Shall seven years of famine - In 1 Chronicles 21:12 , the number is three, not seven; and here the Septuagint has three, the same as in Chronicles: this is no doubt the true reading, the letter ז zain , Seven, being mistaken for ג gimel , Three. A mistake of this kind might be easily made from the similarity of the letters. read more
I am in a great strait : let us fall now into the hand of the Lord - David acted nobly in this business. Had he chosen war, his own personal safety was in no danger, because there was already an ordinance preventing him from going to battle. Had he chosen famine, his own wealth would have secured his and his own family's support. But he showed the greatness of his mind in choosing the pestilence, to the ravages of which himself and household were exposed equally... read more
From the morning - to the time appointed - That is, from the morning of the day after David had made his election till the third day, according to the condition which God had proposed, and he had accepted: but it seems that the plague was terminated before the conclusion of the third day, for Jerusalem might have been destroyed, but it was not. Throughout the land, independently of the city, seventy thousand persons were slain! This was a terrible mortality in the space of less... read more
The angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem - By what means this destruction took place, we know not: it appears that an angel was employed in it, and that this minister of Divine justice actually appeared as an object. of sight; for it is said, 2 Samuel 24:17 , When David saw the angel that smote the people, he said, etc.; and both Ornan and his four sons saw him and were affrighted, 1 Chronicles 21:20 . The threshing-place of Araunah - These... read more
But these sheep , what have they done ? - It seems that in the order of Providence there is no way of punishing kings in their regal capacity, but by afflictions on their land, in which the people must necessarily suffer. If the king, therefore, by his own personal offenses, in which the people can have no part, bring down God's judgments upon his people, (though they suffer innocently), grievous will be the account that he must give to God. The people generally suffer for the... read more
( 1 Chronicles 21:5-8 ).—( THE ROYAL BED CHAMBER .) An, awakened conscience. The taking of the census occupied over nine months; and during this time David remained insensible to his sin, and waited for the result. At length the work was finished (about wheat harvest), and the number given to the king; but, whilst he looked at the definite proof of the nation's increase, and at first, perhaps, felt elated at the thought of commanding an army of mere than a million soldiers... read more
( 1 Chronicles 21:9-13 , 1 Chronicles 21:18 , 1 Chronicles 21:19 ). The Prophet Gad. "And when David was up in the morning," etc. Gad had formerly given valuable direction to David ( 1 Samuel 22:5 ); and he must have been now far advanced in life. He was "David's seer," or spiritual counsellor; a true prophet of God ( 1 Samuel 2:27 ; 1 Samuel 3:19 ; 2 Samuel 7:3 ); assisted in the arrangements for the temple service ( 1 Chronicles 9:22 ), and (like Samuel and Nathan)... read more
David's heart smote him. It appears from 1 Chronicles 27:24 that the census was not completed, and, though Joab had visited Judah, he had not even begun to enrol the names of the men of the tribe of Benjamin ( 1 Chronicles 21:6 ). It appears also that the displeasure of God was manifesting itself before David repented ( 1 Chronicles 21:7 ; 1 Chronicles 27:24 ). Some sign of this, either in public trouble, or in the brooding of the pestilential miasma over the land, brought home to... read more
Sinful numbering. This is part of a narrative which presents various serious difficulties. The chief is that which arises from the statement that God moved David to commit the sin for which he afterwards punished him. In 1 Chronicles 21:1 the instigator is said to be Satan, or "an adversary;" and it is possible to translate hero ('Speaker's Commentary') "one moved David." Still, the translation in our English versions (both Authorized and Revised) is more natural. The statement reminds... read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Samuel 24:11
For when David was up - It is supposed that David's contrition arose from the reproof given by Gad, and that in the order of time the reproof came before the confession stated in the 10th verse. David ' s seer - A holy man of God, under the Divine influence, whom David had as a domestic chaplain. read more