United Commentaries

2Sam.21.1-24.25

The final chapters of 2 Samuel are a coda, a concluding section that summarizes the important themes from the preceding material. These chapters are thematic, not chronological, and not all the events described here happened at the end of David’s reign (e.g., 22:1). The materials are arranged according to a common Hebrew literary device, a chiasm (mirror-image): A: Saul’s sin against the Gibeonites and its collective punishment (21:1-14); B: David’s heroes and their exploits (21:15-22); C: David’s Psalm (22:1-51); C′: David’s Psalm (23:1-7); B′: David’s heroes and their exploits (23:8-39); A′: David’s sin against the census taboo and its collective punishment (24:1-25). A chiasm highlights the central section—here David’s hymns, which focus not on David but on David’s God.

2Sam.24.1

The reason God’s anger . . . burned against Israel is unknown (but see Deut 4:25; 6:14-15; 29:22-28; 31:16-18).

Caused . . . to harm reflects a Hebrew verb (suth) used elsewhere in the sense of enticing or inciting someone to do wrong (1 Sam 26:19, “stirred you up against me”). Census-taking was usually unpopular with citizens, who resented it as an intrusion into their private affairs. They regarded it as a prelude to taxation or forced military service (see study note on 2 Sam 24:9). If David was motivated by pride or was preparing for an illegitimate war (as 24:9 might suggest), this might explain why it was a sin for him (24:10).

2Sam.24.2

Dan and Beersheba were the traditional northern and southern boundaries of Israel. This phrase meant the entire land of Israel.

2Sam.24.3

why . . . do you want to do this? Joab either realized that such a move would be unpopular among the people, or he believed that it was wrong before God.

2Sam.24.9

The phrase capable warriors shows that the census focused largely on those fit for military service. The total for Judah here might be rounded up from the total in 1 Chr 21:5; the different number for Israel in 1 Chr 21:5 (1,100,000) might come from combining a regular standing army of 300,000 (elsewhere unrecorded) with the 800,000 discovered through the census.

2Sam.24.10

I have sinned: See study note on 24:1. David believed his sin was the cause of the plague and that the removal of his sin would make things right (see also 24:17). It is clear, however, that Israel rather than David was the true object of God’s wrath (24:1).

2Sam.24.11

Gad . . . David’s seer appears only here and in 1 Sam 22:5. Seer is an early name for a prophet (1 Sam 9:9, 19). Unlike pagan magicians or sorcerers, biblical seers had divinely inspired visions (see also 2 Kgs 17:13; Isa 29:10; 30:9-10; Amos 7:12; Mic 3:7) and functioned as God’s messengers.

2Sam.24.13

David had already experienced the first two options—fleeing from Saul and Absalom, and famine because Saul had murdered the Gibeonites (21:1). While three days of severe plague sounded less traumatic, 70,000 people perished (24:15).

2Sam.24.16

the Lord relented: God might stop his judgment when a third party intercedes for the intended target (Exod 32:12-14), when the sinful person repents (Jer 18:8), or simply because he decides to do so.

the death angel: Cp. Exod 12:23.

A threshing floor was an unwalled space where harvested grain was threshed and winnowed to separate the kernels from the chaff. Gideon encountered God at a threshing floor (Judg 6:37). Araunah’s threshing floor later became the site of the Temple (1 Chr 21:18–22:1; 2 Chr 3:1).

Araunah the Jebusite: Even though David had taken Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Sam 5:6-9), he had not eliminated them or driven them away.

2Sam.24.17

I am the one who has sinned: David’s earlier confession of sin was limited to his circumstances (“forgive my guilt,” 24:10); now he prayed for those he considered innocent (but see 24:1) and offered to die in their place.

as sheep: David was the shepherd of Israel (see study note on 7:8).

2Sam.24.21

so that he will stop the plague: David did not know that God had already announced the end of the plague to the angel (24:16).

2Sam.24.25

David performed priestly functions when he built an altar, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and prayed for his people; in response, the Lord answered his prayer (cp. 21:14).