2 Samuel 24:1, 2 Samuel 24:1-16 WEB

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 2 Samuel 24:1

DAVID'S SIN OF NUMBERING THE PEOPLE AND GOD'S PUNISHMENT BY PESTILENCE"Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, `Go, number Israel and Judah.'" (2 Samuel 24:1).The time of the events mentioned here was evidently near the end of David's reign.[1] The great problem of the chapter appears in this very first verse, where it is stated that, "God incited David against Israel by commanding him to number Israel and Judah." If God had indeed... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 2 Samuel 24:1

2 Samuel 24:1. He moved David against them, to say, Go, number— This verse may be rendered thus, And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; for he moved David, or, David was moved against them, to say, Go, number, &c. active verbs in the third person being frequently to be rendered as impersonals, and not to be referred to the nouns immediately foregoing: and thus the text will be fully reconcileable with that in Chronicles, which says, that Satan moved him to number the... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 2 Samuel 24:1

1-4. again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah—"Again" carries us back to the former tokens of His wrath in the three years' famine [ :-]. God, though He cannot tempt any man ( :-), is frequently described in Scripture as doing what He merely permits to be done; and so, in this case, He permitted Satan to tempt David. Satan was the active mover, while God only withdrew His supporting grace, and the great tempter... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 2 Samuel 24:1-9

1. David’s sin of numbering the people 24:1-9David probably ordered this census about 975 B.C."After the revolutions of both Absalom and Sheba it would have been reasonable for David to reassess his military situation against the possibility of similar uprisings or other emergencies." [Note: Merrill, Kingdom of . . ., p. 272.] In support of this hypothesis is the fact that Joab and the army commanders were able to take over nine months to gather the population statistics (2 Samuel 24:8). This... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Samuel 24:1-25

The Numbering of the People, and its PenaltyIn punishment for David’s sin in numbering the people, God sends a pestilence, which slays 70,000 men. In gratitude for the stay of the plague, David erects an altar in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.1. Again] This refers to the former occasion mentioned in 2 Samuel 21. He moved] Chronicles states that ’Satan.. provoked David.’ The older account does not enter into the distinction between what God permits and what God causes. This... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 2 Samuel 24:1

(1) Kindled against Israel.—This was not in consequence of the numbering of the people, but in consequence of that which ultimately led to that act. We are not told why the anger of the Lord was kindled, but doubtless because He saw both in king and people that rising spirit of earthly pride and reliance on earthly strength which led to the sin.He moved.—The pronoun here stands for “the Lord,” yet in 1 Chronicles 21:1, the temptation is attributed to Satan, and Satan is clearly meant of the... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - 2 Samuel 24:1-25

Let Me Fall Into the Hands of the Lord 2 Samuel 24:14 I. 'I am in a great strait.' How often we have all of us had to say that! Sometimes by our own sin, as David now; sometimes only by our own misfortune. But to whom did David say it? for that makes all the difference as to whether he said it wisely or foolishly. He asked the question of Gad, God's prophet; but mark you, David's seer, as it says also the man who was the Lord's ambassador to David, and the man who also knew David best. We have... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:1-25

CHAPTER XXXII.THE NUMBERING OF ISRAEL.2 Samuel 24:1-25THOUGH David’s life was now drawing to its close, neither his sins nor his chastisements were yet exhausted. One of his chief offences was committed when he was old and grey-headed. There can be little doubt that what is recorded in this chapter took place toward the close of his life; the word "again" at the beginning indicates that it was later in time than the event which gave rise to the last expression of God’s displeasure to the... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - 2 Samuel 24:1-24

4. David’s Failure: the Altar on the Threshing Floor of Araunah CHAPTER 24 1. The numbering of the people (2 Samuel 24:1-9 ) 2. The sin acknowledged and Gad’s message (2 Samuel 24:10-14 ) 3. The pestilence (2 Samuel 24:15-17 ) 4. The altar on the threshing floor of Araunah (2 Samuel 24:18-25 ) The final chapter of the books of Samuel is of much interest and importance. “And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, Go, number... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - 2 Samuel 24:1

24:1 And {a} again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and {b} he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.(a) Before they were plagued with famine, 2 Samuel 21:1.(b) The Lord permitted Satan, as in 1 Chronicles 21:2. read more