2 Samuel 24:3

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?”

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 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.