2 Samuel 24:8

8 They canvassed the whole country and after nine months and twenty days arrived back in Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 24:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 24:8

So when they had gone through all the land
Beginning at the east, and from thence to the north, and then going about to the west, came to the south, which finished their circuit:

they came to Jerusalem, at the end of nine months and twenty days:
they were ten months wanting ten days in numbering the people; in which they seem to have been very expeditious.

2 Samuel 24:8 In-Context

6 proceeded through Gilead, passed Hermon, then on to Dan, but detoured Sidon.

7 They covered Fort Tyre and all the Hivite and Canaanite cities, and finally reached the Negev of Judah at Beersheba.

8 They canvassed the whole country and after nine months and twenty days arrived back in Jerusalem.

9 Joab gave the results of the census to the king: 800,000 able-bodied fighting men in Israel; in Judah 500,000.

10 But when it was all done, David was overwhelmed with guilt because he had counted the people, replacing trust with statistics. And David prayed to God, "I have sinned badly in what I have just done. But now God forgive my guilt - I've been really stupid."