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1 Crônicas 21

ARC · Chapter 21/29

1Então Satanaz se levantou contra Israel, e incitou David a numerar a Israel.

2E disse David a Joab e aos maioraes do povo: Ide, numerae a Israel, desde Berseba até Dan; e trazei-me a conta, para que saiba o numero d'elles.

3Então disse Joab: O Senhor accrescente ao seu povo cem vezes tanto como é; porventura, ó rei meu senhor, não são todos servos de meu senhor? Porque procura isto o meu senhor? Porque seria causa de delicto para com Israel.

4Porém a palavra do rei prevaleceu contra Joab; pelo que saiu Joab, e passou por todo o Israel; então voltou para Jerusalem.

5E Joab deu a David a somma do numero do povo: e era todo o Israel um milhão e cem mil homens, dos que arrancavam espada; e de Judah quatrocentos e setenta mil homens, dos que arrancavam espada.

6Porém os de Levi e Benjamin não contou entre elles, porque a palavra do rei foi abominavel a Joab.

7E este negocio tambem pareceu mal aos olhos de Deus: pelo que feriu a Israel.

8Então disse David a Deus: Gravemente pequei em fazer este negocio; porém agora sê servido tirar a iniquidade de teu servo, porque obrei mui loucamente.

9Fallou pois o Senhor a Gad, o vidente de David, dizendo:

10Vae, e falla a David, dizendo: Assim diz o Senhor: Tres coisas te proponho: escolhe uma d'ellas, para que eu t'a faça.

11E Gad veiu a David, e lhe disse: Assim diz o Senhor: Escolhe para ti,

12Ou tres annos de fome, ou que tres mezes te consumas diante de teus adversarios, e a espada de teus inimigos te alcance, ou que tres dias a espada do Senhor, isto é, a peste na terra, e o anjo do Senhor destruam todos os termos de Israel: vê pois agora que resposta hei de levar a quem me enviou.

13Então disse David a Gad: Estou em grande angustia; caia eu pois nas mãos do Senhor, porque são muitissimas as suas misericordias; mas que eu não caia nas mãos dos homens.

14Mandou pois o Senhor a peste a Israel: e cairam d'Israel setenta mil homens.

15E o Senhor mandou um anjo a Jerusalem para a destruir; e, destruindo-a elle, o Senhor o viu, e se arrependeu d'aquelle mal, e disse ao anjo destruidor: Basta, agora retira a tua mão. E o anjo do Senhor estava junto á eira de Ornan, jebuseo.

16E, levantando David os seus olhos, viu o anjo do Senhor, que estava entre a terra e o céu, com a sua espada desembainhada na sua mão estendida contra Jerusalem: então David e os anciãos, cobertos de saccos, se prostraram sobre os seus rostos.

17E disse David a Deus: Não sou eu o que disse que se contasse o povo? E eu mesmo sou o que pequei, e fiz muito mal; mas estas ovelhas que fizeram? Ah! Senhor, meu Deus, seja a tua mão contra mim, e contra a casa de meu pae, e não para castigo de teu povo.

18Então o anjo do Senhor disse a Gad que dissesse a David que subisse David para levantar um altar ao Senhor na eira d'Ornan, jebuseo.

19Subiu pois David, conforme a palavra de Gad, que fallara em nome do Senhor.

20E, virando-se Ornan, viu o anjo, e se esconderam com elle seus quatro filhos: e Ornan estava trilhando o trigo.

21E David veiu a Ornan: e olhou Ornan, e viu a David, e saiu da eira, e se prostrou perante David com o rosto em terra.

22E disse David a Ornan: Dá-me este logar da eira, para edificar n'elle um altar ao Senhor; dá-m'o pelo seu valor, para que cesse este castigo sobre o povo.

23Então disse Ornan a David: Toma-a para ti, e faça o rei meu Senhor d'ella o que parecer bem aos seus olhos: eis que dou os bois para holocaustos, e os trilhos para lenha, e o trigo para offerta de manjares: tudo dou.

24E disse o rei David a Ornan: Não, antes pelo seu valor a quero comprar: porque não tomarei o que é teu, para o Senhor; para que não offereça holocausto sem custo.

25E David deu a Ornan por aquelle logar o peso de seiscentos siclos de oiro.

26Então David edificou ali um altar ao Senhor, e offereceu n'elle holocaustos e sacrificios pacificos: e invocou o Senhor, o qual lhe respondeu com fogo do céu sobre o altar do holocausto.

27E o Senhor deu ordem ao anjo, e elle tornou a sua espada á bainha.

28Vendo David, no mesmo tempo, que o Senhor lhe respondera na eira de Ornan, jebuseo, sacrificou ali.

29Porque o tabernaculo do Senhor, que Moysés fizera no deserto, e o altar do holocausto, estavam n'aquelle tempo no alto de Gibeon.

30E não podia David ir perante elle buscar ao Senhor; porque estava aterrorisado por causa da espada do anjo do Senhor.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

David orders a census of the people out of pride, which deeply displeases God. As punishment, a plague strikes Israel, but David intercedes and, following prophetic instruction, buys a plot of land where he builds an altar — the same place where the temple would later be built.

Explanation

Counting the people was not a sin in itself — the law of Moses allowed for censuses — but the problem here was the motive: pride in measuring and displaying his own military strength, rather than trusting God as the source of strength. Even Joab, David's general, recognizes that this was a bad idea. When the punishment comes, David shows genuine leadership by asking that the punishment fall on him rather than on the innocent people, saying, 'these sheep, what have they done?' The plot of land he buys from Ornan the Jebusite, refusing to receive it for free because he wanted to offer God something that truly cost him something, would become exactly the site where Solomon would build the temple — a powerful geographical and spiritual connection between this moment of repentance and the nation's future center of worship.

Fun facts

  • Mount Moriah, where Ornan had his threshing floor and where the temple would be built, is the same site identified in Genesis 22 as the place where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac centuries earlier — a striking geographical continuity between the two events.
  • David's statement when he refused to receive the land for free — 'neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing' — became a widely quoted spiritual principle about the value of genuine sacrifice in worship.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Crônicas 21:1Here is one of the biggest differences between Chronicles and Samuel: in the account in Samuel, it is the LORD Himself who incites David to take the census; here it is ‘Satan’ who incites him. It is not a pure contradiction — the text of Chronicles prefers not to directly credit God with the origin of an act that is later called sin.
  2. 1 Crônicas 21:2David orders Joab and the leaders to count all the people of Israel, from one end of the territory to the other — an order that sounds administrative, but the very next verse shows is not so innocent after all.
  3. 1 Crônicas 21:3Joab, usually willing to obey any order from David, openly questions this one: why do this, when everyone is already the king’s servant without being counted, and it will only bring guilt on Israel?
  4. 1 Crônicas 21:4Even with Joab’s objection, the king’s order prevails; he travels through the whole territory and returns to Jerusalem with the result — David’s will wins out over his own general’s good sense.
  5. 1 Crônicas 21:5The final result: more than a million men fit for war across all Israel, and nearly half a million in Judah alone — a number that shows the real size of the kingdom David built.
  6. 1 Crônicas 21:6Joab leaves Levi and Benjamin out of the count, a detail that shows even he was resisting the king’s order, uneasy about this census from the start.
  7. 1 Crônicas 21:7It is not just Joab who disapproves: God Himself is displeased with this count, and because of it strikes Israel — confirming that the problem was not just a human grudge.
  8. 1 Crônicas 21:8David admits the mistake quickly and without excuses: ‘I have sinned greatly... I have done very foolishly’ — a direct repentance, with no attempt to justify his own decision.
  9. 1 Crônicas 21:9The LORD speaks to Gad, described as ‘David’s seer’ — a prophet specifically attached to the royal court, distinct from Nathan, who also appears at other points in the reign.
  10. 1 Crônicas 21:10God proposes three possible punishments and leaves the choice to David himself — an unusual form of discipline that still leaves the sinning king some room to decide.
  11. 1 Crônicas 21:11Gad carries God’s message to David and repeats it: choose one of the three options — the prophet acts as go-between in this heavy negotiation.
  12. 1 Crônicas 21:12All three options are grave: three years of famine, three months fleeing before enemies, or three days of plague in the land caused by an angel — Gad asks for an answer to carry back to the One who sent him.
  13. 1 Crônicas 21:13David chooses to fall into the hands of the LORD, not into the hands of men, trusting that God’s mercy is greater than human cruelty — even knowing this means accepting the plague.
  14. 1 Crônicas 21:14The plague comes, and seventy thousand men of Israel die — a high price paid by the people for a decision that was not theirs, but the king’s.
  15. 1 Crônicas 21:15In the middle of the destruction, God relents from the disaster and has the angel stop right above the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite — the exact spot where, without anyone knowing it yet, the temple of Jerusalem will be born.
  16. 1 Crônicas 21:16David sees the angel hovering between earth and heaven, sword drawn and pointed at Jerusalem, and falls facedown covered in sackcloth along with the elders — a scene of visual dread, not just abstract repentance.
  17. 1 Crônicas 21:17David takes on full responsibility and defends the people: ‘even I it is that have sinned... but as for these sheep, what have they done?’ — he asks for the punishment to fall on him and his family alone, not on the innocent people.
  18. 1 Crônicas 21:18The plot of land David buys from Ornan the Jebusite, to raise an altar and stop the plague, is the exact place where Solomon’s temple will later be built. This purchase explains why the temple stands there and not on some other hill of Jerusalem.
  19. 1 Crônicas 21:19Obeying Gad’s word, David goes up to the indicated spot — the first practical step toward resolving the crisis he himself caused.
  20. 1 Crônicas 21:20Ornan, busy threshing wheat, turns and sees the angel, and hides in terror along with his four sons — an ordinary man interrupted mid-work by a supernatural vision.
  21. 1 Crônicas 21:21Seeing David approach, Ornan leaves the threshing floor and bows with his face to the ground before the king — a gesture of full respect and submission.
  22. 1 Crônicas 21:22David asks for the threshing floor to build an altar, insisting on paying the full price for it — already showing he does not want to receive something so important for free.
  23. 1 Crônicas 21:23Ornan offers to give it all for free: the oxen for the sacrifice, the threshing tools for wood, and the wheat itself for the offering — a generous gesture that David will still turn down.
  24. 1 Crônicas 21:24David insists on paying the full price, with a line that became a principle: he will not offer God a sacrifice that cost him nothing.
  25. 1 Crônicas 21:25David pays Ornan six hundred shekels of gold for the site — a much larger sum than the one mentioned in the parallel account in Samuel, probably because this one covers the whole hill, not just the plot of the threshing floor.
  26. 1 Crônicas 21:26David builds an altar there, offers sacrifices, and God answers with fire coming down from heaven onto the altar — a visible, immediate divine confirmation, leaving no doubt that the offering was accepted.
  27. 1 Crônicas 21:27The LORD commands the angel to put his sword back into its sheath — the danger hanging over Jerusalem finally ends.
  28. 1 Crônicas 21:28Seeing that God had answered him right there, at the threshing floor of Ornan, David begins sacrificing at that spot — the beginning of the continual use of a place that will still become far more important.
  29. 1 Crônicas 21:29The text explains why David did not go to the official place of worship: Moses’ tabernacle and the traditional altar were still up on the high place at Gibeon, far from there.
  30. 1 Crônicas 21:30David was afraid to go to Gibeon because of the angel’s sword still fresh in his memory — the practical reason that turns the threshing floor of Ornan into the new center of worship, preparing the exact ground where the temple will be built in the next chapter.

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