241 And the anger of Jehovah addeth to burn against Israel, and 'an adversary' moveth David about them, saying, 'Go, number Israel and Judah.' 2 And the king saith unto Joab, head of the host that 'is' with him, 'Go to and fro, I pray thee, through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, and inspect ye the people—and I have known the number of the people.' 3 And Joab saith unto the king, 'Yea, Jehovah thy God doth add unto the people, as they are, a hundred times, and the eyes of my lord the king are seeing; and my lord the king, why is he desirous of this thing?' 4 And the word of the king is severe towards Joab, and against the heads of the force, and Joab goeth out, and the heads of the force, 'from' before the king to inspect the people, even Israel; 5 and they pass over the Jordan, and encamp in Aroer, on the right of the city that 'is' in the midst of the brook of Gad, and unto Jazer, 6 and they come in to Gilead, and unto the land of Tahtim-Hodshi, and they come in to Dan-Jaan, and round about unto Zidon, 7 and they come in to the fortress of Tyre, and all the cities of the Hivite, and of the Canaanite, and go out unto the south of Judah, to Beer-Sheba. 8 And they go to and fro through all the land, and come in at the end of nine months and twenty days to Jerusalem, 9 and Joab giveth the account of the inspection of the people unto the king, and Israel is eight hundred thousand men of valour, drawing sword, and the men of Judah five hundred thousand men.
10 And the heart of David smiteth him, after that he hath numbered the people, and David saith unto Jehovah, 'I have sinned greatly in that which I have done, and now, O Jehovah, cause to pass away, I pray Thee, the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have acted very foolishly.' 11 And David riseth in the morning, and the word of Jehovah hath been unto Gad the prophet, seer of David, saying, 12 'Go, and thou hast spoken unto David, Thus said Jehovah: Three—I am lifting up for thee, choose thee one of them, and I do 'it' to thee.' 13 And Gad cometh in unto David, and declareth to him, and saith to him, 'Do seven years of famine come in to thee in thy land? or three months art thou fleeing before thine adversary—and he pursuing thee? or are three days' pestilence in thy land? now, know and see what word I take back to Him sending me.' 14 And David saith unto Gad, 'I have great distress, let us fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah, for many 'are' His mercies, and into the hand of man let me not fall.' 15 And Jehovah giveth a pestilence on Israel from the morning even unto the time appointed, and there die of the people, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, seventy thousand men, 16 and the messenger putteth forth his hand to Jerusalem to destroy it, and Jehovah repenteth concerning the evil, and saith to the messenger who is destroying among the people, 'Enough, now, cease thy hand;' and the messenger of Jehovah was near the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 And David speaketh unto Jehovah, when he seeth the messenger who is smiting among the people, and saith, 'Lo, I have sinned, yea, I have done perversely; and these—the flock—what have they done? Let, I pray Thee, Thy hand be on me, and on the house of my father.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Samuel 24:1-17
Commentary on 2 Samuel 24:1-9
(Read 2 Samuel 24:1-9)
For the people's sin David was left to act wrong, and in his chastisement they received punishment. This example throws light upon God's government of the world, and furnishes a useful lesson. The pride of David's heart, was his sin in numbering of the people. He thought thereby to appear the more formidable, trusting in an arm of flesh more than he should have done, and though he had written so much of trusting in God only. God judges not of sin as we do. What appears to us harmless, or, at least, but a small offence, may be a great sin in the eye of God, who discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. Even ungodly men can discern evil tempers and wrong conduct in believers, of which they themselves often remain unconscious. But God seldom allows those whom he loves the pleasures they sinfully covet.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 24:10-15
(Read 2 Samuel 24:10-15)
It is well, when a man has sinned, if he has a heart within to smite him for it. If we confess our sins, we may pray in faith that God would forgive them, and take away, by pardoning mercy, that sin which we cast away by sincere repentance. What we make the matter of our pride, it is just in God to take from us, or make bitter to us, and make it our punishment. This must be such a punishment as the people have a large share in, for though it was David's sin that opened the sluice, the sins of the people all contributed to the flood. In this difficulty, David chose a judgment which came immediately from God, whose mercies he knew to be very great, rather than from men, who would have triumphed in the miseries of Israel, and have been thereby hardened in their idolatry. He chose the pestilence; he and his family would be as much exposed to it as the poorest Israelite; and he would continue for a shorter time under the Divine rebuke, however severe it was. The rapid destruction by the pestilence shows how easily God can bring down the proudest sinners, and how much we owe daily to the Divine patience.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 24:16-17
(Read 2 Samuel 24:16-17)
Perhaps there was more wickedness, especially more pride, and that was the sin now chastised, in Jerusalem than elsewhere, therefore the hand of the destroyer is stretched out upon that city; but the Lord repented him of the evil, changed not his mind, but his way. In the very place where Abraham was stayed from slaying his son, this angel, by a like countermand, was stayed from destroying Jerusalem. It is for the sake of the great Sacrifice, that our forfeited lives are preserved from the destroying angel. And in David is the spirit of a true shepherd of the people, offering himself as a sacrifice to God, for the salvation of his subjects.