Chapter 24[a]
Census of the People. 1 Once again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying: “Go forth and take a census of Israel and Judah.” 2 Therefore, the king said to Joab and to all the army commanders who were with him: “Go throughout all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba and take a census of the people so that I may know how many there are.”
3 Joab said to the king in response: “May the Lord, your God, increase the number of your people a hundredfold, and may the eyes of my lord the king live to see it. But why does my lord the king want to undertake this task?” 4 However, the king was determined to follow through on this enterprise, and he overruled Joab and the army commanders. Therefore, they departed from the presence of the king in order to take the census.
5 After crossing the Jordan, they began at Aroer and the town in the middle of the valley, and then they moved on toward Gad and Jazer. 6 After that, they proceeded to Gilead and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites. Next they came to Dan, and from Dan they cut across to Sidon 7 and arrived at the fortress of Tyre, moving on afterward to all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites, and then to the Negeb of Judah, at Beer-sheba.
8 Having traveled throughout the entire country, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 Joab then reported to the king the number of those who had been recorded in the census. In Israel there were eight hundred thousand men who were fit for military service, and in Judah there were five hundred thousand.[b]
10 The Pestilence. However, after the census had been taken, David was stricken with remorse, and he said to the Lord: “I have committed a grievous sin in what I have done. I beseech you, Lord, to forgive the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 11 When David arose the following morning, the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying: 12 “Go forth and say to David: ‘This is the word of the Lord: “I offer you three alternatives.” Choose one of them, and I will inflict it upon you.” ’ ”
13 Therefore, Gad came to David and reported what the Lord had said. Then he asked him: “Which do you choose? Do you prefer three years of famine to afflict your land? Or do you prefer to take flight for three months while your enemies pursue you? Or do you prefer to have your land afflicted with three days of pestilence? Consider carefully the choices you have been offered and decide what answer I am to take back to the one who sent me.”
14 David said to Gad: “I am in a desperate plight. It is far better to fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Let me not fall into the hands of men.” 15 Therefore, David chose the option of the pestilence. Then the Lord sent a pestilence throughout Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people died, from Dan to Beer-sheba.
16 However, when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord regretted the terrible calamity that he had approved, and he said to the angel who was afflicting the people: “That is enough! Stay your hand!” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord: “I was the one who sinned. I was the one who acted wickedly. What have these sheep done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family.”
18 Sacrifice of Atonement. On that day Gad came to David and said to him: “Go up and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 Therefore, David obeyed Gad’s instructions and went up as the Lord had commanded.
20 When Araunah looked down and beheld the king and his retinue coming toward him, he went forth and prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground. 21 Then Araunah asked: “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David replied: “I have come to purchase the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to the Lord so that the plague may be lifted from the people.”
22 In reply, Araunah said to David: “I beseech my lord the king to take and offer up whatever he wishes. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering, as well as the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” Then he added: “May the Lord, your God, look favorably upon your offering.”
24 However, the king said to Araunah: “No. I insist on paying you for this. Under no circumstances will I offer up to the Lord, my God, burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” Therefore, David purchased the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.[c]
25 Then David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, the Lord answered David’s supplications for the land, and the plague was lifted from Israel.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 24:1 A parallel to the famine reported in chapter 21. In this case, the wicked act that causes it is the census taken of men capable of bearing arms and the reliance on this human might. In fact, God alone is master of life and of victory. In the understanding of the ancients, who did not distinguish between what God simply tolerates and what he commands, he gave the order for the famine. In fact, the first Book of Chronicles (ch. 21) substitutes the name Satan for that of the Lord. The underlying historical fact is difficult to explain.
- 2 Samuel 24:9 The census result gave a population of about seven million, which was impossible. The numerical system used in the Bible often escapes us.
- 2 Samuel 24:24 The price is a small one. In 1 Chr 21:25 David pays 600 shekels of gold. The price is solely for the oxen and the threshing floor where David builds an altar.