David’s heart struck him after he had counted the people. David said to Yahweh, “I have sinned greatly in that which I have done. But now, Yahweh, put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.”
When David rose up in the morning, Yahweh’s word came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, “Go and speak to David, ‘Yahweh says, “I offer you three things. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.” ’ ”
So Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now answer, and consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”
David said to Gad, “I am in distress. Let us fall now into Yahweh’s hand; for his mercies are great. Let me not fall into man’s hand.”
So Yahweh sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning even to the appointed time; and seventy thousand men died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba. When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Yahweh relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough. Now withdraw your hand.” Yahweh’s angel was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
David spoke to Yahweh when he saw the angel who struck the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me, and against my father’s house.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv11, 13, 15, 16, 17 Whom God had appointed for David and his time.
Whom God had appointed for David and his time.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv10–17 2Sa 24:10 And David’s heart smote him after that…
2Sa 24:10 And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
Ver. 10. And David’s heart smote him.] His heart had prompted him to this sin. Incitavit cor Davidis Davidem; so David Kimchi, and R. Levi, Ben. Gerson read the first verse of this chapter. Nemo sibi de suo palpet; quisque sibi Satan est, saith an ancient. Every man is tempted, when he is drawn aside by his own concupiscence. Now the same heart smiteth him with sense of guilt, and fear of wrath. A stroke on the heart we know is deadly: so had this been to David, but that he confessed and forsook his sin, and so found mercy. All which fell out, some think, the night before the prophet Gad came to offer him that hard choice; he had communed with his own heart upon his bed, and made a pause, as Psa 4:4, his reins also had instructed him in the night seasons, {Psa 16:7} the Spirit of God had given him counsel; and hence he is so active in his humiliations. David’s heart smote him; he stayed not till God smote him. The apostle biddeth, "Be afliicted" - or, Afflict yourselves - "and mourn and weep." {Jas 4:9} That was much that we read of concerning Epaminondas, a heathen; that the day after the victory and triumph, he went drooping and hanging down his head: and being asked why he did so, he answered, Yesterday I felt myself too much tickled with vain glory: therefore I correct myself for it today. The same is the spirit of the true Israelite. His heart, when once awakened, is a Hadadrimmon, a Bochim; like the best hives, it maketh a great noise, and is restless, till it returneth to God, and maketh its peace.
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After that he had numbered the people.] It had done so, likely, before this time; but not effectually. So after his sin with Bathsheba, he had many gripings, and grumblings of conscience, {Psa 32:3-4} but they amounted not to the full height of godly sorrow for his sin, as afterwards. {Psa 51:1-19}
I have sinned greatly.] He confesseth not slightly, but with greatest aggravation; nor desperately, as Judas, but beggeth pardoning and purging grace.
Take away the iniquity of thy servant.] Take away the frogs, saith Pharaoh; the iniquity, saith David; that was his greatest trouble; for, as for the punishment, "Let thine hand," saith he, "be upon me and my father’s house."
For I have done very foolishly.] He thought, at first, he had done very wisely; but now he seeth his error, and disclaimeth it. We had before, his contrition, confession, and supplication, all which make up his repentance for sin: here we have his conversion or reformation, which is his repentance from sin: his amendment of life.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 David’s heart smote him; his conscience discerned his sin,…
David’s heart smote him; his conscience discerned his sin, and he was heartily sorry for it. And the occasion of his repentance was God’s message by the prophet Gad, as it here follows, 2Sa 24:11, For when, &c.; as formerly God’s message by Nathan had the same effect, 2Sa 12; both which passages are noted, to show how necessary the further and repeated supplies of God’s grace are, even to the best of men, to raise them when they fall into sin.
For I have done very foolishly, because I am sensible of my sin and folly, as it is more fully expressed, Psa 51:5,6. Or, although, as this particle is oft used.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv10–17 And David's heart smote him, after that had numbered…
And David's heart smote him, after that had numbered the people,.... For nine or ten months his conscience lay asleep, but now the thing was done, it is awakened, and accuses him for it, and he repents of it; now he began to see the pride and haughtiness of his heart; his vanity and confidence in the creature, which led him to it; aggravated by doing it without seeking to know the mind of God, and without giving him his due, the half shekel, according to the law, Exo 30:12; intent only upon increasing his own revenue, as some think, intending to impose a poll tax upon the people when he had numbered them; and attempting to number a people who were not to be numbered; and numbering those who were under the age of twenty, and therefore the plague began before it was finished, Ch1 27:23,
and David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done; he saw and owned his sin to be exceeding sinful, attended with very aggravating circumstances:
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and now I beseech thee, Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; the guilt of it from his conscience, which lay heavy there, and suffer not the punishment it deserves to take place on him, but grant an application of pardon to him:
for I have done very foolishly; all sin is folly, and some sins are exceeding foolish, and so this appeared to David; or, "though I have done very foolishly" (b), yet forgive my sin, see Psa 38:5.
(b) "quamvis", so Goassius notes it may be rendered; so Pool.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Verse 10. David said - I have sinned greatly]…
Verse 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 neighbouring 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. When God is offended and refuses assistance, vain is the help of man.
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Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17 2Sa 24:10. David’s heart smote him — His conscience…
2Sa 24:10. David’s heart smote him — His conscience discerned his sin, and he was heartily sorry for it. That heart, which was so lately dilated with vanity, now shrunk into contrition and penitence. O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant — Or, the punishment of mine iniquity. Since he condemned himself and begged pardon, he hoped the punishment deserved might be remitted. But he was deceived; because not only himself but his people also had offended.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv11, 13, 15, 17 David’s seer - Margin, references. From the latter passage…
David’s seer - Margin, references. From the latter passage it is probable that we have here Gad’s narrative.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 David’s heart struck him, after the people were numbered.…
David’s heart struck him, after the people were numbered. That is, he was touched with a great remorse for the vanity and pride which had put him upon numbering the people. (Challoner) --- His sin must have been internal, and probably involved a secret confidence in his riches and power, without referring all to God, (Haydock) or trusting entirely in him. (St. Ambrose, pœn. c. 9.; St. Augustine, contra Faust. xxii. 66., &c.) --- There was otherwise no prohibition for David’s taking this account, (Calmet) which is so natural for a prince, and may frequently prove of great service. (Haydock) --- Josephus ([Antiquities?] vii. 13.) and others assert, that he neglected to require the payment of half a sicle. (Tirinus; Estius) --- But where does God complain of this neglect? and how do they know that the injunction which was once given to Moses, when the tabernacle was furnished, (Exodus xxx. 12.) was to remain in force afterwards? Oleaster (on Exodus) says David acted against God’s intention, who had promised that the Israelites should be innumerable. But this reason seems childish; and did not the king abstain, on that very account, from numbering any but those who were fit for war? (1 Paralipomenon xxvii. 23.) (Calmet) --- Struck him. Contrition and confession are specified here, as satisfaction is, ver. 12. Temporal sufferings are inflicted, even after the sin has been remitted, ver. 16. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 HE, HAVING THREE PLAGUES PROPOUNDED BY GAD, REPENTS, AND…
HE, HAVING THREE PLAGUES PROPOUNDED BY GAD, REPENTS, AND CHOOSES THREE DAYS' PESTILENCE. (Sa2 24:10-14)
David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned--The act of numbering the people was not in itself sinful; for Moses did it by the express authority of God. But David acted not only independently of such order or sanction, but from motives unworthy of the delegated king of Israel; from pride and vainglory; from self-confidence and distrust of God; and, above all, from ambitious designs of conquest, in furtherance of which he was determined to force the people into military service, and to ascertain whether he could muster an army sufficient for the magnitude of the enterprises he contemplated. It was a breach of the constitution, an infringement of the liberties of the people, and opposed to that divine policy which required that Israel should continue a separate people. His eyes were not opened to the heinousness of his sin till God had spoken unto him by His commissioned prophet.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17 10. David’s heart smote him — The sinfulness of…
10. David’s heart smote him — The sinfulness of his pride and self-exaltation became deeply impressed upon his conscience. He saw and confessed that he had acted very foolishly.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 10–14. The choice of punishments
10–14. The choice of punishments
10. David’s heart smote him] Conscience accused him, and he became aware of his guilt. He recognised the sinfulness of the proud and vainglorious spirit of self-confidence and desire for worldly aggrandisement which had induced him to take the census. See Additional Note v. p. 238.
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I have done very foolishly] Cp. 1Sa_13:13; 2Ch_16:9. In both these cases, as in effect here, the folly was sin springing from distrust of God.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 13, 14, 15 (10) David’s heart smote him.—This time David’s own conscience…
(10) David’s heart smote him.—This time David’s own conscience was awakened, without the necessity of being roused, as in the case of Uriah, by the visit of a prophet. He confesses his sin, and prays for pardon. Still it must be remembered that ten months had passed (2Sa_24:8) before David saw his sin.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 David"s heart smote him. It appears from 1Ch_27:24 that…
David"s heart smote him. It appears from 1Ch_27:24 that the census was not completed, and, though Joab had visited Judah, he had not even begun to enrol the names of the men of the tribe of Benjamin. (1Ch_21:6) It appears also that the displeasure of God was manifesting itself before David repented. (1Ch_21:7 1Ch_27:24) Some sign of this, either in public trouble, or in the brooding of the pestilential miasma over the land, brought home to David"s mind the conviction of sin; and he at once humbled himself before God, for the vanity of mind which had engendered in him a wicked lust after martial glory and thirst for bloodshed. I have done very foolishly . (comp. 1Sa_13:13; 2Ch_16:9)
Vers. 10-17.
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A king"s sin and a people"s chastisement.
The facts are:
1. David, reflecting on the accomplishment of his purpose, comes to aconsciousness of his sin, and makes confession before God.
2. In the morning the Prophet Gad is sent to him from. the Lord, offeringhim, as a choice of a chastisement, either seven years" famine, or three months" defeat before his enemies, or three days" pestilence.
3. David, in his anguish, elects to fall into the hands of God.
4. Thereupon God sends a pestilence which carries off seventy thousandmen.
5. There being some relenting in the anger of God when the pestilencereached Jerusalem, David entreats with the angel of the Lord by the threshing floor of Araunah, that he would have pity on the people and rather smite him and his house. The various truths taught in this section may be briefly set forth thus.
I THE REACTION OF MAN"S SPIRITUAL NATURE. For more than nine months the unhallowed feeling which prompted the numbering of the people had held sway, and now during the silence of night the spiritual man that had been suppressed again asserts his power. David comes to himself, and sees his conduct in a Divine light. The supremacy of sin means a depression of the better nature. The awakening to a sense of sin is the reaction of that better nature. The same was seen in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah. The prodigal son"s coming to himself is an instance; as also the repentance of every sinner. The causes and occasions of the reaction may come from without, but there can he no doubt that the change does lie in a reaction. The spell is broken, and the higher nature of man once more asserts itself.
II THE CAUSES AND OCCASIONS OF THE SOUL"S BREAKING THE SPELL OF SIN ARE DEFINITE. David came to himself most probably for three reasons.
1. Difficulties of carrying out his project may have pressed on him the need of reflection; for not only were Joab and the captains reluctant workers, but long time elapsed, and so strong was the opposition that two tribes were not counted. (1Ch_21:4)
2. The strain of persistence would, by psychological law, enfeeble purpose. He could not go on forever in a line of sin; exhaustion of moral motive is a reality.
3. The gracious action of God would revive the latent and suppressed sense of right; for though the Holy Spirit is grieved, he does not depart forever from the erring. The same is true still. External difficulties of a sinful course make the way hard, and so give chance for reflection and reaction of the better self. The exhaustion and satiety of persistence in evil tends to open a way for the action of Divine influence. The misery of the prodigal, the weariness of sin, the loss of early novelty, do not turn men, but they render other more spiritual action more timely. The real cause which turns these occasions to account is the gracious action of the Holy Spirit.
III THE CHANGED ESTIMATE OF CONDUCT UNDER THE LIGHT OF GOD"S SPIRIT. As we have seen (vers. 1-9), plausible reasons could be assigned for numbering the people, but now that in the silence of night the light had come, that which once was reasonable and proper, and persisted in as essential, is folly and sin. It is only in the light which God causes to shine into our hearts that we can see what is the real character of some of the motives lurking there. Saul of Tarsus came to see himself in the light of God, and the old life in which he had prided himself became his shame. No man knows himself apart from Divine illumination. Repentance marks the change undergone in a man"s estimate of himself in the sight of God.
IV THE ANTITHESIS OF SIN AND RIGHT REASON. When David confessed before God that in what he had done he had acted foolishly, he not only expressed a changed estimate of his conduct, but also illustrated a universal truth. Sin and wisdom are incompatible; they are mutually exclusive. The lie from the beginning has been that it is good for man to do his own will. The wisdom of being "as gods" was the first of snares. The votaries of pleasure and the scornful rejecters of the supernatural Christ deem themselves wise in following the bent of their unholy and proud disposition. The wise "disputer of this world" looks with contempt on "the foolishness of preaching" and of the obedience to Christ which is its object. Yes, like David, in his sin, they have their day; but just as he found at last that his wisdom was all the time folly, so others will find that wisdom is utterly removed from their preference of their own to the will of Christ. Sin is the most desperate folly. It debases man"s nature, entails numberless ills for body and spirit, interferes with the true development of the mind and the acquisition and enjoyment of the treasures of good hid in nature, inflicts a stigma and leaves a stain that unfit for the highest society in the universe, and, moreover, mars the future possibly beyond recovery. Holiness and wisdom alone coincide. To go against the will of God is a species of madness. The history of individuals and of nations is proof of it.
V GOD"S WATCHFULNESS OVER REPENTING SINNERS. It was a long solitary night when David came to see the folly and sin of his conduct. The outpouring of his penitent heart was known to no human being. The most sacred experiences of life are secrets between the soul and God. But yet in the morning, just at the right time, the messenger of God came to him. His mission was to offer alternative chastisements, but there was implied in it forgiveness. The eye of God had seen the inner workings of the broken spirit, and the occasion was seized to bring David again into more direct communication with his God. In the case of Bathsheba Nathan had awakened penitence; here Gad came to help forward the good work begun in penitence. The cry of Saul of Tarsus was heard in heaven, and to help him a servant of God was prepared to speak the words suitable to his case. The ear of the Lord is ever open to the cry of the humble, and his eye is on their sorrows. Some message or messenger will be sent to them to confirm the fact of their awakening to a sense of sin, and do what is best for their restoration. Let every penitent remember that God hears the cry in the night, and sees all the desires of the broken heart.
VI THE ADAPTATION OF CHASTISEMENT TO SIN. In the alternative choice of David as to the form of chastisement there is secured the same adaptation of the infliction to the nature of the sin. Many explanations have been offered of this sin, but we prefer to consider its essence to lie in a sense of elation in the strength of the nation, and a consequent desire to be assured of its sufficiency for all contingencies. David was thinking of strength and glory in numerical form. In this he was going counter to the letter and spirit of the Law laid down for him and his people. (Le 26) Success and prosperity were to be dependent on perfect obedience to God"s commands? (Lev_26:3, Lev_26:4) It is expressly added that then a few men will suffice against a host, and, on the other hand, disobedience and "pride of power" (vers. 14, 15-19) will entail defeat and desolation. That this "pride of power" was the real sin in David"s case is seen in this that the three alternatives offered to him are the very three forms of chastisement alluded to in Lev_26:3-10 (cf. 16-20). But the point is this, that, whichever form of chastisement is taken, the effect is the same a diminution of the power which was an object of pride. The sin of rejoicing in the "arm of flesh" (Jer_17:5; cf. Isa_30:2) was visited by a weakening of that "arm." Famine, war, pestilence, either, would take away from that very number which it was David"s ambition to know and have as large as possible. This adaptation of chastisement to sin is seen elsewhere. The infliction for wicked craving for flesh in the wilderness, (Num_11:33) the confusion and helplessness of those who sought help in Egypt rather than in God, (Isa_30:2, Isa_30:3, Isa_30:16, Isa_30:17) the turning of Laodicean outward respectability into a loss of all respectability, (Rev_3:14-18) the change from boasted glory to corruption in the case of Herod, (Act_12:21-23) are instances of a certain adaptation of chastisement to the particular sin committed. All who make self, or personal merits, or created power, a substitute for God, will find that on which they rest vanishing just when they most need comfort.
VII THE PENITENT"S TRUST IN THE JUSTICE AND MERCY OF GOD. Of the three dreadful alternatives, David took the pestilence, on the ground that his broken heart could rest more calmly in God"s judgments, where the human element was not employed as agent. Here was the true instinct of the soul. God is just and good, and in his hands all is sure to be right and kind. Man is weak and evil, and as an agent may blend his own base passions with the execution of a Divine decree. Even in the hour of suffering, when sin is to be punished, the heart has faith in God. Here is homage to God"s justice and mercy. Many a man, who by his sins brings terrible wars on himself and family, bows in entire submission, and rests in blended justice and mercy. This is the essence of our faith in Christ as Sacrifice for sin.
VIII THE RELATIVE CHARACTER OF OPEN MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD"S PRESENCE. There is nothing really surprising in the appearing of the angel of the Lord to David; for it is in keeping with the theophanies of the early dispensation, when men had special need to be reminded of the reality of God"s presence. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Manoah, were predecessors of David in this respect. The step from the message of God by the Seer Gad to a visible manifestation is not very great to any one who believes at all in the supernatural; indeed, the final manifestation of God in Christ covers all prior manifestations. Those who profess to see difficulties in these Old Testament accounts do not understand the logic or the historical congruity of their position as believers in the visible incarnation of the Son of God. Manifestations of God"s presence are relative. Creation is an expression of the being and presence of God. The voice which comes to prophet or apostle, the glory on which Moses gazed, the pillar of cloud and of fire, the appearance of manna after the promise of it, the vision of the seer, the still small voice to Elijah, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the frustration of the scheme of the wicked and the furtherance of those of the good, and the spiritual revelation to the soul in fulfilment of the precious words, (Joh_14:21, Joh_14:22) these are all manifestations of God. Christ differs from all in that he is the Fulness of the Godhead bodily. It is a mercy that our poor dull nature has been blessed by these demonstrations of the reality of things unseen and eternal.
1. MENTAL SUFFERING THE CHIEF PENALTY OF SIN. David sinned in numbering the people; the pestilence smote many of them, but touched him not. Nevertheless, he was the greatest sufferer; for no physical death could equal, in the pain it brings, the anguish of his soul in seeing that his sin had brought such trouble and pain on "these sheep" (ver. 17). To a man of his generous nature, with all the ambition to be a good and wise, (2Sa_23:3-5) it must have been torment unspeakable to see that he was an occasion of bringing woe to thousands of homes. His punishment was heavy indeed. A similar terrible mental punishment comes to the parent who sees, in his reformed years, his children diseased or ruined by former sins of his own. In this mental anguish lies, perhaps, the hell which men so much dread.
2. THE PARCIMONY OF PROVIDENCE. David was not correct in his supposition that "these sheep" had not gone astray. We are not certain whether they had indulged in feelings of pride in the strength of Israel, and so were virtually one with their king in the sin of numbering; but we know that they had sinned in the revolt of Absalom and Sheba, and the anger of the Lord against Israel may, as we have seen (vers. 1-9), be referred to those acts. The fact that they had not been chastised for so great a sin is manifest, so far as the history is any guide, though, if Absalom"s sin deserved special visitation on him, theirs equally deserved a visitation on themselves. The sense of the whole history, therefore, is that God waited, and made the occasion of the new sin of their king the opportunity of visiting them with stripes while visiting him with stripes for his own. Indeed, the severity of his chastisement lay much in this, that he was the instrumental occasion of their woe. By one pestilence the double chastisement was secured. Philosophy has dwelt much on the "law of parcimony" in nature. It seems also to run through many providential dispensations in relation to man. By the Flood God punished wicked men and set forth his faithfulness to the righteous. The institution of the Hebrew ritual both educated men in spiritual conceptions, and kept them distinct from the nations for the ulterior purpose of Christ"s coming. The sacrifice of Christ is at the same time an objective ground of forgiveness, and the most impressive source of moral influence in winning men over to God. There are manifold forms of the same law in daily life.
HOMILIES BY G. WOOD
Ver. 10.
Sinful numbering.
This is part of a narrative which presents various serious difficulties. The chief is that which arises from the statement that God moved David to commit the sin for which he afterwards punished him. In 1Ch_21:1 the instigator is said to be Satan, or "an adversary;" and it is possibleto translate hero ("Speaker"s Commentary") "one moved David." Still, the translation in our English versions (both Authorized and Revised) is more natural. The statement reminds us of Num_22:20, Num_22:22, and is probably susceptible of a similar explanation. God gives permission to men who indulge sinful desires to gratify their desires. He says "Go" when they strongly desire to do so, and thus punishes them by allowing them to sin, and then inflicting the penalty due to such sin. Moreover, the sacred writers speak more freely than we are accustomed to do of the agency of God in connection with the sins of men (see 2Sa_12:11 2Sa_16:10; Exo_7:3; 1Sa_26:19; 1Ki_22:20-23; Eze_14:9, Eze_14:10; Mar_4:12; 2Th_2:11, 2Th_2:12) Our Lord teaches us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation," which implies that God may thus lead men. However, if David knew that in some sense God had bidden him number the people, he none the less felt that the sin of the proceeding was great, and that it was his own.
I DAVID"S SIN. In what did it consist? As the narrative does not explain, and no law or statement of the Scriptures can be adduced in explanation, it is impossible to answer the question satisfactorily. That there was sin in the numbering of the people at this time, the strong remonstrance of the by-no-means-over-scrupulous or pious Joab (ver. 3) makes manifest. It may have been done in a spirit of pride and vain glory, that the king might delight himself in the contemplation of the greatness of his armed forces. For it should be noted that only those that "drew the sword" (ver. 9) were. counted. The kings of Israel were not, like other monarchs, to trust in the multitude of their armed men, but in their God, who could save or give victory by many or by few (1Sa_14:6; 2Ch_14:11) Possibly David may have had ulterior designs that were opposed to the will of God. He may have proposed to himself to reduce the people, as into more complete unity, so into more slavish subjection to the throne; (comp. 1Sa_8:11-18) or he may have had designs of unjust aggression on other peoples. Similar sins are committed:
1. When men reckon up their achievements or possessions, or the numberof their servants and retainers, in a spirit of pride, self-satisfaction, or false confidence. (Dan_4:30)
2. When they sum up their wealth, not to consider how they may bestemploy it for the good of men and the glory of God, but to frame schemes of sinful indulgence. (Luk_12:19)
3. When the calculation of numbers or resources is made in order todetermine the safety or otherwise of perpetrating or continuing some injustice to others. Rulers increasing and reckoning their hosts, etc., with a view to unjust wars, or the suppression of the liberties, or other violation of the rights, of their subjects.
4. When numbers are counted, instead of arguments weighed, previous toadopting a religious or political creed, or to obtain encouragement in the practice of any wickedness (Joh_7:48; Exo_23:2)
II DAVID"S REPENTANCE. It was long in coming so long as to excite our amazement. It included:
1. Conviction. "His heart smote him." His conscience accused him. He sawthe greatness of his sin and folly. Sin is always folly, though folly is not always sin. (see on 2Sa_13:13)
2. Humble confession made to God.
3. Earnest prayer for pardon.
III HIS PUNISHMENT. The reply to his prayer was not such as he may have hoped. The Prophet Gad was sent to him, not to assure him of pardon, but to offer him a choice of punishments (vers. 12, 13). He chose pestilence, as being more immediately from "the hand of the Lord," whose "mercies are great." Accordingly, a terrible plague fell on the people, destroying seventy thousand men in less, apparently, than one day. For although three days had been named as the duration of the pestilence, the time was evidently shortened, and the plague ceased as it threatened to destroy Jerusalem (ver. 16). To that extent the prayers of David (vers. 10, 17), and the sacrifices which he hastened to offer by direction of the prophet, prevailed. The king had sinned; the punishment fell on the people. David felt and pleaded the incongruity (ver. 17). What can we say respecting it?
1. It is according to a universal law of Divine procedure. The difficulty meets us everywhere. Subjects suffer on account of the sins, and even the mistakes, of their rulers; children, of their parents; and, more widely, the innocent, because of the sins and follies of others. It is useless to argue against facts.
2. Events which are judgments to the guilty are simple trials to the innocent, and may be unspeakable blessings. When the godly are struck down with others in a time of general calamity they exchange earth for heaven.
The sword, the pestilence, or fire, Shall but fulfil their best desire; From sins and sorrows set them free, And bring thy children, Lord, to thee. (Watts.)
1. In this case the people suffered for sins of their own. It was because "the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel" for their sins (ver. 1), that David"s sin was permitted and its punishment inflicted. Many other cases would admit of a similar explanation.
2. Although the calamity which fell on the nation was great, a greater would have been the death of its sovereign by the plague.
3. David suffered severely in the destruction of so many of his subjects. If his sin was that of pride in the number whom he ruled and could lead to war, the punishment corresponded to the sin. He was made to feel how soon God could deprive him of that in which he boasted.
4. When all has been thought and said that is possible, it is for us
(1) to recognize that God"s ways are necessarily beyond our comprehension we are soon out of our depth as we contemplate them;
(2) to cherish undoubting confidence in his wisdom, righteousness, and love in all his proceedings, whether they are discernible by us or not. Such confidence is required and justified by what we do distinctly know of him; and it is the only way to settled peace in a world so full of misery and mystery.
5. Let us carefully avoid sin, not only because it is evil in itself and will bring pain and sorrow to ourselves, but because others will inevitably be involved in the consequences of our conduct. Many children are sufferers for life through the wickedness of their parents. G.W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv10, 13, 14, 15, 17 And Davids heart smote him after that he had…
2Sa_24:10
And Davids heart smote him after that he had numbered the people.
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Davids confession
I. Davids confession--And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done. It is an unreserved confession. There are no excuses made by him for the sin he has committed. If we would confess our sins acceptably we must confess, as David did, without reserve--without any attempt to dissemble or to cloak them.
II. The petition. And now, I beseech Thee, O Lord! take away the iniquity of Thy servant. To take away means something more than to forgive. To take away iniquity is not only to pass it over, but to clear the soul of it; so that, though it should be sought for, it should not be found. And this is the Blessed Saviours office. It is the Lamb of God, and He alone, that taketh away the sin of the world.
III. The plea. For I have done foolishly. When we want to get a pardon from a fellow-creature, we are not apt to lay a stress upon the greatness of our fault, but to catch rather at something that may take a little from its guilt. Take away, saith he, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of Thy servants; and why? what is the argument he brings to give weight to his petition? You might have thought he would have said, for I did it in my haste; it was no intentional offence. But no; Take away my iniquity, says he, for I have done very foolishly. It reminds us of a similar petition in the 25th Psalm. Why, what could David mean, when he names the greatness of his sin as the ground on which he asks for pardon? His meaning probably was this: My sin is great--I have acted very foolishly, and therefore Thou wilt shew the riches of Thy grace the more abundantly in taking my iniquity away. O! blessed be the God of our salvation that such an argument as this can be adopted! If the efficacy of the blood of Jesus had been limited--why then we should have been afraid to say to God, My sin is great. (A. Roberts, M. A.)
The afterward of sin
Lord, before I commit a sin, it seems to me so shallow that I may wade through it dry-shod from any guiltiness, but when I have committed it, it often seems so deep that I cannot escape without drowning. Thus I am always in extremities; either my sins are so small that they need not any repentance, or so great that they cannot obtain thy pardon. Lend me, O Lord, a reed out of thy sanctuary, truly to measure the dimension of my offences. But O! as thou revealest to me more of my misery, reveal also more of thy mercy; lest if my wounds, in my apprehension, gape wider than any tents (plugs of lint), my soul run out at them. If my badness seem bigger than Thy goodness but one hairs breadth, but one moment, that-is room and time enough for me to run to eternal despair. (Thomas Fuller.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv13, 16 Scofield "Gen 12:10".
famine
Scofield "Gen 12:10".
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v10 The Pestilence
The Pestilence
v. 10. And David’s heart smote him, his conscience began to bother him, after that he had numbered the people, while the census was still being taken. And David, becoming conscious of the sinfulness of his act, said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done, the offense of his pride was directed against the Lord; and now, I beseech Thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Thy servant, the guilt which he had loaded upon himself by his transgression; for I have done very foolishly. It was a short penitential prayer, which he apparently sent up to God during a sleepless night.
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v. 11. For when David was up in the morning, rather, when David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, his confidential counselor, who had evidently taken the place of Nathan, saying,
v. 12. Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, in giving David his choice of three punishments, I offer thee three things, one of which would surely be laid upon him; choose thee one of them that I may do it unto thee.
v. 13. So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, naming the three forms of punishment selected by the Lord, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? Or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? Now advise and see what answer I shall return to Him that sent me; the choice must be made at once.
v. 14. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait, in great fear and anguish. Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for His mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man. The first two plague would have made David and his people dependent upon men, and he knew from experience that little favor might be expected there; the pestilence, however, was an immediate stroke of God’s hand, and here he hoped for mercy, whence he might sooner hope to draw comfort and help.
v. 15. So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed, which even now was fixed by the gracious will of God; and there died of the people, from Dan even to Beersheba, seventy thousand men, the entire people having deserved this punishment by various misdeeds, especially by the rebellions instituted under Absalom and Sheba.
v. 16. And when the angel, God’s messenger of destruction, stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, this being the moment of the appointed time, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough; stay now thine hand. As yet the scourge had not struck Jerusalem. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing-place of Araunah the Jebusite, northeast of Zion, on the summit of Moriah.
v. 17. And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, for the Lord opened his eyes and made the invisible visible to him, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly, upon him alone the blame really rested; but these sheep, the members of his people, what have they done? Let Thine hand, I pray Thee, be against me and against my father’s house. He begged the Lord to visit the judgment upon him and his family, but to spare the people, whom he considered innocent.
v. 18. And Gad came that day to David and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Thus the Lord’s instructions were carried out, 1Ch 21:18.
v. 19. And David, according to the saying of Glad, went up as the Lord commanded.
v. 20. And Araunah, who was busy threshing wheat, looked, bending forward to look more clearly in the distance, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out, from the enclosure of the threshing-floor, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground, rendering due honor to the king.
v. 21. And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
v. 22. And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take, as a present, and offer up what seemeth good unto him, for Araunah was just as anxious as David to have the plague stopped. Behold, here be oxen, those used by him on the floor, for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments, the threshing-sledges, which consisted of several iron-pointed rollers which were held together by a chain, and other instruments of the oxen, such as their yoke, for wood.
v. 23. All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. These words are a continuation of his speech: All this gives Araunah, O king, to the king. And Araunah, after a pause, said unto the king, The Lord, thy God, accept thee, look with favor upon the sacrifice and prayer now to be made.
v. 24. And the king, unwilling to accept the offer thus made, said unto Araunah, Nay, but I will surely buy it of thee at a price; neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord, my God, of that which doth cost me nothing, he felt that he could not properly, at this time, devote anything to Jehovah which he himself had gotten as a present. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver (about thirty dollars). This was apparently the price of the oxen only, since the land was worth more, 1Ch 21:25.
v. 25. And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace-offerings, the latter for the purpose of reestablishing the proper relation between him and the covenant God. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. At the same time the command to build an altar to the Lord included a hint that this place had been chosen by the Lord for the Temple to His name. We Christians of the New Testament have a far better atoning sacrifice, the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which cleanses us from all sins and keeps the plague of death and hell from us.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv10, 11, 13, 15, 17 David's heart afflicted him
David's heart afflicted him
The "heart" here is a metonym for David's emotions and conscience. AT: "David felt guilty" (See: Metonymy)
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Now, Yahweh, take away your servant's guilt
David refers to himself as "your servant." This is a polite way to speak to someone with greater authority.
translationWords
heart
afflicted
sin
servant
guilt
fool
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv10, 11, 13, 16, 17 24:10 I have sinned: See study note on 24:1.…
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).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.