1Ch 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
2Sa 24:1 And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
This chapter, with the exception of the last three verses, is the same as 2Sa_24:1 with some variations.
And Satan stood up against Israel - Satan is introduced here for the first time by name. He appears not merely as an “adversary” who seeks to injure man from without, but as a Tempter able to ruin him by suggesting sinful acts and thoughts from within. In this point of view, the revelation made of him here is the most advanced in the Old Testament.
Satan stood up against Israel - The difficulty in reconciling the statement here, “Satan provoked David,” etc. with that of Samuel, “the Lord moved David,” etc. 2Sa_24:1 is not serious. All temptation is permitted by God. When evil spirits tempt us, they do so by permission (Job_1:12; Job_2:6; Luk_22:31, etc.). If Satan therefore provoked David to number the peopIe, God allowed him. And what God allows, He may be said to do.
Satan stood up against Israel - In the parallel verse in 2 Samuel 24, God moves David against them. God could not be angry with David for numbering the people if he moved him to do it; but here it is expressly said, Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. David, in all probability, slackening in his piety and confidence toward God, and meditating some extension of his dominions without the Divine counsel or command, was naturally curious to know whether the number of fighting men in his empire was sufficient for the work which he had projected. He therefore orders Joab and the captains to take an exact account of all the effective men in Israel and Judah. God is justly displeased with this conduct, and determines that the props of his vain ambition shall be taken away, either by famine, war, or pestilence.
Satan stood up against Israel - Before the Lord and his tribunal to accuse David and Israel, and to beg God's permission to tempt David. Standing is the accusers posture before men's tribunals; and consequently the holy scripture (which speaks of the things of God, after the manner of men, to bring them down to our capacities) elsewhere represent Satan in this posture.
Satan stood up against Israel - God, though He cannot tempt any man (Jam_1:13), is frequently described in Scripture as doing what He merely permits to be done; and so, in this case, He permitted Satan to tempt David. Satan was the active mover, while God only withdrew His supporting grace, and the great tempter prevailed against the king.
No mention is made in this book of David's sin in the matter of Uriah, neither of the troubles that followed it. But David's sin, in numbering the people, is related: in the atonement made for that sin, there was notice of the place on which the temple should be built. The command to David to build an altar, was a blessed token of reconciliation. God testified his acceptance of David's offerings on this altar. Thus Christ was made sin, and a curse for us; it pleased the Lord to bruise him, that through him, God might be to us, not a consuming Fire, but a reconciled God.
To number Israel — In the act of taking the census of a people, there is not only no evil. But in numbering Israel, the people who were to become as the stars for multitude, implying a distrust of the divine promise, was a sin; and though it had been done with impunity in the time of Moses, at that enumeration each of the people had contributed “half a shekel towards the building of the tabernacle,” that there might be no plague among them when he numbered them Exo_30:11-12 And the LORD spoke to Moses saying, When you count the sons of Israel, of those who are to be counted, then they shall each man give a ransom for his soul to the LORD when you number them, so that there may be no plague among them when you number them. Hence the numbering of that people was in itself regarded as an undertaking by which the anger of God could be easily aroused; but when the arrangements were made by Moses for the taking of the census, God was not angry because the people were numbered for the express purpose of the tax for the sanctuary, and the money which was thus collected (“the atonement money,” Exo_30:16) appeased Him. Everything depended, therefore, upon the design of the census.
1Ch 21:2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
2Sa 24:2 For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people.
from Beersheba even to Dan - from the southern part of the land of Israel to the northern part of it.
bring the number of them to me, that I may know it - so that this appears to be done not through any urgent necessity, but merely out of curiosity, and to gratify the pride of his heart, and please himself with the thought of ruling such a numerous people, and brag of their numbers to other nations, and place his confidence therein; and no wonder it was displeasing to the Lord.
1Ch 21:3 And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?
2Sa 24:3 And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?
Joab answered - This man of questionable character saw that the measure now recommended by the king was a wrong one, and might be ruinous to the people, and therefore he remonstrates against it in a very sensible speech; but the king was infatuated, and would hear no reason.
The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be - he wished his subjects were an hundred times more numerous than they were:
why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel — or bring an occasion of punishment on Israel. In Hebrew, the word “sin” is often used synonymously with the punishment of sin. God commonly punishes the people for the sins of their rulers, because they are for the most part guilty of their sins in one kind or other; or at least God takes this occasion to punish people for all their sins.
1Ch 21:4 Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.
2Sa 24:4 Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
1Ch 21:5 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.
2Sa 24:9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
Joab gave the sum of the number of the people - It amounted to one million one hundred thousand men in Israel, capable of bearing arms, inclusive of the three hundred thousand military (1Ch_27:1-9), which, being already enlisted in the royal service, were not reckoned in 2Sa_24:9, and to four hundred seventy thousand men in Judah, omitting thirty thousand which formed an army of observation stationed on the Philistine frontier in 2Sa_6:1. So large a population at this early period, considering the limited extent of the country and comparing it with the earlier census (Num_26:1-65), is a striking proof of the fulfillment of the promise Gen_15:5 And He brought him outside and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And He said to him, So shall your seed be.
Joab gave the sum of the number of the people – In 2 Samuel 24:9 they number eight hundred thousand and five hundred thousand. In this verse from Chronicles the numbers are different. It is also stated in 1Ch_21:6, that Joab purposely omitted Levi and Benjamin from the reckoning. It is probable therefore that the Chronicler has included in his statement of the sum total some numbers which are not included here. Perhaps the difference in the two texts arose chiefly from the fact that the statements were merely founded upon oral tradition, since, according to 1Ch_27:24, the result of the census was not inserted in the annals of the kingdom. 1Ch_27:24 Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he did not finish because wrath fell against the sons of Israel for this. And the number did not go up in the account of the chronicles of King David.
1Ch 21:6 But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's word was abominable to Joab.
Levi and Benjamin counted he not - To omit the Levites would be to follow the precedent recorded in Num_1:47-49. The omission of Benjamin must he ascribed to a determination on the part of Joab to frustrate the king’s intention, whereby he might hope to avert God’s wrath from the people.
1Ch 21:7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.
God was displeased with this thing - Because this was done without any necessity, and out of mere curiosity, and ostentation.
1Ch 21:8 And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
2Sa 24:10 And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
I have sinned greatly – he saw and owned his sin to be exceeding sinful.
And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned — The act of numbering the people was not in itself sinful; for Moses did it by the express authority of God. But David acted not only independently of such order or sanction, but from motives unworthy of the delegated king of Israel; from pride and vainglory; from self-confidence and distrust of God; and, above all, from ambitious designs of conquest, in furtherance of which he was determined to force the people into military service, and to ascertain whether he could muster an army sufficient for the magnitude of the enterprises he contemplated. It was a breach of the constitution, an infringement of the liberties of the people, and opposed to that divine policy which required that Israel should continue a separate people.
1Ch 21:9 And the LORD spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying,
2Sa 24:11 For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,
David’s seer - A holy man of God, under the Divine influence, whom David had as a domestic chaplain. David used to advise about the will of God on various occasions, though in this he had neglected to consult him.
the Lord spake unto Gad, David’s seer - Although David was himself endowed with a prophetic gift, yet, in matters relating to himself or his kingdom, he was in the habit of consulting the Lord through the priests; and when he failed to do so, a prophet was sent on extraordinary occasions to admonish or chastise him. Gad was occasionally employed as the bearer of these prophetic messages.
1Ch 21:10 Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
2Sa 24:12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
Go and tell David - Not my servant David, as Nathan was bid to say to him when it was in his heart to build an house for him, 2Sa_7:5; but now he had sinned and displeased the Lord, and therefore it is only plain David.
1Ch 21:11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee
So Gad came to David, and told him - Said nothing to him about his sin, but correction for it; which confirms it that David was made sensible of his sin before he came to him:
1Ch 21:12 Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
2Sa 24:13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
three years' famine - In 2Sa_24:13, it is seven years; the Septuagint has three years. 1 Chronicles 21:12 either three years of famine, or that thou shouldest flee three months from the face of thine enemies, and the sword of thine enemies [shall be employed] to destroy thee, or that the sword of the Lord and pestilence [should be] three days in the land, and the angel of the Lord [shall be] destroying in all the inheritance of Israel. And now consider what I shall answer to him that sent the message. (Septuagint)
three years' famine - The “seven” years of famine correspond with the “seven” years of famine in Gen_41:27, Gen_41:30, and with the same number of years in 2Ki_8:1. But in Chronicles and the Septuagint, it is “three years,” which agrees better with the “three” months and “three” days.
Three days the sword of the Lord - or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land - which in 1Ch_21:12 is called "the sword of the Lord", in distinction from the sword of man.
1Ch 21:13 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.
2Sa 24:14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
let me fall now into the hand of the Lord - had David chosen war, his personal safety was in no danger, as there was an ordinance preventing him from going to battle; and in famine, his wealth would have secured his and his family's support; but all were equally exposed to the pestilence. Heb_10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
let me fall now into the hand of the Lord - Experience had taught him that human passion and vengeance had no bounds, whereas our wise and gracious Father in heaven knows the kind, and regulates the extent, of chastisement which every one needs.
1Ch 21:14 So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.
2Sa 24:15 So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.
There fell seventy thousand - He was proud of the number of his people, but God took a course to make them fewer. Justly is that we are proud of so, taken from us, or embittered to us.
1Ch 21:15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2Sa 24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
1Ch 21:16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
David and the elders clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces - Facts additional to the narrative of Samuel; But facts natural in themselves, and in harmony with that narrative. The account of David's repentant beseeching of the Lord to turn away the primitive judgment, and the word of the Lord proclaimed to him by the prophet, commanding him to build an altar to the Lord in the place where the destroying angel visibly appeared, together with the carrying out of this divine command by the purchase of Araunah's threshing-floor, the erection of an altar, and the offering of burnt-offering, is given more at length in the Chronicle than in 2Sa_24:17-25. In substance both accounts perfectly correspond, except that in the Chronicle several subordinate circumstances are preserved, which, as being minor points, are passed over in Samuel. In 1Ch_21:16, the description of the angel's appearance, that he had a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, and the statement that David and the elders, clad in sackcloth (garments indicating repentance), fell down before the Lord; in 1Ch_21:20, the mention of Ornan's (Araunah's) sons, who hid themselves on beholding the angel, and of the fact that Ornan was engaged in threshing wheat when David came to him; and the statement in 1Ch_21:26, that fire came down from heaven upon the altar-are examples of such minor points.
David and the elders clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces — They appeared in the garb and assumed the attitude of humble penitents, confessing their sins, and deprecating the wrath of God. In mourning garments, humbling themselves before God for their sins, and deprecating his wrath against the people.
1Ch 21:17 And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.
2Sa 24:17 And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.
1Ch 21:18 Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2Sa 24:18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say — The commanding of David to build an altar, was a blessed token of reconciliation. For if God had been pleased to kill him, he would not have commanded, because he would not have accepted a sacrifice at his hands. The order about the erection of an altar, as well as the indication of its site, is described in 2Sa_24:18 as brought directly by Gad. Here we are informed of the source from which the prophet got his commission. It is only in the later stages of Israel’s history that we find angels employed in communicating the divine will to the prophets.
1Ch 21:19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD.
2Sa 24:19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded.
1Ch 21:20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
Ornan turned back, and saw the angel - 1 Chronicles 21:20 And Orna turned and saw the king; and he hid himself and his four sons with him. Now Orna was threshing wheat. (Septuagint) Note the difference between the version in Chronicles, in the Septuagint, and in 2 Samuel. 1Ch_21:20 contains a statement which is not found in Samuel, that Ornan (Araunah), while threshing with his four sons, turned and saw the angel, and being terrified at the sight, hid himself with his sons. After that, David with his train came from Zion to the threshing-floor in Mouth Moriah, and Araunah looking out saw the king, and came out of the threshing-floor to meet him, with deep obeisance.
Ornan was threshing wheat — If the census was entered upon in autumn, the beginning of the civil year, the nine and a half months it occupied would end at wheat harvest. The common way of threshing grain is by spreading it out on a high level area, and driving backwards and forwards upon it two oxen harnessed to a clumsy sledge with three rollers and some sharp spikes. The driver sits on his knees on the box, while another person is employed in drawing back the straw and separating it from the grain underneath. By this operation the chaff is very much chopped, and the grain threshed out.
Hid themselves - Because of the glory and majesty in which the angel appeared, which mens weak natures are not able to bear; and from the fear of God's vengeance which now seemed to be coming to their family.
1Ch 21:21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.
2Sa 24:20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.
1Ch 21:22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.
2Sa 24:21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
1Ch 21:23 And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.
2Sa 24:22-23 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.
the threshing instruments for wood — that is, to burn the sacrifice of the oxen. The offering was made for instant use. Ornan, hereby hoping to terminate the pestilence without a moment’s delay, “gave all,” oxen, the large threshing machine, and the wheat.
1Ch 21:24 And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.
2Sa 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
I will surely buy it of thee - Had Ornan’s noble offer been accepted, it would have been Ornan’s sacrifice, not David's; nor would it have answered the end of turning away the displeasure of the Most High. It was David that sinned, not Ornan; therefore David must offer sacrifice.
1Ch 21:25 So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.
2Sa 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
David gave for the place six hundred shekels of gold — At first he bought only the cattle and the threshing instruments, for which he paid fifty shekels of silver (2Sa_24:24); afterwards he purchased the whole property, Mount Moriah, on which the future temple stood.
1Ch 21:26 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.
2Sa 24:25 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.
He answered him from heaven by fire - This fact is not mentioned by the author of Samuel, since his object is to give an account of the sin of David, its punishment, and the circumstances by which that punishment was brought to a close, not to connect those circumstances with anything further in the history. With the writer of Chronicles the case is different. He would probably have omitted the whole narrative, as he did the sin of David in the matter of Uriah, but for its connection with the fixing of the temple site 1 Chr. 22. It was perhaps the fact that God answered him by fire from heaven on this altar, which determined David, and Solomon after him, to build the temple on the spot so consecrated.
He answered him from heaven by fire - In answer to David’s prayers, God, to show that he had accepted him, and was now pacified towards him and the people, sent fire from heaven and consumed the offerings.
He answered him from heaven by fire - The fire which came down from heaven upon the altar of burnt-offering was the visible sign by which the Lord assured the king that his prayer had been heard, and his offering graciously accepted. The reality of this sign of the gracious acceptance of an offering is placed beyond doubt by the analogous cases, Lev_9:24; 1Ki_18:24, 1Ki_18:38, and 2Ch_7:1. It was only by this sign of the divine complacence that David learnt that the altar built upon the threshing-floor of Araunah had been chosen by the Lord as the place where Israel should always thereafter offer their burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as is further recorded in 1Ch_21:28-30. and in 1Ch_22:1. From the cessation of the pestilence in consequence of his prayer and sacrifice, David could only draw the conclusion that God had forgiven him his transgression, but could not have known that God had chosen the place where he had built the altar for the offering demanded by God as a permanent place of sacrifice. This certainly he obtained only by the divine answer, and this answer was the fire which came down upon the altar of burnt-offering and devoured the sacrifice. This 1Ch_21:28 states: “At the time when he saw that Jahve had answered him at the threshing-floor of Ornan, he offered sacrifice there,” i.e., from that time forward.
1Ch 21:27 And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.
he returned the sword into its sheath - The returning of the sword into its sheath is a figurative expression for the stopping of the pestilence
1Ch 21:28 At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.
when David saw that the Lord had answered him he sacrificed there — or, “he continued to sacrifice there.” When he perceived that his sacrifice was acceptable to God, he proceeded to offer more sacrifices in that place.
1Ch 21:29 For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon.
1Ch 21:30 But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD.
Because of the sword of the angel - David, knowing that by sacrifice on this altar he had caused the angel to stay his hand, was afraid to transfer his offerings elsewhere, lest the Angel should resume his task and pestilence again break out. This is given as a reason why David built an altar in the threshing-floor of Ornan: he was afraid to go to Gibeon, because of the sword of the destroying angel, or he was afraid of delaying the offerings so long as his going thither would require, lest the destroying angel should in the mean while exterminate the people; therefore he hastily built an altar in that place, and on it made the requisite offerings, and by the fire from heaven God showed that he had accepted his act and his devotion.
