Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.” But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply His troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all servants of my lord? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?” Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and traveled throughout Israel, and then he returned to Jerusalem. And Joab reported to David the total number of the troops. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, including 470,000 in Judah. But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count, because the king’s command was detestable to him. This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He struck Israel. Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. Now I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” And the LORD instructed Gad, David’s seer, “Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am offering you three options. Choose one of them, and I will carry it out against you.’” So Gad went and said to David, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You must choose between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the LORD—days of plague upon the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.” David answered Gad, “I am deeply distressed. Please, let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown. And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people.” Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. So David went up at the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the LORD. Now Ornan was threshing wheat when he turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. David came to Ornan, and when Ornan looked out and saw David, he left the threshing floor and bowed facedown before David. Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to the LORD. Sell it to me for the full price, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.” Ornan said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever seems good. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering—I will give it all.” “No,” replied King David, “I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the LORD what belongs to you, nor will I offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold for the site. And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called upon the LORD, who answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put his sword back into its sheath. At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. For the tabernacle of the LORD that Moses had made in the wilderness and the altar of burnt offering were presently at the high place in Gibeon, but David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD.
Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah." So the king said to Joab the commander of his army, who (was) with him, “Go now throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the troops, so that I may know their number.” But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times and may the eyes of my lord the king see (it). But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?” Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army departed from the presence of the king to count the troops of Israel. They crossed the Jordan and camped near Aroer, south of the town in the middle of the valley, and proceeded toward Gad and Jazer. Then they went to Gilead and the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. They went toward the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to the Negev of Judah, (to) Beersheba. At the end of nine months and twenty days, having gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem. And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 {} men of valor who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000. After (David) had numbered the troops, (his) conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” When David got up in the morning, a Revelation from the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: “Go and tell David that this is what the LORD says: ‘ I am offering you three (options). Choose one and I will carry it out So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.” David answered Gad, deeply distressed. Please, let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies (are) great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel from that morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, (the shepherd), have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon and my father’s house.” And that day Gad came to David and said “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David went up at the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded. When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, he went out and bowed facedown before the king. “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said. “To buy your threshing floor,” David replied, “that I may build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.” Araunah said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever (seems) good and offer it up. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. O king, Araunah gives all these to the king.” (He) also said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” “No,” replied the king -, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.
Significance
These are parallel accounts of David's census and the resulting plague — a synoptic relationship between Samuel and Chronicles, not a verbatim citation of one by the other. The most striking difference is the instigator: 2 Samuel 24:1 says the anger of the LORD burned against Israel and "He stirred up David against them," while 1 Chronicles 21:1 says "Satan rose up against Israel and incited David" (vayya'amod satan al-Yisrael). This theological development reflects Israel's growing understanding of secondary causation within divine sovereignty. Both accounts converge on the threshing floor of Araunah/Ornan, where David's purchase of the site and his altar sacrifice establish the location that Solomon will later develop into the temple (2 Chr 3:1). The Chronicler adds that fire fell from heaven to consume David's offering (1 Chr 21:26), marking the threshing floor as a place of divinely authenticated worship.
Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Allusion / synoptic parallel
Connection Method(s)
Redemptive-Historical Progression — the census narrative is retold with its outcome enlarged: Chronicles names Satan as the inciting agent under God's government, adds the fire from heaven on the altar, and drives the whole account to the purchase of Ornan's threshing floor — the site designated for the temple (2 Chr 3:1); Samuel's story is advanced to its redemptive-historical terminus, the place of atoning sacrifice.
