2 Samuel 24:3

3 Yo'av said to the king, "May ADONAI your God add to the people a hundredfold, no matter how many there are; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king take pleasure in doing this?"

2 Samuel 24:3 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 24:3

And Joab said unto the king
Not so rudely and insolently as he did on account of his mourning for Absalom, but in a more modest, decent, and polite manner:

now the Lord thy God add unto the people (how many soever they be) an
hundredfold;
he wished his subjects were an hundred times more numerous than they were:

and that the eyes of my lord the king may see [it];
that he might live to see with his own eyes so great an increase:

but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?
he being now old, and therefore it might seem strange to indulge such curiosity, pride, and vanity, and besides quite needless and useless: the numbering of them would not make them more or less; and they were all the king's servants, who were ready to obey him whenever he needed them, whether numbered or not; and it might be prejudicial to them, and bring down the wrath of God upon them, as well as be a troublesome and expensive business; all which, though not expressed here, is hinted at in ( 1 Chronicles 21:3 ) .

2 Samuel 24:3 In-Context

1 The anger of ADONAI blazed up against Isra'el, so he moved David to act against them by saying, "Go, take a census of Isra'el and Y'hudah."

2 The king said to Yo'av the commander of the army, who was with him, "Go systematically through all the tribes of Isra'el, from Dan to Be'er-Sheva; and take a census of the population; so that I can know how many people there are."

3 Yo'av said to the king, "May ADONAI your God add to the people a hundredfold, no matter how many there are; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king take pleasure in doing this?"

4 However, the king's word prevailed against Yo'av and the army officers. So Yo'av and the army officers went out from the king's presence to take a census of the people of Isra'el.

5 They crossed the Yarden and pitched camp in 'Aro'er, to the south of the city in the Vadi of Gad; went on to Ya'zer;