "all those of Judah," as he had said, "all those of Israel," but only, "and those of Judah." Thus both accounts may be reconciled [DAVIDSON].
10 HE, HAVING THREE PLAGUES PROPOUNDED BY GAD, REPENTS, AND CHOOSES THREE DAYS' PESTILENCE. (
2Sam 24:10-14)
David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned--The act of numbering the people was not in itself sinful; for Moses did it by the express authority of God. But David acted not only independently of such order or sanction, but from motives unworthy of the delegated king of Israel; from pride and vainglory; from self-confidence and distrust of God; and, above all, from ambitious designs of conquest, in furtherance of which he was determined to force the people into military service, and to ascertain whether he could muster an army sufficient for the magnitude of the enterprises he contemplated. It was a breach of the constitution, an infringement of the liberties of the people, and opposed to that divine policy which required that Israel should continue a separate people. His eyes were not opened to the heinousness of his sin till God had spoken unto him by His commissioned prophet.
13 Shall seven years of famine come unto thee--that is, in addition to the three that had been already, with the current year included (see on
1Chr 21:11).
14 David said, . . . Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord--His overwhelming sense of his sin led him to acquiesce in the punishment denounced, notwithstanding its apparent excess of severity. He proceeded on a good principle in choosing the pestilence. In pestilence he was equally exposed, as it was just and right he should be, to danger as his people, whereas, in war and famine, he possessed means of protection superior to them. Besides, he thereby showed his trust, founded on long experience, in the divine goodness.
15 HIS INTERCESSION TO GOD; THE PLAGUE CEASES. (
2Sam 24:15-25)
from the morning--rather that morning when Gad came [
2Sam 24:18], till the end of the three days.
there died of the people . . . seventy thousand men--Thus was the pride of the vainglorious monarch, confiding in the number of his population, deeply humbled.
16 the Lord repented him of the evil--God is often described in Scripture as repenting when He ceased to pursue a course He had begun.
17 David . . . said--or, "had said,"
I have sinned . . . but these sheep, what have they done?--The guilt of numbering the people lay exclusively with David. But in the body politic as well as natural, when the head suffers, all the members suffer along with it; and, besides, although David's sin was the immediate cause, the great increase of national offenses at this time had (
2Sam 24:1) kindled the anger of the Lord.
18 Araunah--or Ornan (
1Chr 21:18), the Jebusite, one of the ancient inhabitants, who, having become a convert to the true religion, retained his house and possessions. He resided on Mount Moriah, the spot on which the temple was afterwards built (
2Chr 3:1); but that mount was not then enclosed in the town.
21 to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed--It is evident that the plague was not stayed till after the altar was built, and the sacrifice offered, so that what is related (
2Sam 24:16) was by anticipation. Previous to the offering of this sacrifice, he had seen the destroying angel as well as offered the intercessory prayer (
2Sam 24:17). This was a sacrifice of expiation; and the reason why he was allowed to offer it on Mount Moriah was partly in gracious consideration to his fear of repairing to Gibeon (
1Chr 21:29-30), and partly in anticipation of the removal of the tabernacle and the erection of the temple there (
2Chr 3:1).
23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, give--Indicating, as the sense is, that this man had been anciently a heathen king or chief, but was now a proselyte who still retained great property and influence in Jerusalem, and whose piety was evinced by the liberality of his offers. The words, "as a king," are taken by some to signify simply, "he gave with royal munificence."
24 Nay; . . . I will . . . buy it of thee at a price--The sum mentioned here, namely, fifty shekels of silver, equal Ł6 sterling, was paid for the floor, oxen and wood instruments only, whereas the large sum (
1Chr 21:25) was paid afterwards for the whole hill, on which David made preparations for building the temple.
25 David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings--There seem to have been two sacrifices; the first expiatory, the second a thanksgiving for the cessation of the pestilence (see on
1Chr 21:26).