2 Samuel 24 - Introduction
_DAVID COMMANDS THE PEOPLE TO BE NUMBERED; WHICH IS DONE BY JOAB: DAVID REPENTS, AND HIS KINGDOM IS PUNISHED WITH A THREE DAYS PESTILENCE, IN WHICH SEVENTY THOUSAND MEN DIE._ _Before Christ 1017._... [ Continue Reading ]
_DAVID COMMANDS THE PEOPLE TO BE NUMBERED; WHICH IS DONE BY JOAB: DAVID REPENTS, AND HIS KINGDOM IS PUNISHED WITH A THREE DAYS PESTILENCE, IN WHICH SEVENTY THOUSAND MEN DIE._ _Before Christ 1017._... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MOVED DAVID AGAINST THEM, TO SAY, GO, NUMBER— This verse may be rendered thus, _And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; for he moved David,_ or, _David was moved against them, to say, Go, number,_ &c. active verbs in the third person being frequently to be rendered as imperson... [ Continue Reading ]
JOAB SAID UNTO THE KING— It is evident, that this action of David was thought a very wrong step, even by Joab himself, who remonstrated against it, as apprehensive of the bad consequences which might attend it: and therefore _Joab counted not Levi and Benjamin,_ 1 Chronicles 21:6 _because the king's... [ Continue Reading ]
IN ISRAEL EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND—OF JUDAH FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND— There are two returns left us of this numbering; the present, and that in 1 Chronicles 21:5 which differ considerably from each other, especially in relation to the men of Israel, who, in the first, are returned but 800,000, but in the... [ Continue Reading ]
DAVID SAID,—I HAVE SINNED— The specific nature of his sin may be easily determined and understood, though it has embarrassed many of the commentators; for, among other commands which were given by Moses, was that recorded Exodus 30:12 to which the reader is referred. David, either not thinking of th... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHEN DAVID— There is an error here in our translation, which gives us to apprehend that David's penitence was the effect of Gad's threat: _for,_ says the text, _when David was up,_ whereas the word which is translated _for,_ should be rendered _and;_ it being not a casual, but a connective parti... [ Continue Reading ]
SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE— In 1 Chronicles 21:12 it is _three years,_ which is the reading of the LXX; a reading, says Houbigant, which I prefer in this place, because the _three years_ answer to the _three months_ and the _three days._... [ Continue Reading ]
EVEN TO THE TIME APPOINTED— There seems nothing difficult in this passage, as some have supposed: the plain meaning appears to be, that the pestilence, commencing in the morning, continued _even to the time appointed; i.e._ even _to the_ third day; when God, moved with the repentance of the king and... [ Continue Reading ]
THE THRESHING PLACE OF ARAUNAH THE JEBUSITE— This was on mount Moriah, where the temple of Solomon was afterwards built.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THESE SHEEP, WHAT HAVE THEY DONE?— To those who object to the people's being involved in David's punishment as inconsistent with the divine justice, we reply, that the reader ought to be put in mind, that kings may be punished in their regal capacities, for the errors of their administration, by... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THESE THINGS DID ARAUNAH, AS A KING, GIVE UNTO THE KING, &C.— _All these things did Araunah give to the king._ Houbigant; who observes, that the words _as a king_ are not read in many of the ancient versions.... [ Continue Reading ]
SO DAVID BOUGHT THE THRESHING-FLOOR, AND THE OXEN, &C.— Much difficulty has been raised upon the articles of this sale, in a case (to me) sufficiently plain. The author here tells us, that _David bought the threshing-floor,_ but does not say for what; and then immediately adds, _and the oxen for fif... [ Continue Reading ]