2 Samuel 24
24:1 a The reason God’s anger ... burned against Israel is unknown (but see Deut 4:25 b; 6:14-15 c; 29:22-28 d; 31:16-18 e).• Caused ... to harm reflects a Hebrew verb (suth) used elsewhere in the sense of enticing or inciting someone to do wrong (1 Sam 26:19 f, “stirred you up against me”). Census-taking was usually unpopular with citizens, who resented it as an intrusion into their private affairs. They regarded it as a prelude to taxation or forced military service (see study note on 2 Sam 24:9). If David was motivated by pride or was preparing for an illegitimate war (as 24:9 g might suggest), this might explain why it was a sin for him (24:10 h).
24:2 i Dan and Beersheba were the traditional northern and southern boundaries of Israel. This phrase meant the entire land of Israel.
24:3 j why ... do you want to do this? Joab either realized that such a move would be unpopular among the people, or he believed that it was wrong before God.
24:9 k The phrase capable warriors shows that the census focused largely on those fit for military service. The total for Judah here might be rounded up from the total in 1 Chr 21:5 l; the different number for Israel in 1 Chr 21:5 m (1,100,000) might come from combining a regular standing army of 300,000 (elsewhere unrecorded) with the 800,000 discovered through the census.
24:10 n I have sinned: See study note on 24:1. David believed his sin was the cause of the plague and that the removal of his sin would make things right (see also 24:17 o). It is clear, however, that Israel rather than David was the true object of God’s wrath (24:1 p).
24:11 q Gad ... David’s seer appears only here and in 1 Sam 22:5 r. Seer is an early name for a prophet (1 Sam 9:9 s, 19 t). Unlike pagan magicians or sorcerers, biblical seers had divinely inspired visions (see also 2 Kgs 17:13 u; Isa 29:10 v; 30:9-10 w; Amos 7:12 x; Mic 3:7 y) and functioned as God’s messengers.
24:13 z David had already experienced the first two options—fleeing from Saul and Absalom, and famine because Saul had murdered the Gibeonites (21:1 aa). While three days of severe plague sounded less traumatic, 70,000 people perished (24:15 ab).
24:16 ac the Lord relented: God might stop his judgment when a third party intercedes for the intended target (Exod 32:12-14 ad), when the sinful person repents (Jer 18:8 ae), or simply because he decides to do so.
• the death angel: Cp. Exod 12:23 af.
• A threshing floor was an unwalled space where harvested grain was threshed and winnowed to separate the kernels from the chaff. Gideon encountered God at a threshing floor (Judg 6:37 ag). Araunah’s threshing floor later became the site of the Temple (1 Chr 21:18–22:1 ah; 2 Chr 3:1 ai).
• Araunah the Jebusite: Even though David had taken Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Sam 5:6-9 aj), he had not eliminated them or driven them away.
24:17 ak I am the one who has sinned: David’s earlier confession of sin was limited to his circumstances (“forgive my guilt,” 24:10 al); now he prayed for those he considered innocent (but see 24:1 am) and offered to die in their place.
• as sheep: David was the shepherd of Israel (see study note on 7:8).
24:21 an so that he will stop the plague: David did not know that God had already announced the end of the plague to the angel (24:16 ao).
24:25 ap David performed priestly functions when he built an altar, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and prayed for his people; in response, the Lord answered his prayer (cp. 21:14 aq).
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