2 Samuel 24 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

2 Samuel 24

David’s Census

24:1 Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2 So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army,¹ who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” 3 But Joab said to the king, “May the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” 4 But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. 5 They crossed the Jordan and began from Aroer,² and from the city that is in the middle of the valley, toward Gad and on to Jazer. 6 Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites;³ and they came to Dan, and from Dan⁴ they went around to Sidon, 7 and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. 8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

The Lord’s Judgment of David’s Sin

10 But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” 11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer⁵ you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three⁶ years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

15 So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. 16 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”

David Builds an Altar

18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up at Gad’s word, as the LORD commanded. 20 And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. 21 And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be averted from the people.” 22 Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” 24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels⁷ of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.

Footnotes

[1] 24:2 Septuagint to Joab and the commanders of the army
[2] 24:5 Septuagint; Hebrew encamped in Aroer
[3] 24:6 Septuagint; Hebrew to the land of Tahtim-hodshi
[4] 24:6 Septuagint; Hebrew they came to Dan-jaan and
[5] 24:12 Or hold over
[6] 24:13 Compare 1 Chronicles 21:12, Septuagint; Hebrew seven
[7] 24:24 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

Commentary

v1: See 21.1; we see that events on earth are affected by spiritual failure, and by heavenly powers. Like Job, we cannot know all that goes on 'behind the scenes', nor why things happen as they do. In 1 Chron 21.1, 8, the incident seems to be instigated by Satan. This is part of the mystery of spiritual realities. Our part is to submit to God (James 4.7) so that the devil will flee from us.

v2-3: To number the people was a sign of pride. Even Joab knew that it was not right to have the people counted.

v4: Joab remained loyal to David, but he was prepared to question David's command.

v5-9: Joab and the army commanders travelled around Israel counting the people. The whole task took 9 months and 28 days.

There were still Canaanites in the area, just outside the border of the land; this was a reminder of the on going presence and activity of the enemy. However secure we may think ourselves to be, the enemy remains.

v10: David realised that he had done wrong, and confessed directly to the Lord.

v11-14: God gave His answer through the prophet Gad. David doubtless trusted his words, since he is "David's seer". God had decided that judgment would fall, although David was given the choice of three alternatives; it seems that the judgment was not as a result of his sin here.

David's choice was based on his spiritual perception, since God's mercies are great. Where we have a choice, we must look first to the character of God.

v15-17: The Lord God sent a plague upon the people. His further mercy was shown in that He stopped the destroying angel, even before David offered his prayer. David's concern was for the people, who had died though innocent.

v18: See 2 Chr 3.1; there was judgment upon the people, but God used the opportunity to set apart a place for the temple to be built.

v19-25: David paid Araunah the Jebusite for his threshing floor. Although Araunah offered the whole threshing floor, with his oxen and implements, for nothing, David rightly insisted on paying for it; contrast Mal 1.7-8; real sacrifice demands a cost, otherwise it is no sacrifice. The question is not 'Can I afford it?', but 'Does the Lord deserve it?'