2 Samuel 24:3

3 And Joab said to the king, Thy Lord God increase to this people, how great it is now, and again multiply he it an hundredfold in the sight of my lord the king; but what will my lord the king to himself in such a thing? (And Joab said to the king, May the Lord thy God increase this people to be more numerous than they be now, and may he multiply them a hundredfold before my lord the king; but why would my lord the king desire to do such a thing as to count the people?)

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 And the strong vengeance of the Lord added to be wroth against Israel, and he stirred against them David, saying to Joab, Go thou, and number thou Israel and Judah. (And again the Lord was angry with Israel, and in his strong vengeance he stirred David against them, so that he said to Joab, Go thou, and count the people of Israel and Judah.)

2 And the king said to Joab, the prince of his host, Go thou by all the lineages of Israel, from Dan till to Beersheba, and number thou the people, that I know the number thereof. (And the king said to Joab, the leader of his army, Go thou through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan unto Beersheba, and count the people, so that I can know their number.)

3 And Joab said to the king, Thy Lord God increase to this people, how great it is now, and again multiply he it an hundredfold in the sight of my lord the king; but what will my lord the king to himself in such a thing? (And Joab said to the king, May the Lord thy God increase this people to be more numerous than they be now, and may he multiply them a hundredfold before my lord the king; but why would my lord the king desire to do such a thing as to count the people?)

4 But the word of the king overcame the words of Joab, and of the princes of the host; and Joab went out, and the princes of the knights, from the face of the king, that they should number the people of Israel. (But the king's word overruled what Joab and the other leaders of the army said; and so Joab, and the leaders of the horsemen, went out from before the king, to count the people of Israel.)

5 And when they had passed [over] Jordan (And when they had crossed over the Jordan River), they came into Aroer, to the right side of the city that is in the valley of Gad; and they passed forth by Jazer