2 Samuel 24:1

David’s Military Census

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.” ¹

2 Samuel 24:1 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 24:1

And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel,
&c.] It had been kindled, and appeared before in sending a three years' famine among them for Saul's ill usage of the Gibeonites, ( 2 Samuel 21:1 ) ; and now it broke forth again, either for some secret sins committed, as Kimchi suggests, or for the rebellion of Absalom, and the insurrection of Sheba, in which multitudes of them joined; so Abarbinel; no doubt there was cause for it, though it is not expressed:

and he moved David against them;
not the Lord, but Satan, as may be supplied from ( 1 Chronicles 21:1 ) ; or "it moved him"; the anger of the Lord, as the last mentioned writer interprets it; or the heart of David, as Ben Gersom; that is, the evil imagination of his heart, as Kimchi; the Lord left him to the corruption of his nature, sometimes called Satan, ( 2 Corinthians 12:7 ) ; which wrought powerfully in him, and stirred him up to take a step contrary to the interest of Israel, and what was prejudicial to them, as the event showed: it moved him to say; to Joab and his captains:

go, number Israel and Judah:
not all the individuals, but such as were fit for war, able to bear arms, see ( 2 Samuel 24:9 ) .

2 Samuel 24:1 In-Context

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.”

2 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.”

3 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?”

4 Nevertheless, 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.

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

Cross References

• 1. (Exodus 30:11–16; 1 Chronicles 21:1–6)