John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:6
Then they came to Gilead ,.... The land of Gilead, half of which was given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the other half to the half tribe of Manasseh, Deuteronomy 3:12 ; which tribes were numbered, and the first of all: and to the land of Tahtimhodshi ; or the low lands of a new place; it seems to be a country newly possessed and inhabited; the Targum calls it the southern land of Hodshi; Bunting F23 Travels, &c.; p. 147. calls it the lower country of Hodshi, near to... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Samuel 24:1-9
Here we have, I. The orders which David gave to Joab to number the people of Israel and Judah, 2 Sam. 24:1, 2. Two things here seem strange:?1. The sinfulness of this. What harm was there in it? Did not Moses twice number the people without any crime? Does not political arithmetic come in among the other policies of a prince? Should not the shepherd know the number of his sheep? Does not the Son of David know all his own by name? Might not he make good use of this calculation? What evil has he... read more