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2 Samuel 24

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¹Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”

²So the king said to Joab the commander of his army, who was with him, “Go now throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the troops, so that I may know their number.”

³But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”

⁴Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army departed from the presence of the king to register the troops of Israel.

⁵They crossed the Jordan and camped near Aroer, south of the town in the middle of the valley, and proceeded toward Gad and Jazer.

⁶Then they went to Gilead and the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon.

⁷They went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to the Negev of Judah, to Beersheba.

⁸At the end of nine months and twenty days, having gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem.

⁹And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 men of valor who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000.

¹⁰After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

¹¹When David got up in the morning, the word of the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer:

¹²“Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’”

¹³So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”

¹⁴David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

¹⁵So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.

¹⁶But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”

¹⁸And that day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

¹⁹So David went up at the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded.

²⁰When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, he went out and bowed facedown before the king.

²¹“Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said. “To buy your threshing floor,” David replied, “that I may build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”

²²Araunah said to David, “May my lord the king take whatever seems good to him and offer it up. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood.

²³O king, Araunah gives all these to the king.” He also said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.”

²⁴“No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

²⁵And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.

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Matthew Henry Concise Commentary

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2 Samuel 24:1-9 Verses 1-9

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.

2 Samuel 24:10-15 Verses 10-15

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.

2 Samuel 24:16-17 Verses 16, 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.

2 Samuel 24:18-25 Verses 18-25

God's encouraging us to offer to him spiritual sacrifices, is an evidence of his reconciling us to himself. David purchased the ground to build the altar. God hates robbery for burnt-offering. Those know not what religion is, who chiefly care to make it cheap and easy to themselves, and who are best pleased with that which costs them least pains or money. For what have we our substance, but to honour God with it; and how can it be better bestowed? See the building of the altar, and the offering proper sacrifices upon it. Burnt-offerings to the glory of God's justice; peace-offerings to the glory of his mercy. Christ is our Altar, our Sacrifice; in him alone we may expect to escape his wrath, and to find favour with God. Death is destroying all around, in so many forms, and so suddenly, that it is madness not to expect and prepare for the close of life.

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Key Words and Topics

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Key Words in This Passage

Lord 22 in this passage King 14 in this passage David 12 in this passage Israel 7 in this passage May 7 in this passage Araunah 6 in this passage Gad 6 in this passage Went 6 in this passage Joab 5 in this passage Land 5 in this passage Threshing 5 in this passage Troops 5 in this passage Angel 4 in this passage Floor 4 in this passage Hand 4 in this passage People 4 in this passage Plague 4 in this passage Three 4 in this passage Altar 3 in this passage Army 3 in this passage Beersheba 3 in this passage Burnt 3 in this passage Fall 3 in this passage God 3 in this passage

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Related Topics

Afflictions and Adversities: Resignation In, Exemplified 2 Samuel 24:14

David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

Altar: Built by David 2 Samuel 24:18, 19

And that day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” / So David went up at the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded.

Altars of David 2 Samuel 24:21, 25

“Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said. “To buy your threshing floor,” David replied, “that I may build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.” / And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.

Angel (A Spirit): Appearances of To David, at the Threshing Floor of Araunah 2 Samuel 24:16, 17

But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. / When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”

Angel (A Spirit): Execute Judgments Upon the Wicked 2 Samuel 24:16, 17

Angel (Holy Trinity): One of the Holy Trinity: Called Angel of the Lord 2 Samuel 24:16

Angels: Execute the Judgments of God 2 Samuel 24:16

Anthropomorphisms: Miscellaneous Figures 2 Samuel 24:16

Araunah: A Jebusite from Whom David Bought a Site for an Altar 2 Samuel 24:16–24

Armies: Enumeration of Israel's Military Forces 2 Samuel 24:1–9

Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.” / So the king said to Joab the commander of his army, who was with him, “Go now throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the troops, so that I may know their number.” / But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”

Beer-Sheba: The Most Southern City of Palestine in the Inheritance of Judah 2 Samuel 24:7

They went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to the Negev of Judah, to Beersheba.

Benedictions by Araunah, Upon David 2 Samuel 24:23

O king, Araunah gives all these to the king.” He also said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.”

Census: The Numbering of Israel by David 2 Samuel 24:1–9

Choice: Between Judgments, by David 2 Samuel 24:12

“Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’”

Confession of Sin: David 2 Samuel 24:10

After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

Confession of Sin: should be Accompanied With: Prayer for Forgiveness 2 Samuel 24:10

Conscience for Having Numbered the People of Israel 2 Samuel 24:10

Conscience: Accuses of Sin 2 Samuel 24:10

Contingencies in Divine Government of Man 2 Samuel 24:12–14

“Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’” / So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.” / David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

Dan-Jaan: A Place Near the Source of the Jordan River 2 Samuel 24:6

Then they went to Gilead and the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon.

David: King of Israel: Devoutness of 2 Samuel 24:25

And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.

David: King of Israel: Takes the Military Strength of Israel Without Divine Authority, and is Reproved 2 Samuel 24:1

Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”

Diseases: Plague 2 Samuel 24:15, 21, 25

So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. / “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said. “To buy your threshing floor,” David replied, “that I may build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.” / And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.

Faith in Choosing to Fall Into the Hands of the Almighty for his Punishment for Counting the People of Israel 2 Samuel 24:14

David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.”

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Related Dictionary Terms

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Peace offerings (Heb. shelamim), detailed regulations regarding given in Lev. 3; 7:11-21,… Burnt offering Hebrew olah; i.e., "ascending," the whole being consumed by fire,… Tahtim-hodshi The land of the newly inhabited, (2 Sam. 24:6). It… Conscience That faculty of the mind, or inborn sense of right… Canaanites The descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. Migrating from… Threshing See [633]AGRICULTURE. Jerusalem Called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the "city of God," the… Beersheba Well of the oath, or well of seven, a well… Shepherd A word naturally of frequent occurence in Scripture. Sometimes the… Dan-jaan Woodland Dan, a place probably somewhere in the direction of… Offering An oblation, dedicated to God. Thus Cain consecrated to God… Araunah Agile; also called Ornan 1 Chr. 21:15, a Jebusite who… Prophet (Heb. nabi, from a root meaning "to bubble forth, as… Hivites One of the original tribes scattered over Palestine, from Hermon… Famine The first mentioned in Scripture was so grievous as to… Father A name applied (1) to any ancestor (Deut. 1:11; 1… Jordan Heb. Yarden, "the descender;" Arab. Nahr-esh-Sheriah, "the watering-place" the chief… Silver Used for a great variety of purposes, as may be…