1 Chronicles 21:1-27 (2 Samuel 24:1-25) The Numbering and the Plague The subject of the present section (David's numbering of the people and the plague which followed) is a difficult one, but a combination of the details of the narratives of Sam. and Chron. makes the main features clear. (1) Israe... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Satan stood up against Israel_ In 2 Sam. "And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel," a former occasion being at the time of the famine (2 Samuel 21:1). By _Satan_("adversary") is meant some hostile spiritual being, such as is mentioned in Job 1:6 ff.; Zechariah 3:1 ff., the ve... [ Continue Reading ]
_to Joab_ The object being to number "those who drew sword," the captain of the host was the most suitable person to entrust with the business. _rulers_ R.V. PRINCES. _from Beer-sheba even to Dan_ From the extreme south even unto the extreme north of the land. _Dan_ The modern _Tell-el-Kâdî_, abo... [ Continue Reading ]
_moe_ Cp. 1 Chronicles 14:3, note. are _they not all my lord's servants?_ Joab foresees some disaster to the people, and asks why David should destroy his own. _why will he be a cause_ OF GUILT _to Israel?_ Cp. Leviticus 4:3, "if the anointed priest shall sin so as to bring guilt on the people" (R... [ Continue Reading ]
_came_to _Jerusalem_ In 2 Samuel 24:4-8 the route is described and the time taken in the numbering is stated, _nine months and twenty days_.... [ Continue Reading ]
they of _Israel_ Chron. gives Israel as 1,100,000 and Judah as 470,000; 2 Sam. gives Israel as 800,000 and Judah as 500,000. _that drew sword_ All males over twenty years of age would be so described; cp. Numbers 1:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Levi_ In Numbers 1:49 it is ordained that Levi is not to be numbered among the children of Israel, i.e. treated as liable to military service. The Levites were, however, numbered separately; Numbers 3:15; Numbers 26:57. in 2 Sam. there is nothing to correspond with this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
_he smote Israel_ with the plague. David's confession (1 Chronicles 21:8) was probably wrung from him by the appearance of the pestilence.... [ Continue Reading ]
_do away the iniquity_ Render perhaps, REMOVE THE PUNISHMENT; cp. Genesis 4:13, R.V. with marg.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the Lord spake_ The historian now retraces his steps to describe the circumstances which heralded the approach of the plague. _Gad_ He is three times mentioned in Chron., each time as a "seer," viz. 1 Chronicles 21:9 (2 Samuel 24:11); 1 Chronicles 29:29; 2 Chronicles 29:25. He was perhaps an o... [ Continue Reading ]
_I offer thee three things_ The offer is a test of David's character, just as God's different offer in 2 Chronicles 1:7 was a test of Solomon's.... [ Continue Reading ]
_three years" famine_ 2 Sam., _seven years of famine_(LXX. however _three_, as Chron.). _three months to be destroyed_ R.V. THREE MONTHS TO BE CONSUMED (Heb. _nispeh_). Some scholars would correct the text of Chron. into agreement with 2 Samuel 24:13, _or wilt thou flee three months?_ the angel of... [ Continue Reading ]
_into the hand of the Lord_ David deprecates war, and prefers famine or pestilence.... [ Continue Reading ]
_there fell of Israel_ 2 Sam. adds, _from Dan even to Beer-sheba_. The pestilence was throughout the whole land.... [ Continue Reading ]
_unto Jerusalem_ The plague arrived in Jerusalem after making ravages elsewhere. _as he was destroying_ R.V. AS HE WAS ABOUT TO DESTROY, agreeing with 2 Sam., _when the angel stretched forth his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it_. It is _enough_ The sudden cessation of this pestilence has numerous... [ Continue Reading ]
_lift up_ The old form of the past changed in modern editions to _lifted up_; cp. Genesis 22:4, etc. _saw the angel_ The full description of the vision is peculiar to Chron.; cp. 2 Samuel 24:17. _and the elders_of Israel, who were _clothed in sackcloth_ The words supplied in A.V. are unnecessary,... [ Continue Reading ]
_let thine hand … be on me_ Cp. Moses" intercession in Exodus 32:32; but Moses was innocent, David guilty.... [ Continue Reading ]
_go up, and set up_ R.V. GO UP, AND REAR; cp. 2 Samuel 24:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
_was threshing wheat_ By driving oxen over it; cp. 1 Chronicles 21:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the place of_this _threshing floor_ The expression implies perhaps that David bought more than the mere area of the threshingfloor. _for the full price_ Genesis 23:9 (R.V.).... [ Continue Reading ]
_the meat offering_ R.V. THE MEAL OFFERING; cp. Leviticus 2:1-16.... [ Continue Reading ]
_gave … for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight_ In 2 Samuel 24:24, _bought the threshing floor and the oxen for money, even fifty shekels_(so to be rendered). A large discrepancy appears here between Chron. and 2 Sam. The former seems to say that 600 shekels were paid for the threshing... [ Continue Reading ]
_peace offerings_ See 1 Chronicles 16:1, note. At the end of the verse LXX. (cp. Pesh.) adds, _and consumed the burnt offering_. Cp. 1 Kings 18:38. The fire is not mentioned in 2 Sam.... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Chronicles 21:28 Ch. 1 Chronicles 22:1. The Selection of the Site of the Temple 28. _At that time &c_.] The construction of this section must be carefully noted. Ch. 1 Chronicles 21:28 is a protasis to which ch. 1 Chronicles 22:1 is the apodosis, 1 Chronicles 21:29-30 of ch. 21 being a parenthesi... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ The beginning of a parenthesis. _the tabernacle of the Lord_ See the prefatory note to ch. 23; also cp. 1 Chronicles 16:1; 1 Chronicles 16:39, and 2 Chronicles 1:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
_he was afraid_ Or, HE WAS TERRIFIED. The Heb. word is unusual.... [ Continue Reading ]