2 Samuel 24:3

3 Joabe, porém, respondeu ao rei: “Que o SENHOR, o teu Deus, multiplique o povo por cem, e que os olhos do rei, meu senhor, o vejam! Mas, por que o rei, meu senhor, deseja fazer isso?”

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 Mais uma vez irou-se o SENHOR contra Israel e incitou Davi contra o povo, levando-o a fazer um censo de Israel e de Judá.

2 Então o rei disse a Joabe e aos outros comandantes do exército: “Vão por todas as tribos de Israel, de Dã a Berseba, e contem o povo, para que eu saiba quantos são”.

3 Joabe, porém, respondeu ao rei: “Que o SENHOR, o teu Deus, multiplique o povo por cem, e que os olhos do rei, meu senhor, o vejam! Mas, por que o rei, meu senhor, deseja fazer isso?”

4 Mas a palavra do rei prevaleceu sobre a de Joabe e sobre a dos comandantes do exército; então eles saíram da presença do rei para contar o povo de Israel.

5 E, atravessando o Jordão, começaram em Aroer, ao sul da cidade, no vale; depois foram para Gade e de lá para Jazar,