Bible Commentaries

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

1 Chronicles 21

Introduction

1  David, tempted by Satan, forces Joab to number the people.
5  The number of the people being brought, David repents of it.
9  David having three plagues propounded by God, chooses the pestilence.
14  After the death of seventy thousand, David by repentance prevents the destruction of Jerusalem.
18  David, by Gad's direction, purchases Ornan's threshing- floor; where having built an altar, God gives a sign of his favour by fire, and stays the plague.
28  David sacrifices there, being restrained from Gibeon by fear of the angel.
Verse 1

And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
A. M. 2987. B.C. 1017. An. Ex. Is. 474. Satan
2 Samuel 24:1, 1 Kings 22:20-22, Job 1:6-12, 2:1,4-6, Zechariah 3:1, Matthew 4:3, Luke 22:31, John 13:2, Acts 5:3, James 1:13, Revelation 12:10
provoked David
Luke 11:53, Hebrews 10:24
Verse 2

And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
Joab
2 Samuel 24:2-4
Beer-sheba
Judges 20:1, 1 Samuel 3:20, 2 Samuel 3:10, 17:11, 24:15, 1 Kings 4:25, 2 Chronicles 30:5
bring
27:23,24
that I may
Deuteronomy 8:13-17, 2 Chronicles 32:25,26, Proverbs 29:23, 2 Corinthians 12:7
Verse 3

And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?
The Lord
19:13, Psalms 115:14, Proverbs 14:28, Isaiah 26:15, 48:19
why will
Genesis 20:9, Exodus 32:21, Numbers 32:9,10, 1 Samuel 2:24, 1 Kings 14:16
Verse 4

Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.
the king's
Ecclesiastes 8:4
Wherefore
Exodus 1:17, Daniel 3:18, Acts 5:29
and went
2 Samuel 24:3-8
Verse 5

And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.
a thousand
The Syriac has 800,000 as in the parallel passage of Samuel.
27:23, 2 Samuel 24:9
Verse 6

But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's word was abominable to Joab.
Levi
Numbers 1:47-49
Joab
2 Samuel 3:27, 11:15-21, 20:9,10
Verse 7

And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.
And God was displeased with this thing
Heb. And it was evil in the eyes of God concerning this thing.
2 Samuel 11:27, 1 Kings 15:5
he smote
14, Joshua 7:1,5,13, 22:16-26, 2 Samuel 21:1,14, 24:1
Verse 8

And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
I have sinned
2 Samuel 12:13, 24:10, Psalms 25:11, 32:5, Jeremiah 3:13, Luke 15:18,19, 1 John 1:9
do away
Psalms 51:1-3, Hosea 14:2, John 1:29
I have done
Genesis 34:7, 1 Samuel 13:13, 26:21, 2 Samuel 13:13, 2 Chronicles 10:9
Verse 9

And the LORD spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying,
Gad
29:29, 1 Samuel 9:9, 2 Samuel 24:11
Verse 10

Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
offer thee
Heb. stretch out. choose.
Joshua 24:15, Proverbs 1:29-31
that I may
Numbers 20:12, 2 Samuel 12:10-12, 1 Kings 13:21,22, Proverbs 3:12, Revelation 3:19
Verse 11

So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee
Choose thee
Heb. Take to thee.
Proverbs 19:20
Verse 12

Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
three year's famine
In 2 Sa 24:13, it is seven years; but the Septuagint has there three years, as here; which is, no doubt, the true reading; the letter zayin, seven, being mistaken for gimmel, three.
Leviticus 26:26-29, 2 Samuel 21:1, 24:13, 1 Kings 17:1, 2 Kings 8:1, Lamentations 4:9, Luke 4:25
to be destroyed
Leviticus 26:17,36,37, Deuteronomy 28:15,25,51,52, Jeremiah 42:16
the sword
16, Isaiah 66:16, Jeremiah 12:12, 47:6
even the pestilence
Leviticus 26:10,25, Deuteronomy 28:22,27,35, Psalms 91:6, Ezekiel 14:19-21
the angel
15,16, Exodus 12:23, 2 Kings 19:35, Matthew 13:49,50, Acts 12:23, Revelation 7:1-3
Now therefore
2 Samuel 24:13,14
Verse 13

And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.
I am in
2 Kings 6:15, 7:4, Esther 4:11,16, John 12:27, Philippians 1:23
let me fall
David here acted nobly: had he chosen war, his personal safety was in no danger, as there was an ordinance preventing him from going to battle; and in famine, his wealth would have secured his and his family's support; but all were equally exposed to the pestilence.
Hebrews 10:31
great
or, many.
Exodus 34:6,7, Psalms 5:7, 51:1,2, 69:13,16, 86:5,15, 103:8, 106:7, 130:7, Isaiah 55:7, 63:7,15, Lamentations 3:32, Jonah 3:9, 4:2, Micah 7:18, Habakkuk 3:2
but let me
2 Chronicles 28:9, Proverbs 12:10, Isaiah 46:7, 47:6
Verse 14

So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.
the Lord
Numbers 16:46-49, 2 Samuel 24:15
seventy
Exodus 12:30, Numbers 25:9, 1 Samuel 6:19, 2 Kings 19:35
Verse 15

And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
unto Jerusalem
2 Samuel 24:16, Jeremiah 7:12, 26:9,18, Matthew 23:37,38
repented him
Genesis 6:6, Exodus 32:14, Judges 2:18, 10:16, Psalms 78:38, Jeremiah 18:7-10, Jonah 4:2
It is enough
Exodus 9:28, 1 Kings 19:4, Psalms 90:13, Mark 14:41
Ornan
2 Samuel 24:18
Araunah
2 Chronicles 3:1
Verse 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. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
saw the angel
Genesis 3:24, Exodus 14:19,20, Numbers 22:31, Joshua 5:13,14, 2 Kings 6:17
clothed
1 Kings 21:27, 2 Kings 19:1, Psalms 35:13,14, Jonah 3:6-8
fell upon
Numbers 14:5, 16:22
Verse 17

And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.
Is it not I
8, 2 Samuel 24:17, Psalms 51:4, Ezekiel 16:63
these sheep
1 Kings 22:17, Psalms 44:11
what have
2 Samuel 24:1
let thine
Genesis 44:33, Exodus 32:32,33, John 10:11,12, Romans 9:3, 1 John 3:16
on my father's
Exodus 20:5, 2 Samuel 12:10, Psalms 51:14, Isaiah 39:7,8
that they should
Joshua 22:18
Verse 18

Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
the angel
11, Acts 8:26-40
that David
15, 2 Samuel 24:18, 2 Chronicles 3:1
Verse 19

And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD.
went up
2 Kings 5:10-14, John 2:5, Acts 9:6
Verse 20

And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
And Ornan, etc
or, When Ornan turned back and saw the angel, then he, and his four sons with him, hid themselves.
Judges 6:11
Verse 21

And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.
bowed himself
1 Samuel 25:23, 2 Samuel 24:18-20
Verse 22

Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.
Grant
Heb. Give.
1 Kings 21:2
thou shalt grant
2 Samuel 24:21
that the plague
Numbers 16:48, 25:8
Verse 23

And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.
Take it
Genesis 23:4-6, 2 Samuel 24:22,23, Jeremiah 32:8
the oxen
1 Samuel 6:14, 1 Kings 19:21, Isaiah 28:27,28
Verse 24

And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.
Nay
Genesis 14:23, 23:13, Deuteronomy 16:16,17, Malachi 1:12-14, Romans 12:17
for I will not
It is a maxim from heaven, "Honour the Lord with thy substance." He who has a religion that costs him nothing, has a religion that is worth nothing; nor will any man esteem the ordinances of God, if those ordinances cost him nothing. Had Araunah's noble offer been accepted, it would have been Araunah's sacrifice, not David's; nor would it have answered the end of turning away the displeasure of the Most High. It was David that sinned, not Araunah; therefore David must offer sacrifice.
Verse 25

So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.
2 Samuel 24:24,25
Verse 26

And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.
built there
Exodus 20:24,25, 24:4,5
and called
1 Samuel 7:8,9, Psalms 51:15, 91:15, 99:9, Proverbs 15:8, Isaiah 65:24, Jeremiah 33:3
by fire
Leviticus 9:24, Judges 6:21, 13:20, 1 Kings 18:24,38, 2 Chronicles 3:1, 7:1
Verse 27

And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.
the Lord
15,16, 2 Samuel 24:16, Psalms 103:20, Hebrews 1:14
he put
12,20, Jeremiah 47:6, Ezekiel 21:30, Matthew 26:52, John 18:11
Verse 29

For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon.
the tabernacle
Exodus 40:1-38
Gibeon
16:39, 1 Kings 3:4-15, 2 Chronicles 1:3,13
Verse 30

But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD.
he was afraid
16, 13:12, Deuteronomy 10:12, 2 Samuel 6:9, Job 13:21, 21:6, 23:15, Psalms 90:11, Psalms 119:120, Jeremiah 5:22, 10:7, Hebrews 12:28,29, Revelation 1:17, 15:4

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