2 Samuel 24:1-9

5. The Sin of Census, 2 Samuel 24:1-25.

The Numbering. 2 Samuel 24:1-9

And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
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 Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people.

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?

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.
5 And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer:

6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon,
7 And came to the stronghold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beer-sheba.

8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
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.

1.

When did the numbering occur? 2 Samuel 24:1

There is no indication of the exact time of the numbering of Israel which provoked the anger of the Lord, but certain indications in the text point to a date late in the reign of David. First of all, we read that again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. This sounds very definitely like a reference to the famine which came in the days of David three years in a row when the Gibeonites called for vengeance (2 Samuel 21:1). Since the anger of the Lord was kindled again, this numbering occurred after the famine. In the second place, the numbering took nearly ten months of time, and it would be very difficult for the commander-in-chief of the army to spend this length of time in what would be a peacetime task until after the conquests which marked the beginning of David's reign had been completed. In the third place, the description of David's preparation for building the temple which occupied the latter part of his reign is given in the book of Chronicles immediately after the account of this numbering. The numbering itself must have been one of David's last acts.

2.

Did God move David to make the census? 2 Samuel 24:1 b

The subject of the verb moved in this verse is the Lord whose anger was kindled against Israel. The nation had sinned against God and incurred His anger, and He moved David to perform an act which brought down a severe punishment on the nation. God did not compel David to sin; but in order to test and prove his character, he allowed the temptation to come to him. Although we read in James 1:13 that no man is tempted of God, we are also instructed to pray that God should not bring us into temptation (Matthews 2 Samuel 6:13). In 1 Chronicles 22:1 the statement is made that Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number his people. Such a condition would be similar to that of the days of Job when God allowed Satan to afflict a righteous man (Job 1:12; Job 2:10).

3.

Why did David want to number his people? 2 Samuel 24:2

David said that he wanted to know the number of his people, but he was hardly so childish that he wanted to know the number simply for the sake of the knowledge. He had an end in mind which made the numbering wrong. The mere taking of a census was not wrong in itself, for God had commanded the numbering of His people on two separate occasions as they wandered in the wilderness (Numbers 1:26). On other occasions, the number of people who went out to war was given indicating there must have been a consciousness of numbers and a means for ascertaining the exact numbers (1 Samuel 11:8; 1 Samuel 13:2).

4.

Why did Joab oppose the numbering? 2 Samuel 24:3

Joab was not a man moved by religious scruples, and his opposition must have been based on some other reason. He would have to leave the work that he was best fitted for, and this may have been the basis of his objection. Later events proved that it was wrong, and Joab may have been able to ascertain this better than the king himself. Since he was not moved by religious scruples and his selfishness did not always cause him to do his work, his strong objection to the numbering of the people arose from his perception of David's motives.

5.

What was wrong with David's actions?

David overruled Joab's objections and sent him out to number the people of Israel. Something was dreadfully wrong with David's actions. The numbering was presented in verse one as the manifestation of the wrath of God against Israel, and in verse three Joab tried to stop the king from continuing. In verse ten, David himself admitted that it was a grievous sin against God. His heart smote him. Moreover, as a sin, the numbering of the people was punished by the Lord (2 Samuel 24:12). Josephus indicated that the census was a sin because he neglected to demand the atonement money which was specified in the law (Exodus 30:12 ff.). Such could hardly be the case because the collecting of the atonement money mentioned in the book of Exodus was the original enrolling of the people as members of the commonwealth of Israel. Many students of the Scripture have suggested that David entered into the whole affair with pride and vain boasting and that he commanded the census out of his vanity. But David was hardly so vain as to desire simply to have the number which he could quote or which could be recorded in the annals and provide him with an opportunity for reviewing how mighty he was. This may have entered into the sin, since Joab prayed that God multiply the number by 100 and allow the eyes of the king to see it. A higher purpose for the census was suggested in 1 Chronicles 27:23-24, where the numbering was connected with the military organization of the kingdom. David must not have taken the census in order to boast nor in order to levy taxes. He must have desired to be fully acquainted with his defensive power and thus came to a place where he was trusting his own might and not leaning heavily on the strength of God, although we cannot be justified in concluding that he was intending to enter into a campaign of world-wide conquests in an effort to make him more of a world power. God reduced the number to show that any effort of feeble man alone can be brought to nought by an almighty God.

6.

What was the route of the enumerators? 2 Samuel 24:5-7

Those who took the census went out from Jerusalem and crossed over Jordan. They set up their headquarters in Aroer, a spot on the north bank of the Arnon river ten miles east of the Dead Sea. It was the southernmost town of Israel east of the Jordan and has been referred to as the Beersheba of the East. From this point, the workers moved north into the territory of Gad, the tribe which settled in the center section of the land east of the Jordan (Numbers 32:33-42). Jazer was a town taken by Israel from the Amorites (Numbers 21:32) and assigned to the tribe of Gad (Numbers 32:1-3; Numbers 32:35). The city was named a Levitical city (Joshua 21:39). The importance of the town is seen in the fact that it gave its name to the district including some dependent towns (Numbers 31:32), and both Isaiah and Jeremiah mentioned the place in their prophecies (Isaiah 16:8-9 and Jeremiah 48:32). It has been identified with Khirbet-jazzier. The men then turned north through Gilead and went throughout the land to a point mentioned only here in the Scriptures; the name of Tahtimhodshi means the lowland recently occupied and is probably a reference to the edge of the Israelite territory. Everybody was counted including those in Dan-Jaan, Israel's northernmost town. David's servants then moved west to the Phoenician territory on the Mediterranean seacoast counting people all the way to Tyre, the capital city of Phoenicia. They moved down throught western Palestine taking the census in the cities which had once belonged to the Canaanites until they reached Israel's southernmost town, Beersheba. When the entire count had been made, they brought their report up to the king at Jerusalem. The total time spent in taking the census was nine months and twenty days (2 Samuel 24:8).

7.

What was the total of the number of the people? 2 Samuel 24:9

Joab and his men had counted 800,000 men in the ten tribes of Israel. There were 500,000 men in the tribe of Judah. Inasmuch as men were counted only after they had reached their twentieth birthday, this would be 1,300,000 men twenty years of age and over, thus men able to go to war (Numbers 1:3). There must have been an equal number of men under twenty years of age, making the total of 2,600,000 males. An equal number of females should be added to bring the grand total to 5,200,000 or 6,000,000 people. The number is larger in Chronicles (1 Chronicles 21:5), and an additional note is made that the men of the tribes of Levi and Benjamin were not counted (1 Chronicles 21:6). The smaller number in the book of Samuel must be without the two tribes mentioned, and the number in Chronicles probably included them. The number in Chronicles is given in connection with David organizing his kingdom, and the tribe of Benjamin is mentioned in the list of tribes and their chieftains (1 Chronicles 27:21). An additional note is made in the book of Chronicles stating that the count was not the official count (1 Chronicles 27:24). Critics take particular exception to the numbers found in Chronicles as compared to those found in the books of Samuel and Kings. Certainly the writer of Chronicles did not deliberately seek to make his work appear ridiculous by increasing the numbers in the Chronicles, although the radical critics generally charge that the numbers are exaggerated in Chronicles. Neither did the writer give numbers out of ignorance, for the work is too superb for such a thing to be possible. It must be noted that the numbers given are round numbers, representing only approximate figures. Only thousands are taken into account, and the intention apparently is merely to indicate the greatness of the armies. While the numbers in Chronicles are usually larger than those in Samuel or Kings, sometimes they are smaller. For example, 40,000 stalls for Solomon's horses are mentioned in 1 Kings 4:26, but 2 Chronicles 9:25 gives 4,000. In 1 Chronicles 11:11, three hundred mighty men are mentioned, but eight hundred are given in 2 Samuel 23:8. In 1 Chronicles 21:12 David was given a choice of three years of famine, whereas the number is seven years in 2 Samuel 24:13. In all of these cases the numbers are smaller in Chronicles than in the parallel passages in Kings or Samuel. Lastly, we must remember that even though today we are not in a position to explain precisely and to our satisfaction how the differences in the numerals may have arisen, these numerals being so isolated must not shake the conviction we have in the general historical credibility of Chronicles. Many more passages are in accordance with the facts as found elsewhere, and these are sufficient to give the earmarks of historicity and trustworthiness to the scriptures of Chronicles.