2 Samuel 24:3

3 dixitque Ioab regi adaugeat Dominus Deus tuus ad populum quantus nunc est iterumque centuplicet in conspectu domini mei regis sed quid sibi dominus meus rex vult in re huiuscemodi

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 et addidit furor Domini irasci contra Israhel commovitque David in eis dicentem vade numera Israhel et Iudam

2 dixitque rex ad Ioab principem exercitus sui perambula omnes tribus Israhel a Dan usque Bersabee et numerate populum ut sciam numerum eius

3 dixitque Ioab regi adaugeat Dominus Deus tuus ad populum quantus nunc est iterumque centuplicet in conspectu domini mei regis sed quid sibi dominus meus rex vult in re huiuscemodi

4 obtinuit autem sermo regis verba Ioab et principum exercitus egressusque est Ioab et principes militum a facie regis ut numerarent populum Israhel

5 cumque pertransissent Iordanem venerunt in Aroer ad dextram urbis quae est in valle Gad