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2 Samuel 24

BLIVRE · Chapter 24/24

1E voltou o furor do SENHOR a acender-se contra Israel, e incitou a Davi contra eles a que dissesse: Vai, conta a Israel e a Judá.

2E disse o rei a Joabe, general do exército que tinha consigo: Rodeia todas as tribos de Israel, desde Dã até Berseba, e contai o povo, para que eu saiba o número da gente.

3E Joabe respondeu ao rei: Acrescente o SENHOR teu Deus ao povo cem vezes tanto quanto são, e que o veja meu senhor ao rei; mas para que quer isto meu senhor o rei?

4Porém a palavra do rei pôde mais que Joabe, e que os capitães do exército. Saiu, pois, Joabe, com os capitães do exército, de diante do rei, para contar o povo de Israel.

5E passando o Jordão assentaram em Aroer, à direita da cidade que está em meio do ribeiro de Gade e junto a Jazer.

6Depois vieram a Gileade, e à terra baixa de Hodsi: e dali vieram a Dã-Jaã e ao redor de Sídon.

7E vieram logo à fortaleza de Tiro, e a todas as cidades dos heveus e dos cananeus; e saíram ao sul de Judá, a Berseba.

8E depois que andaram toda a terra, voltaram a Jerusalém ao fim de nove meses e vinte dias.

9E Joabe deu a conta do número do povo ao rei; e foram os de Israel oitocentos mil homens fortes que tiravam espada; e dos de Judá quinhentos mil homens.

10E depois que Davi contou o povo, sentiu-se atormentado em seu coração; e disse Davi ao SENHOR: Eu pequei gravemente por haver feito isto; mas agora, ó SENHOR, rogo-te que tires o pecado de teu servo, porque eu agi muito loucamente.

11E pela manhã, quando Davi se levantou, veio a palavra do SENHOR a Gade profeta, vidente de Davi, dizendo:

12Vai, e dize a Davi: Assim disse o SENHOR: Três coisas te ofereço: tu te escolherás uma delas, a qual eu faça.

13Veio, pois, Gade a Davi, e notificou-lhe, e disse-lhe: Queres que te venham sete anos de fome em tua terra? Ou que fujas três meses diante de teus inimigos, e que eles te persigam? Ou que três dias haja pestilência em tua terra? Pensa agora, e olha o que responderei ao que me enviou.

14Então Davi disse a Gade: Em grande angústia estou: rogo que caia na mão do SENHOR, porque suas misericórdias são muitas, e que não caia eu em mãos de homens.

15E enviou o SENHOR pestilência a Israel desde a manhã até o tempo assinalado: e morreram do povo, desde Dã até Berseba, setenta mil homens.

16E quando o anjo estendeu sua mão sobre Jerusalém para destruí-la, o SENHOR se arrependeu daquele mal, e disse ao anjo que destruía o povo: Basta agora; detém tua mão. Então o anjo do SENHOR estava junto à eira de Araúna, o jebuseu.

17E Davi disse ao SENHOR, quando viu ao anjo que feria ao povo: Eu pequei, eu fiz a maldade: que fizeram estas ovelhas? Rogo-te que tua mão se torne contra mim, e contra a casa de meu pai.

18E Gade veio a Davi aquele dia, e disse-lhe: Sobe, e faze um altar ao SENHOR na era de Araúna jebuseu.

19E subiu Davi, conforme ao dito de Gade, que o SENHOR lhe havia mandado.

20E olhando Araúna, viu ao rei e a seus servos que passavam a ele. Saindo então Araúna, inclinou-se diante do rei até terra.

21E Araúna disse: Por que vem meu senhor o rei a seu servo? E Davi respondeu: Para comprar de ti a eira, para edificar altar ao SENHOR, a fim de que a mortandade cesse do povo.

22E Araúna disse a Davi: Tome e sacrifique meu senhor o rei o que bem lhe parecer; eis aqui bois para o holocausto; e trilhos e outros equipamentos de bois para lenha:

23Tudo isto, ó rei, Araúna dá ao rei. Logo disse Araúna ao rei: o SENHOR teu Deus se agrade de ti.

24E o rei disse a Araúna: Não, mas por preço o comprarei de ti; porque não oferecerei ao SENHOR meu Deus holocaustos gastando nada. Então Davi comprou a eira e os bois por cinquenta siclos de prata.

25E ali Davi edificou um altar ao SENHOR, e sacrificou holocaustos e ofertas pacíficas; e o SENHOR se aplacou com a terra, e cessou a praga de 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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