2 Samuel 24:9 NIV

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 2 Samuel 24:9

Israel = 800,000 "valiant men". Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 . Judah = 500,000 "men". Hebrew. 'ish. App-14 . [Compare 1 Chronicles 21:5 , a different classification. Israel = 1,100,000, "all they of Israel that drew sword": i.e. all adults, not necessarily "valiant". Judah = 470,000 "men that drew sword"; not all the "men "by 30,000. ] read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 2 Samuel 24:9

2 Samuel 24:9. In Israel eight hundred thousand—of Judah five hundred thousand— There are two returns left us of this numbering; the present, and that in 1Ch 21:5 which differ considerably from each other, especially in relation to the men of Israel, who, in the first, are returned but 800,000, but in the last 1,100,000; but, I think, a careful attention to both the texts, and to the nature of the thing, will easily reconcile them. The matter appears to me thus: Joab, who resolved from the... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 2 Samuel 24:9

9. Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king—The amount here stated, compared with 1 Chronicles 21:5, gives a difference of three hundred thousand. The discrepancy is only apparent, and admits of an easy reconciliation; thus (see 1 Chronicles 21:5- :), there were twelve divisions of generals, who commanded monthly, and whose duty was to keep guard on the royal person, each having a body of troops consisting of twenty-four thousand men, which, together, formed an army of two... 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 24:9

(9) In Israel eight hundred thousand.—The numbers here differ greatly from those given in 1 Chronicles 21:5-6; but there is no reason to suppose any corruption of the text in either case. Joab undertook the work unwillingly, and performed it imperfectly. According to 1 Chronicles 21:6 he refused altogether to number Levi and Benjamin; and according to 1 Chronicles 27:24 “he finished not,” and no official record was made of the result; “neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles... 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 24:9

24:9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel {d} eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah [were] {e} five hundred thousand men.(d) According to Joab’s count: for in all there were eleven hundred thousand, 1 Chronicles 21:5.(e) Including the Benjamites with them, or else they had but four hundred and seventy thousand. read more