Text: 2 Samuel 24:1
OT Text Referred to: Exodus 30:11
Subject: sin of the census
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Exodus 30:11 introduces the census-tax legislation with "When you take a census of the Israelites to count them," prescribing a half-shekel כֹּפֶר (kopher, "ransom") to prevent plague (נֶגֶף, negeph). David's census in 2 Samuel 24:1 resulted in exactly the disaster Exodus warned against — a devastating plague killing seventy thousand. The verbal connection between "counting" the people and the consequent plague links David's transgression directly to the Mosaic census legislation. David apparently conducted his military census without the prescribed ransom payment, treating God's people as a royal military asset rather than a redeemed community belonging to the LORD.