2 Samuel24chapter 24

2 Samuel 24:1

“And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel - This sentence is the heading of the whole chapter, which goes on to describe the sin which kindled this anger, namely, the numbering of the people 1Ch 21:7-8; 1Ch 27:24. There is no note of time, except that the word “again” shows that these events happened “after” those of 2 Sam. 21. (Compare also 2Sa 24:25; 2Sa 21:14.)”

2 Samuel 24:1-4

“Satan was the active mover, while God only withdrew His supporting grace, and the great tempter prevailed against the king. The order was given to Joab, who, though not generally restrained by religious scruples, did not fail to present, in strong terms (see on 1Ch 21:3), the sin and danger of this measure.”

2 Samuel 24:1-2

“It was a needless trouble both to himself and to his people. (5.) Some think that it was an affront to the ancient promise which God made to Abraham, that his seed should be innumerable as the dust of the earth; it savoured of distrust of that promise, or a design to show that it was not fulfilled in the letter of it.”

2 Samuel 24:1

“We are sure that God is not the author of sin; he tempts no man: we are told ( 1 Chron. xxi. 1 ) that Satan provoked David to number Israel. Satan, as an enemy, suggested it for a sin, as he put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ.”

2 Samuel 24:2

“1Ch 21:2, supplies some missing words. This passage should run, as at 2Sa 24:4, “And the king said to Joab and to the princes of the host who were with him,” etc. (compare 1Ch 27:22). They were employed “with Joab” as his assistants in the numbering, exactly as in the previous numbering Num 1:4 when a prince was appointed from each tribe to be “with” Moses and Aaron.”

2 Samuel 24:3

“Joab said unto the king - This very bad man saw that the measure now recommended by the king was a wrong one, and might be ruinous to the people, and therefore he remonstrates against it in a very sensible speech; but the king was infatuated, and would hear no reason.”

2 Samuel 24:5

“Aroer - Aroer on the Arnon (Deu 2:36 note). Aroer itself stood on the very edge of the precipitous cliff of the valley; and in the valley beneath, possibly in an island in the stream, stood another city which is here alluded to. River - Rather, “the valley” (margin). They passed from Aroer, northward to Gad, and so pitched at Jazer (see the marginal references), which is on the frontier of Gad and Reuben.”

2 Samuel 24:6

“Tahtim-hodshi - Where this place was is not exactly known: some think that the words refer to a newly conquered country, as our margin, the nether land newly inhabited; and if so, this was probably the country eastward of Gilead, which the Israelites, in the time of Saul, had conquered from the Hagarites, and dwelt in themselves. See 1Ch 5:10, where this transaction is recorded. To Dan-jaan - Or, to Dan of the woods.”

2 Samuel 24:7

“The strong hold of Tyre - “The fenced city,” as it is generally rendered throughout the historical books. The cities of the Hivites - Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim, and perhaps Shechem, besides those at the foot of Hermon and Lebanon, of which we do not know the names. This continuance of distinct communities of Hivites so late as the end of David’s reign is remarkable.”

2 Samuel 24:8

“Nine months and twenty days - This was a considerable time; but they had much work to do, nor did they complete the work, as appears from 1Ch 21:6; 1Ch 27:”

2 Samuel 24:9

“1Ch 27:23 indicates sufficiently why the numbering was sinful. It is also stated in 1Ch 21:6, that Joab purposely omitted Levi and Benjamin from the reckoning. Eight hundred thousand ... five hundred thousand - In Chronicles the numbers are differently given. It is probable therefore that the Chronicler has included in his statement of the sum total some numbers which are not included here.”

2 Samuel 24:9

“It must also be observed that, exclusive of the troops before mentioned, there was an army of observation on the frontiers of the Philistines' country, composed of thirty thousand men, as appears from 2Sa 6:1; which, it seems, were included in the number of five hundred thousand of the people of Judah by the author of Samuel.”

2 Samuel 24:10

“David said - I have sinned greatly - We know not exactly in what this sin consisted. I have already hinted, 2Sa 24:1, that probably David now began to covet an extension of empire, and purposed to unite some of the neighboring states with his own; and having, through the suggestions of Satan or some other adversary, (for so the word implies), given way to this covetous disposition, he could not well look to God for help, and therefore wished to know whether the thousands of Israel and Judah might be deemed equal to the conquests which he meditated.”

2 Samuel 24:11

“For when David was up - It is supposed that David’s contrition arose from the reproof given by Gad, and that in the order of time the reproof came before the confession stated in the 10th verse. David’s seer - A holy man of God, under the Divine influence, whom David had as a domestic chaplain.”

2 Samuel 24:12-13

“God, by putting him thus to his choice, designed, [1.] To humble him the more for his sin, which we would see to be exceedingly sinful when he came to consider each of these judgments as exceedingly dreadful. Or, [2.] To upbraid him with the proud conceit he had of his own sovereignty over Israel. He that is so great a prince begins to think he may have what he will.”

2 Samuel 24:13

“Compare Eze 14:13-21. The “seven” years of famine correspond with the “seven” years of famine in Gen 41:27, Gen 41:30, and with the same number of years in 2Ki 8:1. But in Chronicles, it is “three years,” which agrees better with the “three” months and “three” days. The whole passage is amplified in Chronicles, which has less the aspect of an original text than this.”

2 Samuel 24:13

“Shall seven years of famine come unto thee--that is, in addition to the three that had been already, with the current year included (see on 1Ch 21:11).”

2 Samuel 24:14

“I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord - David acted nobly in this business. Had he chosen war, his own personal safety was in no danger, because there was already an ordinance preventing him from going to battle. Had he chosen famine, his own wealth would have secured his and his own family’s support. But he showed the greatness of his mind in choosing the pestilence, to the ravages of which himself and household were exposed equally with the meanest of his subjects.”

2 Samuel 24:14

“It is a dreadful thing, the apostle says, to fall into the hands of the living God ( Heb. x. 31 ), a fearful thing indeed for sinners that have, by their impenitency, shut themselves out from all hope of his mercy. But David, a penitent, dares cast himself into God's hand, knowing he shall find that his mercies are great.”

2 Samuel 24:15

“The time appointed - Perhaps “the time of the assembly,” meaning the time of the evening sacrifice, at three o’clock, when the people assembled for prayer, more commonly described as “the time of the evening oblation” Dan 9:21; 1Ki 18:29, 1Ki 18:36; Act 3:1; Luk 1:10. Seventy thousand - It is the most destructive plague recorded as having fallen upon the Israelites. In the plague that followed the rebellion of Korah there died 14,700 Num 16:49; in the plague, on account of Baal-Peor, 24,000 Num 25:9; 1Co 10:8.”

2 Samuel 24:15

“Note, Those who truly repent of their sins, and have them pardoned are yet often made to smart for them in this world. (2.) The punishment must answer to the sin. He was proud of the judgment he must be chastised with for this sin must be such as will make them fewer.”

2 Samuel 24:16

“The angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem - By what means this destruction took place, we know not: it appears that an angel was employed in it, and that this minister of Divine justice actually appeared as an object. of sight; for it is said, 2Sa 24:17, When David saw the angel that smote the people, he said, etc.; and both Ornan and his four sons saw him and were affrighted, 1Ch 21:20. The threshing-place of Araunah - These threshing-places, we have already seen, were made in the open air.”

2 Samuel 24:16

“Dr. Lightfoot observes that in the very place where Abraham, by a countermand from heaven, 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. David's renewed repentance for his sin upon this occasion,”

2 Samuel 24:17

“Compare the passage in Chronicles. The account here is abridged; and 2Sa 24:18 has the appearance of being the original statement.”

2 Samuel 24:17

“But in the body politic as well as natural, when the head suffers, all the members suffer along with it; and, besides, although David's sin was the immediate cause, the great increase of national offenses at this time had (2Sa 24:1) kindled the anger of the Lord.”

2 Samuel 24:17

“Most people, when God's judgments are abroad, charge others with being the cause of them, and care not who falls by them, so they can escape. But David's penitent and public spirit was otherwise affected. Let this remind us of the grace of our Lord Jesus, who gave himself for our sins and was willing that God's hand should be against him, that we might escape.”

2 Samuel 24:18-21

“Notice, brothers, that no place in the land of the Jews was found worthy for the altar of the Lord to be built; but in the land of the Gentiles a place is chosen where the angel is seen and the altar of the Lord …”

2 Samuel 24:18

“Araunah--or Ornan (1Ch 21:18), the Jebusite, one of the ancient inhabitants, who, having become a convert to the true religion, retained his house and possessions. He resided on Mount Moriah, the spot on which the temple was afterwards built (2Ch 3:1); but that mount was not then enclosed in the town.”

2 Samuel 24:18

“God's encouraging us to offer to him spiritual sacrifices is a comfortable evidence of his reconciling us to himself. That peace is made between God and sinners by sacrifice, and not otherwise, even by Christ the great propitiation, of whom all the legal sacrifices were types. It is for his sake that the destroying angel is told to stay his hand.”

2 Samuel 24:20

And his servants - In Chronicles “his four sons,” namely, David’s. It is very possible that David may have taken his sons with him, as well as his elders, and Gad’s original narrative may have mentioned the circumstance, which the compiler of this chapter did not care to specify, and so used the general term “his servants.”

2 Samuel 24:22-25

“Therefore, the king himself offered blessed David the threshing floor and oxen for a burnt offering, but King David refused to accept them without first paying a price. This, too, was fulfilled at the coming of our Lord and Savior, for he refused to take …”

2 Samuel 24:22

“Here be oxen for burnt-sacrifice - He felt for the king; and showed his loyalty to him by this offer. He felt for the people; and was willing to make any sacrifice to get the plague stayed. He felt for his own personal safety; and therefore was willing to give up all to save his life. He felt for the honor of God; and therefore was glad that he had a sacrifice to offer, so that God might magnify both his justice and mercy.”

2 Samuel 24:23

“Either, “the whole O king does Araunah give unto the king;” or (2) “the whole did king Araunah give to the king.” The former is preferable.”

2 Samuel 24:23

All these things did Araunah, as a king, give--Indicating, as the sense is, that this man had been anciently a heathen king or chief, but was now a proselyte who still retained great property and influence in Jerusalem, and whose piety was evinced by the liberality of his offers. The words, "as a king," are taken by some to signify simply, "he gave with royal munificence."

2 Samuel 24:24

“Neither will I offer burnt-offerings - It is a maxim from heaven, “Honour the Lord with thy substance.” He who has a religion that costs him nothing, has a religion that is worth nothing: nor will any man esteem the ordinances of God, if those ordinances cost him nothing. Had Araunah’s noble offer been accepted, it would have been Araunah’s sacrifice, not David’s; nor would it have answered the end of turning away the displeasure of the Most High. It was David that sinned, not Araunah: therefore David must offer sacrifice, and at his own expense too.”

2 Samuel 24:24

“I will . . . buy it of thee at a price--The sum mentioned here, namely, fifty shekels of silver, equal £6 sterling, was paid for the floor, oxen and wood instruments only, whereas the large sum (1Ch 21:25) was paid afterwards for the whole hill, on which David made preparations for building the temple.”

2 Samuel 24:25

“David - offered burnt-offerings - And that these sacrifices were pleasing to the Lord, is evident from a circumstance marked in the parallel place, 1Ch 21:26: David called upon the Lord, and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt-offering. The plague was stalled - Jerusalem did not share in the common calamity, seventy thousand being the whole that were slain throughout the land. This book is unfinished, and requires 1 Chronicles 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29, to complete it.”

2 Samuel 24:25

“David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings--There seem to have been two sacrifices; the first expiatory, the second a thanksgiving for the cessation of the pestilence (see on 1Ch 21:26).”