1 Chronicles 21:3

3 Joab replied, "May the Lord multiply the number of His people a hundred times over! My lord the king, aren't they all my lord's servants? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?"

1 Chronicles 21:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 21:3

(See Gill on 1 Chronicles 21:1).

1 Chronicles 21:3 In-Context

1 Satan stood up against Israel and incited David to count [the people of] Israel.

2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan and bring [a report] to me so I can know their number."

3 Joab replied, "May the Lord multiply the number of His people a hundred times over! My lord the king, aren't they all my lord's servants? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?"

4 Yet the king's order prevailed over Joab. So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel and then returned to Jerusalem.

5 Joab gave David the total of the registration of the troops. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 swordsmen and in Judah itself 470,000 swordsmen.