Study notes
Satan, (also called the adversary), encouraged David to count his military forces (see 2 Samuel 24:1). The Chronicler views the story in Samuel through his understanding of Satan as an opponent of God and humanity. God allows Satan to act in the world, and through this, Satan unknowingly serves God's purposes (see 2 Chronicles 18:3–34; Job 1:6–2:7; Zechariah 3:1–2; Matthew 4:1–11; John 13:27; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 2 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Timothy 1:20; Revelation 20:3, 7–9).
This account of the census is similar to 2 Samuel 24:1–25 but focuses on different aspects. The Chronicler’s version sets the stage for dedicating the altar and preparing to build the temple (1 Chronicles 22).
1 Chronicles records one story of David doing something that God didn’t want him to do. This story explains how David came to choose the place where the temple would be built.
David had all the fighting men in Israel counted. This was considered an evil deed. It isn’t fully understood why this was wrong. Perhaps the way that David counted the men went against the instructions recorded in Exodus 30:12–16.
Later David recognised that he had sinned. He repented. God took away David’s guilt but still brought judgement against him for what he had done. All of Israel suffered when God punished David.
The plague stopped when David built an altar and made sacrifices to honour God. He did this at the threshing floor of a Jebusite man. God heard David’s prayers and accepted his offering. God made this clear by sending fire from heaven to the altar. After that, David decided that the temple and its altar would be built there.
David was completely committed to having a temple built for God. He understood that God didn’t want him to be the one to build it. David made all the plans that were needed so that Solomon could build it. This included appointing workers and gathering all the wood, stone and metals. David explained all the plans to Solomon. He also explained to Solomon the covenant God had made with David’s family line.
David urged Solomon to be completely committed to the Mount Sinai covenant. He also urged him to start building the temple. He wanted Solomon to keep working on the temple until it was finished.
The study note on 2 Samuel 24:1 explores why God was upset with the census.
Later, Gad is mentioned as having created a list of the acts of King David (1 Chronicles 29:29).
These verses describe the angel and David's response in more detail than the similar text in 2 Samuel 24:17. Seeing the angel on his mission moved David to plead for the people.
The census and plague led to dedicating Araunah’s threshing floor as the site for the new sanctuary. Normally, offerings were made at Gibeon, where the tabernacle was located (see 1 Chronicles 16:39; 21:29; 2 Chronicles 1:3). The plague stopped at the threshing floor, allowing David to make offerings there as instructed by Gad the seer (1 Chronicles 21:18). David then chose this new location for the future temple of the Lord God.
Verse notes: Adapted by Mission Mutual (Aquifer Open Study Notes) from Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. CC BY-SA 4.0. Section notes: Biblica Study Notes © 2023 Biblica, Inc. CC BY-SA 4.0, via BibleAquifer. About the sources