1 Chronicles 21 - Introduction

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) Israel (and not David only) had sinned, for the Lord at the beginning was angry against Israel(2 Samuel 24:1). (2) The anger of the Lord, by withdrawing protection from Israel, gave an opportunity to Israel's enemy (Satan= "adversary"; see note below). (3) This enemy moved David to commit a sin, the consequences of which affected the whole people. Thus the punishment of sin came through the commission of fresh sin. David's sin consisted (1) in the pride and (possibly) in the designs of further conquest which prompted his act, (2) in trampling on the feelings of his people as expressed by Joab. Notice that the two numberings ordered by God Himself in the wilderness (Numbers 1:1-46; Numbers 3:39; Numbers 26:1-65) afforded no precedent except for a numbering by direct Divine command. Moreover a census was regarded as a cause of tie outbreak of plague, and it was prescribed that, when Moses took a census, every man numbered should pay half a shekel for the service of the tabernacle "as a ransom for his soul, that there be no plague among them." (Exodus 30:12).