2 Samuel · chapter 24 of 24
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2 Samuel 24 tells how David orders the people counted, and Joab warns him in vain. David then acknowledges his sin and, through the prophet Gad, chooses among three punishments, choosing to fall into the hand of the Lord. A plague kills seventy thousand, the angel stops at the threshing floor of Araunah, and David buys the place and builds an altar, and the plague ceases.
The last chapter of 2 Samuel closes the book with another episode of sin, repentance and mercy. The text begins with the Lord's anger against Israel and a census David orders despite Joab's warning. The chapter ends with an altar on the spot where the temple will later be built, and recalls that Israel's hope rests on God's mercy.
The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel again, and he incited David against them, saying: go, number Israel and Judah. David orders Joab to count the people. Joab asks why he wants to do it, but the king insists. Joab and the commanders travel the land for nine months and twenty days and report the results: eight hundred thousand fighting men in Israel and five hundred thousand in Judah.
After he has counted the people, David's heart strikes him. He tells the Lord that he has sinned greatly and asks him to take away the guilt of his servant, for he has acted very foolishly. In the morning, the prophet Gad, David's seer, brings him the word of the Lord: choose among seven years of famine (three in some ancient manuscripts), three months of fleeing before his enemies or three days of pestilence in the land. David answers that he is in great distress, but he would rather fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great, and not into the hand of man.
The Lord sends a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men die from Dan to Beersheba. When the angel stretches out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relents and tells him to stop at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David, seeing the angel, tells the Lord that he is the one who has sinned, and asks what the sheep have done; he asks that the hand fall on him and his house. Gad tells him to go up and build an altar at the threshing floor of Araunah. Araunah offers to give him everything, but David answers that he will not offer to the Lord burnt offerings that cost him nothing. He buys the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver, builds an altar there, offers burnt offerings and peace offerings, and the Lord answers the plea for the land and the plague is stopped.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
After counting the people, David's heart strikes him, and he confesses that he has sinned greatly and acted foolishly. His repentance is immediate and sincere, and he asks the Lord to take away the guilt.
David prefers to fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great, and not into the hand of man. Even under discipline, he appeals to God's compassion rather than that of human beings.
David sees the angel and acknowledges that he is the one who sinned, asking what the sheep have done. He offers to bear the punishment, like a shepherd who steps between his flock and the danger.
David refuses to offer the Lord burnt offerings that cost him nothing and buys the threshing floor at its price. True worship involves a costly gift, not merely taking advantage of what others give.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: To count the people of Israel and Judah. — 2 Samuel 24:2
Answer: Nine months and twenty days. — 2 Samuel 24:8
Answer: That he had sinned greatly, and he asked the Lord to take away the guilt of his servant. — 2 Samuel 24:10
Answer: Famine, fleeing before his enemies or three days of pestilence. — 2 Samuel 24:13
Answer: Seventy thousand, from Dan to Beersheba. — 2 Samuel 24:15
Answer: That he would not offer the Lord burnt offerings that cost him nothing, and he bought it for fifty shekels of silver. — 2 Samuel 24:24
David's sin was trusting his numbers instead of the Lord. Today it is also easy to measure the success of a church or ministry by figures and forget who gives the growth. A group can talk about what it is tempted to trust more than God: money, attendance, reputation or abilities.
David's response teaches too. When his heart struck him, he confessed without delay and stood with his people. And when it came to worship, he would not offer something that cost him nothing. Ask what your worship costs you, and remember that God sees the heart behind the offering.
2 Samuel 24 closes the book with an altar at the threshing floor of Araunah, a place tradition connects with Mount Moriah and the temple Solomon will build. The book ends with God's mercy toward the sin of his people and his king, and points ahead to the king and the temple that come in 1 Kings.
The text does not explain the reason in detail. Many understand that David trusted military strength rather than the Lord, or acted out of pride, despite Joab's warning. His own heart rebuked him, which shows he understood his fault himself.
The text says the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel and that David was incited to take the census. The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 21:1 mentions Satan. Scholars understand it as God allowing a test, without removing David's responsibility.
It is the place where David built the altar and where, according to 2 Chronicles 3:1, Solomon later built the temple. The purchase also establishes that the site was acquired honestly for God.