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2 Samuel 24

ARC · Chapter 24/24

1E a ira do Senhor se tornou a accender contra Israel: e incitou a David contra elles, dizendo: Vae, numera a Israel e a Judah.

2Disse pois o rei a Joab, chefe do exercito, o qual tinha comsigo: Agora rodeia por todas as tribus de Israel, desde Dan até Berseba, e numera o povo: para que eu saiba o numero do povo.

3Então disse Joab ao rei: Ora, multiplique o Senhor teu Deus a este povo cem vezes tanto quanto agora é, e os olhos do rei meu senhor o vejam: mas porque deseja o rei meu senhor este negocio?

4Porém a palavra do rei prevaleceu contra Joab, e contra os chefes do exercito: Joab pois saiu com os chefes do exercito diante da face do rei, a numerar o povo de Israel.

5E passaram o Jordão: e pozeram-se em campo junto a Aroer, á direita da cidade que está no meio do ribeiro de Gad, e junto a Jazer.

6E vieram a Gilead, e á terra baixa de Hodsi: tambem vieram até Dan-jaan, e ao redor de Zidon.

7E vieram á fortaleza de Tyro, e a todas as cidades dos heveos e dos cananeos: e sairam para a banda do sul de Judah, a Berseba.

8Assim rodeiaram por toda a terra: e ao cabo de nove mezes e vinte dias voltaram a Jerusalem.

9E Joab deu ao rei a somma do numero do povo contado: e havia em Israel oitocentos mil homens de guerra, que arrancavam espada; e os homens de Judah eram quinhentos mil homens.

10E o coração feriu a David, depois de haver numerado o povo: e disse David ao Senhor: Muito pequei no que fiz: porém agora, ó Senhor, peço-te que traspasses a iniquidade do teu servo; porque tenho feito mui loucamente.

11Levantando-se pois David pela manhã, veiu a palavra do Senhor ao propheta Gad, vidente de David, dizendo:

12Vae, e dize a David: Assim diz o Senhor: Tres coisas te offereço; escolhe uma d'ellas, para que t'a faça.

13Veiu pois Gad a David, e fez-lh'o saber; e disse-lhe: Queres que sete annos de fome te venham á tua terra; ou que por tres mezes fujas diante de teus inimigos, e elles te persigam; ou que por tres dias haja peste na tua terra? Delibera agora, e vê que resposta hei de tornar ao que me enviou.

14Então disse David a Gad: Estou em grande angustia: porém caiamos nas mãos do Senhor, porque muitas são as suas misericordias; mas nas mãos dos homens não caia eu.

15Então enviou o Senhor a peste a Israel, desde pela manhã até ao tempo determinado: e desde Dan até Berseba, morreram setenta mil homens do povo.

16Estendendo pois o anjo a sua mão sobre Jerusalem, para a destruir, o Senhor se arrependeu d'aquelle mal; e disse ao anjo que fazia a destruição entre o povo: Basta, agora retira a tua mão. E o anjo do Senhor estava junto á eira d'Arauna, o jebuseo.

17E, vendo David ao anjo que feria o povo, fallou ao Senhor, e disse: Eis que eu sou o que pequei, e eu o que iniquamente obrei; porém estas ovelhas que fizeram? seja pois a tua mão contra mim, e contra a casa de meu pae.

18E Gad veiu n'aquelle mesmo dia a David; e disse-lhe: Sobe, levanta ao Senhor um altar na eira de Arauna, o jebuseo.

19David subiu conforme á palavra de Gad, como o Senhor lhe tinha ordenado.

20E olhou Arauna, e viu que vinham para elle o rei e os seus servos: saiu pois Arauna, e inclinou-se diante do rei com o rosto em terra.

21E disse Arauna: Porque vem o rei meu Senhor ao seu servo? E disse David: Para comprar de ti esta eira, afim de edificar n'ella um altar ao Senhor, para que este castigo cesse de sobre o povo.

22Então disse Arauna a David: Tome, e offereça o rei meu senhor o que bem parecer aos seus olhos; eis ahi bois para o holocausto, e os trilhos, e o apparelho dos bois para a lenha.

23Tudo isto deu Arauna ao rei: disse mais Arauna ao rei: O Senhor teu Deus tome prazer em ti.

24Porém o rei disse a Arauna: Não, porém por certo preço t'o comprarei, porque não offerecerei ao Senhor meu Deus holocaustos que me não custem nada. Assim David comprou a eira e os bois por cincoenta siclos de prata

25E edificou ali David ao Senhor um altar, e offereceu holocaustos, e offertas pacificas. Assim o Senhor se aplacou com a terra, e cessou aquelle castigo de sobre Israel.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

David orders a military census of the people, an act that displeases God, and Israel is punished with a plague that kills thousands. David buys the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and builds an altar there — the same site where Solomon would later build the temple.

Explanation

Although the text does not fully explain why the census was sinful, Jewish tradition suggests David was seeking glory in his own military strength (counting troops to display power) rather than trusting in God. David's response to the punishment — asking that the judgment fall on him rather than on the innocent people — shows genuine responsible leadership. The purchase of Araunah's threshing floor, even though it was offered for free, and David's refusal to offer God something that cost him nothing, close the book with a central principle of true worship: real sacrifice requires personal cost.

Fun facts

  • Araunah's threshing floor, bought for 50 shekels of silver (according to this text; 1 Chronicles 21:25 mentions 600 shekels of gold for the whole area of the mountain), became the exact site where Solomon would build the temple in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah — the same mountain where tradition places the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22.
  • David's words, 'I will not offer... unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing,' are still frequently quoted today as a principle about the true meaning of generosity and religious sacrifice.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Samuel 24:1Here it is God who incites David to take the census; in 1 Chronicles 21:1, the same episode is attributed to Satan inciting David. It is one of the clearest cases in the Bible where two books tell the same story while attributing the cause to different agents.
  2. 2 Samuel 24:2David orders Joab to go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, to count how many men there are among the people.
  3. 2 Samuel 24:3Joab questions the decision, wishing that God would multiply the people a hundred times over, but without understanding why the king wants to take this census.
  4. 2 Samuel 24:4Despite Joab’s objection, the king’s order prevails, and he goes out with the army commanders to count the people.
  5. 2 Samuel 24:5They cross the Jordan and begin the count at Aroer, moving on through the region of Gad and Jazer.
  6. 2 Samuel 24:6They continue through Gilead, the land of Tahtim-hodshi, on to Dan-jaan and around Sidon.
  7. 2 Samuel 24:7They pass by the stronghold of Tyre, through the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites, ending in the south of Judah, at Beersheba.
  8. 2 Samuel 24:8After nine months and twenty days going through the whole land, they return to Jerusalem with the complete numbers.
  9. 2 Samuel 24:9Counting the men fit for war was, in the ancient mindset, an act tied to military pride and to plans for conscription or taxation — the census itself became a gesture of trusting the size of one’s own army instead of trusting God, and that, more than the counting itself, is what weighs as sin.
  10. 2 Samuel 24:10After the census is taken, David’s conscience weighs on him, and he confesses to God that he has sinned greatly and acted foolishly.
  11. 2 Samuel 24:11The next morning, the word of the Lord comes to the prophet Gad, David’s seer.
  12. 2 Samuel 24:12God sends Gad to offer David three options of punishment, so that he may choose one.
  13. 2 Samuel 24:13Gad presents the three options: seven years of famine, three months fleeing from enemies, or three days of plague in the land — and asks David to decide quickly.
  14. 2 Samuel 24:14David, in anguish, prefers to fall into the hands of the Lord, trusting in His great mercy, rather than fall into the hands of men.
  15. 2 Samuel 24:15The Lord sends a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men die between Dan and Beersheba during that time.
  16. 2 Samuel 24:16As the angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relents of the disaster and orders him to stop — the angel was standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
  17. 2 Samuel 24:17Seeing the angel striking the people, David takes the blame before God, asking that the punishment fall on him and his family, and not on the innocent people.
  18. 2 Samuel 24:18Gad comes to David that same day and instructs him to set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah.
  19. 2 Samuel 24:19David obeys exactly what Gad says, following the Lord’s order.
  20. 2 Samuel 24:20Araunah sees the king approaching with his servants and bows before him with his face to the ground.
  21. 2 Samuel 24:21Araunah asks the reason for the visit, and David explains that he wants to buy the threshing floor to build an altar and stop the plague on the people.
  22. 2 Samuel 24:22Araunah offers to give everything for free: the oxen for the sacrifice and the threshing equipment for the wood.
  23. 2 Samuel 24:23Araunah hands everything over to the king and still wishes that the Lord may be pleased with him.
  24. 2 Samuel 24:24David insists on paying the full price for Araunah’s threshing floor, refusing the free offer, because offering the Lord something that “doth cost me nothing” would not be a true sacrifice — the logic that a gift to God must cost the giver something real.
  25. 2 Samuel 24:25David builds the altar there, offers burnt offerings and peace offerings, and the Lord is moved by prayer for the land, ending the plague on Israel.

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