2 Samuel 24 Study Notes

24:1 The particular sin that brought about God’s wrath is not given. First Ch 21:1 credits Satan with enticing David, but no contradiction exists. Both verses are correct; God is able to use even Satan to accomplish his purposes (Jb 1:12; 2:6). Here, God allowed Satan to entice David to count the people, an act that, while acceptable under certain circumstances (Ex 30:12), here probably revealed that David was putting trust in his military power rather than in the Lord’s protection and guidance. Another possibility is that David failed to instruct his commanders to collect the half-shekel poll tax, bringing on the plague (Ex 30:12-13). In either case, God did not force David to make the wrong decision.

24:2 On from Dan to Beer-sheba, see note at 17:11.

24:3 Joab appears to have been concerned about his king’s motives, though he veiled his concern with words of blessing.

24:4 The king’s order prevailed is probably a reference to David telling Joab he wanted the census conducted—period.

24:5 Aroer was the southernmost part of Israel’s territory east of the Jordan River. Gad and Jazer lay between the Jordan Valley and Ammon.

24:6 Some manuscripts read “Dan, Ijon” instead of Dan-jaan, referring to a second city near Dan at Israel’s northern border. Sidon, a Phoenician city, nonetheless may have had an Israelite garrison there (5:11).

24:7 Tyre was also a Phoenician city. The expression cities of the Hivites and Canaanites probably designates areas that David had controlled. Joab may have counted the foreign population as well, or merely the Israelite soldiers maintaining order in those regions. The Negev of Judah at Beer-sheba completed their counterclockwise loop through the land, and Joab’s delegation probably headed up the patriarchal highway through Hebron and back to Jerusalem with its census numbers.

24:8-9 On men from Israel . . . men from Judah, see note at 19:41. The numbers given in the parallel passage in 1Ch 21:5 differ significantly, but both authors appear to have rounded their numbers, and the Chronicler may have included Judah’s number in Israel’s number as well.

24:10 David’s conscience troubled him, revealing again that the work of God in his heart was not in vain. He confessed his sin and waited on the Lord’s response.

24:11 The Lord’s response came in the morning. The prophet Gad ministered during David’s reign and committed certain events of David’s life to writing (1Ch 29:29), though these writings have not been discovered.

24:12-13 David received three choices from the Lord through Gad—famine, military defeat, or plague. The seriousness of these punishments revealed the gravity of David’s sin.

24:14 Again, David revealed his heart. He knew mercies might come from the Lord, but not from the human hands of his enemies. Who knew whether God’s grace might avert disaster (see note at 12:22)?

24:15 Until the appointed time means that it was the third day, though one more act of destruction was planned.

24:16 When the angel whom God had sent to bring the plague extended his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, David’s thinking proved correct. The Lord relented and spared the city. The Jebusites, part of the original Canaanite population during the days of Joshua (Jos 24:11), held Jerusalem until David conquered them (2Sm 5:6-8). Araunah apparently had continued to live in the area following David’s conquest.

24:17 David asked the Lord, these sheep, what have they done? He pleaded with God to strike only him and his family, but sin often has consequences that affect others besides the person who has sinned.

24:18-19 This altar to the Lord would mark the point where the plague had stopped.

24:20 Araunah’s threshing floor sat above Jerusalem to the north, in the area where Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice and where Solomon would later build the temple (2Ch 3:1). Since threshing utilized the wind, threshing floors probably were often in high parts of cities.

24:21 It is somewhat surprising that David wishes to buy the threshing floor, as Araunah acknowledges.

24:22 Araunah made David a generous offer: My lord the king may take whatever he wants. Probably his offer was sincere; besides, especially as a foreigner, he was not in a position to bargain with Israel’s king. Or Araunah may have anticipated the king would respond with a price (Gn 23:7-16).

24:23 The first sentence of this verse is literally, “All he gives Araunah the king to the king.” The first “the king” is usually taken as a vocative, Your majesty or “O king.” But some have argued that Araunah was the last Jebusite king of Jerusalem (cp. KJV).

24:24 David, however, knew that all genuine sacrifice came at a price. To offer to the Lord burnt offerings that cost . . . nothing would have been to David a sign of the deepest ingratitude. In light of this, twenty ounces of silver was probably more than a fair price.

24:25 Burnt offerings typically signified the general dedication of the worshiper (Lv 1). Fellowship offerings involved a meal shared by priest and worshiper, and they could be offered to express thankfulness—in this case thankfulness that the plague on Israel, while severe, had not destroyed Jerusalem.