2 Samuel 24

The final chapters of 2 Samuel form a coda (a concluding section). This section brings together and summarizes the main themes from earlier chapters.

These chapters are thematic, not chronological (arranged by topic, not by time). Because of this, not all the events happened at the end of David’s reign (for example, 2 Samuel 22:1).

The material is arranged using a common Hebrew literary pattern called a chiasm (a mirror-like structure). In a chiasm, the first and last sections match, and the middle section is the focus.

The structure of this chiasm is as follows:

• A: Saul’s sin against the Gibeonites and the punishment that affected the whole community (2 Samuel 21:1–14)

  • B: David’s warriors and their heroic deeds (2 Samuel 21:15–22)

    • C: David’s Psalm (2 Samuel 22:1–51)

    • C′: David’s Psalm (2 Samuel 23:1–7)

  • B′: David’s warriors and their heroic deeds (2 Samuel 23:8–39)

• A′: David’s sin involving the census and the punishment that affected the whole community (2 Samuel 24:1–25)

A chiasm draws attention to the center section. Here, the center is David’s hymns. These hymns do not focus on David himself. Instead, they focus on David’s God.

• The reason for God's anger against Israel is unclear (but see Deuteronomy 4:25; 6:14–15; 29:22–28; 31:16–18).

• The phrase stirred up refers to a Hebrew verb (suth) that means enticing or inciting someone to do wrong (1 Samuel 26:19, stirred you up against me). People usually disliked census-taking because they saw it as an invasion of privacy. They thought it led to taxes or forced military service (see study note on 2 Samuel 24:9). If David acted out of pride or was planning an unjust war (as 2 Samuel 24:9 might suggest), this could explain why it was considered a sin for him (2 Samuel 24:10).

Dan and Beersheba were the traditional northern and southern boundaries of Israel. This phrase meant the entire land of Israel.

why does my lord … want to do such a thing?: Joab either realized that such a move would be unpopular among the people, or he believed that it was wrong before God.

The phrase men of valor indicates that the census mainly counted those eligible for military service. The total for Judah here might be rounded up from the number in 1 Chronicles 21:5. The different number for Israel in 1 Chronicles 21:5 (1,100,000) might result from adding a regular standing army of 300,000 (not recorded elsewhere) to the 800,000 found through the census.

I have sinned: See study note on 2 Samuel 24:1. David thought his sin caused the plague and that the removal of his sin would make things right (see also 2 Samuel 24:17). However, it is clear that Israel, not David, was the true object of God’s wrath (2 Samuel 24:1).

Gad, David’s seer, is mentioned only here and in 1 Samuel 22:5. A seer is an early term for a prophet (1 Samuel 9:9, 19). Unlike pagan magicians or sorcerers, biblical seers had visions inspired by God (see also 2 Kings 17:13; Isaiah 29:10; 30:9–10; Amos 7:12; Micah 3:7) and served as God’s messengers.

David had already experienced the first two options. He had fled from Saul and later from Absalom. He had also lived through a famine caused by Saul’s murder of the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21:1).

At first, three days of severe plague may have seemed less frightening. However, the plague caused the deaths of 70,000 people (2 Samuel 24:15).

• the LORD relented: God might stop his judgment:

  • when someone else pleads for the person in trouble (Exodus 32:12–14),

  • when the sinful person turns away from their wrongdoing (Jeremiah 18:8), or

  • simply because God chooses to stop.

• the angel who was destroying the people: See Exodus 12:23.

• A threshing floor was an open area where people separated grain from the chaff. Gideon met God at a threshing floor (Judges 6:37). Araunah’s threshing floor later became the location of the Temple (1 Chronicles 21:18–22:1; 2 Chronicles 3:1).

• Araunah the Jebusite: Although David captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Samuel 5:6–9), he did not completely remove them or drive them away.

• I, the shepherd, have sinned: Earlier, David confessed his sin only about his situation ("take away the iniquity of Your servant," 2 Samuel 24:10). Now, he prayed for those he thought were innocent (but see 2 Samuel 24:1) and offered to die for them.

• these sheep: David was the shepherd (a leader who guided, protected, and cared for the people) of Israel (see study note on 2 Samuel 7:8).

so that the plague: David did not know that God had already told the angel the plague would end (2 Samuel 24:16).

David acted like a priest when he built an altar, offered burnt and peace offerings, and prayed for his people. In response, the Lord answered his prayer (see 2 Samuel 21:14).