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Chron. 21. 1.

to Number the People.

Zobah, Bani the Gadite, (37) Zelek the Sutan. See the anger of the LORD was kindled Ammonite, Nahari the Beerothite, armourbearer to Joab the son of Zeruiah, (38) Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite, (39) Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.

CHAPTER XXIV.--(1) And again

2 Or, Compass.

B.C. 1017.

son of Ahinathan. If this be accepted, the only difference would be in the form of a name, Nathan or Ahinathan.

Bani the Gadite.-In Chronicles Mibhar the son of Haggeri. Entirely unlike as these readings appear, they are not so very different in the original. Mibhar is for Zobah of the previous clause, a word at present missing in Chronicles; the son of (Ben) is for Bani; and the Gadite (with the article) differs from Haggeri only by the change of the often confused letters d and r. text here is the true one.

The

(37) The Ammonite.-A foreigner, like "Igal of Zobah" (a Syrian), and "Ittai the Gittite," and "Uriah the Hittite," who rose to distinction in David's service, and all of whom were probably proselytes.

Armourbearer.-It appears from chap. xviii. 15 that Joab had ten armourbearers. This one was probably their chief.

(39) Thirty and seven in all.-Only thirty-six names have been given, but either the third unnamed person in the second triad of heroes is counted, or else in verse 34 the names of the two given in Chronicles should be substituted for the one in the text here.

In 1 Chron. xi. 41-47 sixteen more names are given, either of men who took the place of these heroes as they died, or simply of other heroes thought worthy of record, though hardly reckoned with this especial body.

XXIV.

This chapter contains the account of David's sin in numbering the people, and the punishment in consequence. The same narrative is found in 1 Chron. xxi., but with such considerable variations as to show that neither can have been taken from the other, but both must have been drawn from the original documents, which were probably very full, quite independently of each other.

No definite note of time is given. The word again in verse 1 clearly refers to chap. xxi., and so places this after the three years' famine for the Gibeonites. The fact that Joab was engaged in the work nearly ten months (verse 8) shows that it must have been a time of profound peace. The story in Chronicles is immediately followed by the account of David's final preparations for the building of the Temple. All these considerations concur in placing it near the close of his reign.

The question of the nature of David's sin in this act has been much discussed. The mere taking of a census in itself could not have been wrong, since it was provided for in the Law (Exod. xxx. 12) and had been repeatedly carried out by Moses (Numb. i., xxvi.). Nor is it likely that it was for the reason given by Josephus, that David neglected to secure for the sanctuary, as required, a half shekel from each one numbered (Exod. xxx. 13), since there is no mention of this, and David was at this very time concentrating the whole wealth of the kingdom for the future sanctuary. Yet the sinfulness of the act is distinctly set forth in the narrative

against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. (2) For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, 2Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that

(verse 1) and in the punishment inflicted (verses 15, 16), is recognised by David himself (verses 10, 17), and even forcibly impressed itself upon a person so little scrupulous as Joab (verse 3). It must, then, plainly be sought The whole connection shows

in the motive of David. that it was a military census, and it was made, not through the priests and Levites, but through Joab and "the captains of the host.' It would appear that prosperity and power, the natural generators of pride, had momentarily affected even David's humble dependence upon God, and led him to wish to organise his kingdom more perfectly as a worldly power among the nations of the earth. A first step in this direction must of course be the placing of his military forces upon a systematic footing. This same desire to turn aside Israel from being a simple theocracy, to become a great earthly power, was the constant sin of the nation. It had led at the first to the request for a king, and Solomon was so thoroughly possessed with it, and so ordered all his policy in view of it, as to draw down, at his death, the judgment of the breaking up of the unity of the nation; and it is not surprising that, after all his conquests, David, in a moment of weakness, should have given way to something of the same spirit. It was thus an act most absolutely at variance with that general character which made him "a man after God's own heart."

(1) Kindled against Israel.-This was not in consequence of the numbering of the people, but in consequence of that which ultimately led to that act. We are not told why the anger of the Lord was kindled, but doubtless because He saw both in king and people that rising spirit of earthly pride and reliance on earthly strength which led to the sin.

He moved.-The pronoun here stands for "the Lord," yet in 1 Chron. xxi. 1, the temptation is attributed to Satan, and Satan is clearly meant of the devil, and not simply of "an adversary.' This is a striking instance of attributing directly to God whatever comes about under His permission. And yet it is more than that. God has established immutable spiritual as well as material laws, or rather those laws themselves are but the expression of His unchanging will. Whatever comes about under the operation of those laws is said to be His doing. Now David's numbering the people was the natural consequence of the condition of worldliness and pride into which he had allowed himself to fall. God then moved him, because He had from the first so ordered the laws of the spirit that such a sinful act should be the natural outcome of such a sinful state. Of other interpretations: that which makes the verb impersonal-"one moved"-is hardly tenable grammatically; and that which makes the nominative a sort of compound word-" the wrath of the Lord" (as in some of the ancient versions)-leads to substantially the same explanation as that given above.

The word "number" in this verse is a different one from that used in the rest of the chapter, and means

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I may know the number of the people. (3) And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? (4) 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. (5) And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the 1river of Gad, and toward Jazer: (6) then they came to Gilead, and to the land

1 Or, valley.

Orten

newly inhabited.

simply to count, while the other conveys the idea of a military muster.

(3) Why doth my lord ?-Even in the eyes of the unscrupulous Joab David's act was abominable. Joab never gives evidence of being influenced by religious motives, but his natural shrewdness sufficed to show him that David's act was at variance with the fundamental principle of the national existence. Chronicles adds to Joab's words, "Why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?" The strong objection of Joab shows that there was something obviously wrong in the action of David.

And against the captains.- Joab's objections were sustained by his subordinate officers, and David carried through his sinful act by sheer force of self-will.

(5) Pitched in Aroer.-The census began on the east of Jordan, at the extreme south, thence passed northwards through the eastern tribes, and crossing the Jordan, passed southwards through the western tribes. Aroer is the city described in Deut. ii. 36; Josh. xiii. 16 as on the river Arnon, at the extreme southern border of the trans-Jordanic territory.

Of Gad. This follows the Masoretic reading. It is better to put a period after the word river, and for "of Gad" to read "towards Gad." Perhaps the words ' and they came" (towards Gad) may have been lost from the text.

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the Fighting Men.

of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon, (7) and came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beer-sheba. (8) So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. (9) And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

(10) And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have

actually entered them to enumerate the Israelites living in them.

(7) Of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites.— The remnants of the original inhabitants appear still to have occupied distinct towns by themselves. The "Hivites" were chiefly in the northern part of the land, though Gibeon and its towns had belonged to them. "The Canaanites" is a general name for the remnants of all the other races.

(9) In Israel eight hundred thousand.—The numbers here differ greatly from those given in 1 Chron. xxi. 5, 6; but there is no reason to suppose any corruption of the text in either case. Joab undertook the work unwillingly, and performed it imperfectly. According to 1 Chron. xxi. 6 he refused altogether to number Levi and Benjamin; and according to 1 Chron. xxvii. 24 "he finished not," and no official record was made of the result; "neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David." The numbers were, therefore, in part mere estimates. Here Israel is said to be 800,000, in Chronicles 1,100,000; but the latter probably includes an estimate of the omitted tribes of Benjamin and Levi, and perhaps of portions of other tribes. On the other hand, Judah is here 500,000 (a round number like all the rest), and in Chronicles 470,000. The difference is due perhaps to an estimate of the officiating priests and Levites reckoned to Judah. Another supposition is that the regular army of 288,000 (twelve divisions of 24,000 each) is included in Israel in one case and excluded in the other, and that in the same way in regard to Judah "the thirty" may have had command of a special body of 30,000. Possibly in one case the descendants of the old Canaanites were reckoned (since it appears from 2 Chron. ii. 17 that David "had numbered them "), and in the other were excluded. There is no reason to doubt the general reliability of the numbers, which would give a probable total population of five or six millions, or from 415 to 500 to a geographical square mile-a number not at all impossible in so fertile a country. (Robinson's estimate of the area of the country is about 12,000 geographical square miles.)

(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

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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. (11) For when
David was up in the morning, the word
of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad,
David's seer, saying, (12) Go and say unto
David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee Or, many.
three things; choose thee one of them,
that I may do it unto thee. (13) So Gad
came to David, and told him, and said
unto him, Shall seven years of famine
come unto thee in thy land? or wilt
thou flee three months before thine
enemies, while they pursue thee? or
that there be three days' pestilence in
thy land? now advise, and see what
answer I shall return to him that sent
me. (1) And David said unto Gad, I am
in a great strait: 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.

(15) So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the

a 1 Sam. 15. 11.

pardon. Still it must be remembered that ten months had passed (verse 8) before David saw his sin.

(11) For when David.-Read, and when. There is no suggestion in the original, as seems to be implied in the English, that David's repentance was in cousequence of the visit of Gad; on the contrary, it was in consequence of his repentance and confession that the prophet was sent to him.

The prophet Gad.- This prophet has not been mentioned since his warning to David to return from the land of Moab (1 Sam. xxii. 5); but he had probably been all along one of David's counsellors.

From

1 Chron. xxix. 29 it is not unlikely that this account was written by Gad.

(13) Seven years. In Chronicles "three years," and so the LXX. reads here also. This would be more in accordance with the "three" months and "three days.

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(14) Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord. Here the spirit of David in his earlier years reappears; he chooses that form of punishment which seems to him most directly and immediately dependent upon God Himself. He places himself in His hands rather than suffer those other punishments in which the will of man seemed to have a greater share. And it may be noticed also that he chooses that form of punishment from which his own royal position would afford him no immunity.

(15) The time appointed -Much difficulty has been found with this expression; but, if the Hebrew can bear this meaning, it may be understood well enough of the time (somewhat less than three days, verse 16), which God in His good pleasure determined. The Hebrew, however, probably means time of assembly," which is generally understood to signify the time of the evening sacrifice; so the Chaldee understand it, and so also St. Jerome. This would reduce the time of the pestilence to a single day.

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Pestilence.

| time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men. (16) And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, "the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing-place of Araunah the Jebusite. (17) And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.

(18) And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. (19) And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded. (20) And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him:

When the angel.-The abruptness of the mention of "the angel "here is removed in 1 Chron. xxi. 15, 'And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it; and as he was destroying it, the Lord beheld, and he repented," &c.

Threshing-place.-Better, threshing-floor, as the same word is translated in verses 18, 21, 24.

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Araunah the Jebusite.-The name is variously spelled, "Avarnah" (text)," Aranyah" (verse 18, text), and "Aravnah" (margin); in Chronicles it is uniformly 'Ornan." The latter is thought to be the Hebrew, and the former the Jebusite name, slightly varied in expression in Hebrew. He was a Jebusite, i.e., descended from the former possessors of Jerusalem; but we are not told whether he was now a proselyte.

When he saw the angel.-More fully (1 Chron. xxi. 16), "And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem."

These sheep.-David seeks to take all blame to himself, and prays that punishment may fall only upon him and his father's house. But, without mooting the question as to how far the people actively shared in David's sin, his prayer was impossible to be granted. Such was the divinely ordained federal relation between the ruler and his people that they were necessarily involved in the guilt of their head.

(18) Gad came. As appears from 1 Chron. xxi. 18, by direction of the angel. Daniel was still in Jeru salem proper, i.e., the hill of Zion, and it was looking out from thence that he had seen the angel "by the threshing-floor of Araunah," i.e., on the lower hill of Mount Moriah, which afterwards became the site of the Temple, and was included within the city. It was doubtless this event that determined the Temple-site.

(20) Saw the king.-Not the angel, as in Chroni cles, the words in Hebrew being much alike.

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and Araunah went out, and bowed him- | self before the king on his face upon the ground. (21) And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people. (22) And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be óxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. (23) All these things did Araunah, as a

(22) And Araunah said.-Araunah, having heard David's errand, has not a moment's hesitation. That his threshing-floor is to be turned into the place of an altar, he at once considers as settled; but he would have preferred to make it a gift.

(23) All these things did Araunah. — This clause should be rendered as a part of Araunah's address to David: "The whole, O king, does Araunah give unto the king." (Comp. 1 Chron. xxi. 23.) Then, after a moment's pause, he added, "The LORD thy God accept thee." The first word king, however, is omitted in some MSS., and in the LXX., Vulg., and Syr. The word "give," of course, means only offer. David actually bought the threshing-floor and other things required.

(24) Of that which cost me nothing. The principle on which David acted is that which essentially underlies all true sacrifice and all real giving to God.

For fifty shekels of silver. This sum is expressly said to cover the cost both of the ground and of the oxen, and seems very small. In 1 Chron. xxi. 25, it reads "six hundred shekels of gold by weight." One of the most ingenious propositions for the reconciliation of the two statements is that our text speaks of fifty shekels, not of silver but of money, and that Chronicles means that these were of gold, in value equal to 600 shekels of silver. But the explanation is quite incon

Stayed.

king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee. (24) And the king 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.

So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. (25) And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

sistent with the text in both places. In one of them the statement of price must have been altered in tran. scription. In the entire uncertainty as to the extent of the purchase of Araunah (the whole hill of Moriah, or only a part), and of the value of land in the locality and at the time, it is impossible to decide between the

two.

(25) Built there an altar.-The parallel place in Chronicles states that the tabernacle "and the altar of burnt offering were at that season in the high place at Gibeon," and that David was afraid to go before it "because of the sword of the angel," ie., the pestilence. It also mentions that when David "offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD," "He answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering." David then fixed upon this as "the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel" (1 Chron. xxii. 1).

Thus, with David's repentance and reconciliation to God after his second great sin closes this narrative and this book. David's reign and life were now substantially ended-a witness to all time of the power of Divine Grace over human infirmity and sin, of God's faithfulness and mercy to those that trust in Him, and of the triumph of an earnest and humble faith notwithstanding some very great and grievous falls.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE ON THE TEXT OF II. SAMUEL.

IT has been necessary from time to time to speak of errors of the scribes in copying the text, and of probable emendations suggested by the reading of the parallel passages in Chronicles. Such errors must necessarily arise in the often repeated copying of manuscripts during a succession of many centuries, unless it were prevented by a special and perpetual miracle. But we have not only no Scriptural or other reasonable ground for expecting such a miracle; we have positive proof against such a supposition. In the parallel case of the New Testament, where we have a large number of MSS., some of them very ancient, as well as versions made within a century of the original documents, and copious quotations in ancient writers, it is found that no single MS. contains a perfectly accurate text, and that the actual language of the original can only be determined in cases of doubt by a careful collation and weighing of all the evidence bearing upon the point. There is no ground to suppose that the text of the Old Testament has fared differently; but there do not exist the same means of testing and authenticating its readings. There are no MSS. of the Old Testament as ancient as several which have been preserved of the New; there are no translations at all as near the date of the original writings, and there are, of course, no quotations, outside of the sacred books

themselves, for a long period after their publication. Yet a comparison of parallel accounts, such as have been occasionally noted above, and such as Ezra ii. with Neh. vii., shows conclusively that errors have been introduced into the text, especially in regard to numbers. Most of these appear to have been very ancient, before the oldest existing versions were made, and before the necessity was felt for such scrupulous care on the part of the scribes as was exercised in later times. For the correction of such errors we are necessarily compelled to rely mainly upon conjecture; but while conjecture is usually an uncertain guide, in the case of parallel accounts it often becomes possible to determine, by comparison, the original reading with a high degree of probability; and then, from the analogy of these corrections to determine slight changes in other passages also, where the text has apparently undergone alteration.

It is to be remembered, however, that all these errors and corrections are only in minutiæ, in proper names, in the bare statement of numbers, and such like matters. When all have been made that any sober criticism can suggest, the substance of the narrative remains unaffected, and the result of the most searching investigation is to place on an ever firmer basis the substantial accuracy of the copies of the Scriptures which have come down to us.

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