2 Samuel 24
2 Samuel 24 covers David’s census, the accompanying discipline from God, and David’s repentance and the building of an altar. This chapter is the last chapter of 2 Samuel, showing human weakness, God’s mercy, and the meaning of true worship.
1verseAgain the LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he moved David against them, saying, “Go, count Israel and Judah.”
2verseThe king said to Joab the captain of the army, who was with him, “Now go back and forth through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know the sum of the people.”
3verseJoab said to the king, “Now may the LORD your God add to the people, however many they may be, one hundred times; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”
4verseNotwithstanding, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.
5verseThey passed over the Jordan and encamped in Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the valley of Gad, and to Jazer;
6versethen they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; and they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon,
7verseand came to the stronghold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites and of the Canaanites; and they went out to the south of Judah, at Beersheba.
8verseSo when they had gone back and forth through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9verseJoab gave up the sum of the counting of the people to the king; and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
10verseDavid’s heart struck him after he had counted the people. David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in that which I have done. But now, the LORD, put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.”
11verseWhen David rose up in the morning, the LORD’s word came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,
12verse“Go and speak to David, ‘The LORD says, “I offer you three things. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.”’”
13verseSo Gad came to David, and told him, saying, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now answer, and consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”
14verseDavid said to Gad, “I am in distress. Let us fall now into the LORD’s hand, for his mercies are great. Let me not fall into man’s hand.”
15verseSo the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning even to the appointed time; and seventy thousand men died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba.
16verseWhen the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough. Now withdraw your hand.” The LORD’s angel was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17verseDavid spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who struck the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me, and against my father’s house.”
18verseGad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
19verseDavid went up according to the saying of Gad, as the LORD commanded.
20verseAraunah looked out, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. Then Araunah went out and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
21verseAraunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy your threshing floor, to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people.”
22verseAraunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Behold, the cattle for the burnt offering, and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood.
23verseAll this, O king, does Araunah give to the king.” Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.”
24verseThe king said to Araunah, “No, but I will most certainly buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25verseDavid built an altar to the LORD there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was entreated for the land, and the plague was removed from Israel.
The Census and Its Background
The passage begins with the fact that God again became angry with Israel and commanded David to conduct a census. David carries out the census despite the objections of Joab and the commanders of the army. It can be seen that at the time, the census was driven by a desire to rely on human strength (the number of troops) rather than depending on God’s will.
God’s Discipline and David’s Repentance
After completing the census, David realizes that his actions were wrong and confesses his sin to God. God has him choose one of three kinds of punishment through the prophet Gad, and David chooses to receive direct discipline from God. As a result, a plague comes and a great tragedy unfolds in which many Israelites die.
The Building of the Altar and the Closing of the Chapter
David pleads for the discipline to stop, and as instructed by the prophet Gad, he builds an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and offers sacrifices to God. God accepts the offering and brings an end to the disaster. This threshing floor later also becomes the site where Solomon builds the temple.
Structural and Theological Meaning
- Verses 1-9: David’s command and execution of the census
- Verses 10-17: David’s repentance, the proclamation of punishment through Gad, and the beginning of the disaster
- Verses 18-25: The building of the altar on Araunah’s threshing floor and the end of the disaster
This chapter shows God’s purpose to prepare a new beginning (the altar and the temple site) in the midst of human pride and mistakes, yet through God’s mercy.
Points for Reflection
- It helps us look back on what we rely on in our lives. We can think about whether we are relying on our own strength and numbers—or whether we can trust God’s sovereignty.
- Even with mistakes and weakness, we can reflect on the fact that God does not disregard those who repent, and opens up a new path for them.
Try Applying It to Yourself
- Check what you are currently relying on (ability, possessions, people, and so on), and then you can turn your direction toward a life that trusts God again.
- When you realize your mistakes or weakness, you can apply it to your life by adopting an attitude of approaching God honestly rather than condemning yourself, repenting, and seeking to be led into new obedience.
This is the last chapter of 2 Samuel.