1 Chronicles 21:1
in 1 Chronicles 21Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.
KJV
And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
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This verse in 1 Chronicles 21
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
As the books of Scripture are arranged in our Version, Satan is here for the first time by name introduced to us. He appears not merely as an “adversary” who seeks to injure man from without, but as a Tempter able to ruin him by suggesting sinful acts and thoughts from within. In this point of view, the revelation made of him here is the most advanced that we find in the Old Testament. The difficulty in reconciling the statement here, “Satan provoked David,” etc. with that of Samuel, “the Lord moved David,” etc. 2Sa 24:1 is not serious.
This site's exposition
Satan stood up against Israel
on 1 Chronicles 21:1-2
Chronicles names the tempter where Samuel named the anger of the Lord: this is the first occurrence of Satan as a proper name in the canon's order, standing beside 2 Samuel 24:1's the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David. Matthew Henry and Jamieson Fausset and Brown read the two texts together as one act carrying two agents, the adversary tempting under God's judicial permission, and the readings are named rather than forced into agreement. David's order to Joab reaches every tribe from Beersheba to Dan, the census itself not yet called sin until its result is counted.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Satan stood - Before the Lord and his tribunal to accuse David and Israel, and to beg God's permission to tempt David. Standing is the accusers posture before men's tribunals; and consequently the holy scripture (which useth to speak of the things of God, after the manner of men, to bring them down to our capacities) elsewhere represent Satan in this posture.
The righteous judgments of God are to be observed and acknowledged even in the sins and unrighteousness of men. We are sure that God is not the author of sin--he tempts no man; and therefore, when it is said that he moved David to do it, it must be explained by what is intimated here, that, for wise and holy ends, he permitted the devil to do it.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Hence the numbering of that people was in itself regarded as an undertaking by which the anger of God could be easily aroused; but when the arrangements were made by Moses for the taking of the census, God was not angry because the people were numbered for the express purpose of the tax for the sanctuary, and the money which was thus collected ("the atonement money," Ex 30:16) appeased Him.
And Satan stood up against Israel - See the notes on the parallel place, 2Sa 24:1 (note), etc.
Modern Voices1 voice
A commentator
Michael S. Heiser"Yahweh and Satan in Samuel and Chronicles" (drmsh.com) (2013)
proposed
If we want the blame to be placed on Satan, we must identify Yahweh as Satan.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Now Satan arose upon Israel Although this chapter is not complimentary to David, it was written here because it says at the end of the chapter that he built an altar and the Lord answered him from heaven. This is complimentary to David.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּֽעֲמֹ֥ד | vaiyaamod | and he rose up | H5975 → | 521 times |
| שָׂטָ֖ן | satan | an adversary | H7854 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וַיָּ֙סֶת֙ | vaiyaset | and he incited | H5496 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דָּוִ֔יד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| לִמְנ֖וֹת | limnot | to count | H4487 → | 28 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וַיַּֽעֲמֹ֥דand he rose up
vaiyaamodH5975 →521 times
שָׂטָ֖ןan adversary
satanH7854 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וַיָּ֙סֶת֙and he incited
vaiyasetH5496 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דָּוִ֔ידDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
לִמְנ֖וֹתto count
limnotH4487 →28 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Revelation 12:10And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our…
it leads to
- Luke 22:31
Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Zechariah 3:1–2
Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
- Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign…
- Daniel 2:44
In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms…
- 1 Chronicles 29:11
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom,…
- Luke 22:31
Through
Zechariah 3:1Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 5:8
Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- Job 2:1–8
On another day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him.
- Revelation 12:9–10
And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
- 1 Peter 5:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Chronicles
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Michael S. Heiser, "Yahweh and Satan in Samuel and Chronicles" (drmsh.com).