2 Samuel24
King James Version · Public Domain
1And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
2For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer–sheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people.
3And Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?
4Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
5And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer:
6Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim–hodshi; and they came to Dan–jaan, and about to Zidon,
7And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to 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 up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
10And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
11For when David was up in the morning, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,
12Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
13So 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.
14And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
15So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer–sheba seventy thousand men.
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.
17And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.
18And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
19And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded.
20And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.
21And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
22And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.
23All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee.
24And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 2 Samuel 24.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: David numbers the people. (1–9). He chooses the pestilence. (10–15). The staying the pestilence. (16, 17). David's sacrifice, The plague removed. (18–25).
vv1-9
For the people's sin David was left to act wrong, and in his chastisement they received punishment. This example throws light upon God's government of the world, and furnishes a useful lesson. The pride of David's heart, was his sin in numbering of the people. He thought thereby to appear the more formidable, trusting in an arm of flesh more than he should have done, and though he had written so much of trusting in God only. God judges not of sin as we do. What appears to us harmless, or, at least, but a small offence, may be a great sin in the eye of God, who discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. Even ungodly men can discern evil tempers and wrong conduct in believers, of which they themselves often remain unconscious. But God seldom allows those whom he loves the pleasures they sinfully covet.
vv10-15
It is well, when a man has sinned, if he has a heart within to smite him for it. If we confess our sins, we may pray in faith that God would forgive them, and take away, by pardoning mercy, that sin which we cast away by sincere repentance. What we make the matter of our pride, it is just in God to take from us, or make bitter to us, and make it our punishment. This must be such a punishment as the people have a large share in, for though it was David's sin that opened the sluice, the sins of the people all contributed to the flood. In this difficulty, David chose a judgment which came immediately from God, whose mercies he knew to be very great, rather than from men, who would have triumphed in the miseries of Israel, and have been thereby hardened in their idolatry. He chose the pestilence; he and his family would be as much exposed to it as the poorest Israelite; and he would continue for a shorter time under the Divine rebuke, however severe it was. The rapid destruction by the pestilence shows how easily God can bring down the proudest sinners, and how much we owe daily to the Divine patience.
vv16-17
Perhaps there was more wickedness, especially more pride, and that was the sin now chastised, in Jerusalem than elsewhere, therefore the hand of the destroyer is stretched out upon that city; but the Lord repented him of the evil, changed not his mind, but his way. In the very place where Abraham was stayed from slaying his son, this angel, by a like countermand, was stayed from destroying Jerusalem. It is for the sake of the great Sacrifice, that our forfeited lives are preserved from the destroying angel. And in David is the spirit of a true shepherd of the people, offering himself as a sacrifice to God, for the salvation of his subjects.
Key Words
יָסַף: to add or augment (often adverbial, to continue to do a thing)
אַף: properly, the nose or nostril; hence, the face, and occasionally a person; also (from the rapid breathing in passion) ire
חָרָה: to glow or grow warm; figuratively (usually) to blaze up, of anger, zeal, jealousy
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
סוּת: properly, to prick, i.e. (figuratively) stimulate; by implication, to seduce
דָּוִד: David, the youngest son of Jesse
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
יָלַךְ: to walk (literally or figuratively); causatively, to carry (in various senses)
מָנָה: properly, to weigh out; by implication, to allot or constitute officially; also to enumerate or enroll
יְהוּדָה: Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory
Cross References
2 Samuel 24Parallel account explicitly identifies Satan as the active agent/provoker of the numbering.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel text clarifies the choice between three years of famine, three months of flight, or pestilence.
Supported by JFB
Identifies Araunah's threshingfloor (Moriah) as the site where Solomon built the temple.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallel passage emphasizing David's refusal to offer to God that which cost him nothing.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels the idiom of God stirring up a king to act, illustrating permission vs temptation.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Theological parallel regarding God's providential/secret agency (Shimei's cursing) over evil acts.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel recording Joab's strong protest and warning that the census would cause guilt.
Supported by JFB
Provides the differing numbers from Chronicles; reconciled by military vs non-military inclusion.
Supported by JFB
David declares Araunah's threshingfloor as the house of God and altar of burnt offering.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The reference of 'again' links back to the prior divine wrath seen in the famine.
Supported by JFB
Prescribes a ransom-money requirement when numbering Israel to prevent a plague.
Supported by JFB
Confirms the census was never fully completed because wrath fell upon Israel.
Supported by JFB
Mount Moriah connects the place of Isaac's binding to the site of David's altar.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Geographical match for Aroer and the river of Gad (Arnon) where the census began.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Explains 'Tahtim-hodshi' as the territory of the Hagarenes conquered during Saul's reign.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel describing the angel sent to destroy Jerusalem and God staying his hand.
Supported by JFB