Verses 23-24
23, 24. These two verses seem to have been inserted in this connexion with a reference especially to the military divisions mentioned in 1 Chronicles 27:1-15. “The numbering of the Israelites from twenty years and upwards,” says Bertheau, “was undertaken, as we may infer from the reference to it in this passage, in order that its results might be made available for dividing the army into twelve sections, and for the other arrangements described in this chapter.”
It appears from 1 Chronicles 21:1 and 2 Samuel 24:1, that David sinned in attempting to number Israel at all. But while he refused to be counselled in that matter, and his “word prevailed against Joab,” he ventured not to number any Israelites under twenty years, lest he should seem to distrust God’s promise to Abraham. Genesis 15:5; Genesis 22:17.
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