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2 Samuel 24:4

in 2 Samuel 24

Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army departed from the presence of the king to count the troops of Israel.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Notwithstanding, the king’s word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.

KJV

Notwithstanding the king’s word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 24

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.

This site's exposition

why doth my lord the king delight in this thing

on 2 Samuel 24:3-4

Joab objects before a soldier is counted, asking why the king delights in a census at all rather than arguing that numbering itself is forbidden. Matthew Henry reads the objection as proof that many things not sinful in themselves turn into sin through the delight a man takes in them, a fault Joab could see in David though he never saw it in himself. The king's word prevails over Joab and the captains all the same, and Joab goes out to carry an order he had just resisted.

This site's exposition

prevailed against Joab

The word of the king prevailed against Joab. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Joab, seldom held back by scruples, pressed the danger hard at 1 Chronicles 21:3. Matthew Henry counts it an unhappiness for great men to have servants who will help them in evil.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Joab must not gainsay it, lest he be thought to grudge his time and pains in the king's service. It is an unhappiness to great men to have those about them that will aid them and serve them in that which is evil.

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֶּחֱזַ֤קand it prevailed

    vaiyechezakH2388 →291 times

  • דְּבַר־[the] word of

    devar-H1697 →1440 times

  • הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • יוֹאָ֔בJoab

    yoavH3097 →144 times

  • וְעַ֖לand over

    vealH5921 →5755 times

  • שָׂרֵ֣י[the] commanders of

    sareiH8269 →421 times

  • הֶחָ֑יִלthe army

    hechayilH2428 →246 times

  • וַיֵּצֵ֨אand he went out

    vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times

  • יוֹאָ֜בJoab

    yoavH3097 →144 times

  • וְשָׂרֵ֤יand commanders of

    vesareiH8269 →421 times

  • הַחַ֙יִל֙the army

    hachayilH2428 →246 times

  • לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • לִפְקֹ֥דto enroll

    lifkodH6485 →303 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָעָ֖םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 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.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Exodus 1:17

    The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.

    it leads to

    • Acts 5:29

      But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Exodus 1:21

      And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.

    • Ecclesiastes 12:13

      When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.

    • Luke 12:5

      But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear the One who, after you have been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!

  • Through

    Acts 5:29

    But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.

    it leads to

    • Acts 4:19

      But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.

    • 1 Samuel 15:24

      Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

    • Mark 7:7–9

      They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’

    • Genesis 3:17

      And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because…

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Samuel

The Plague of Jerusalem — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Plague of Jerusalem — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 24 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 24 →