2 Samuel 24

KJV · Chapter 24/24

¹And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.

²For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer–sheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people.

³And Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?

⁴Notwithstanding the king’s word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.

⁵And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer:

⁶Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim–hodshi; and they came to Dan–jaan, and about to Zidon,

⁷And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beer–sheba.

⁸So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

⁹And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

¹⁰And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

¹¹For when David was up in the morning, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,

¹²Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.

¹³So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

¹⁴And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

¹⁵So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer–sheba seventy thousand men.

¹⁶And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.

¹⁸And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁹And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded.

²⁰And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.

²¹And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

²²And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.

²³All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee.

²⁴And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

²⁵And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from 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

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 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.
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.
2 Samuel 24:4Despite Joab’s objection, the king’s order prevails, and he goes out with the army commanders to count the people.
2 Samuel 24:5They cross the Jordan and begin the count at Aroer, moving on through the region of Gad and Jazer.
2 Samuel 24:6They continue through Gilead, the land of Tahtim-hodshi, on to Dan-jaan and around Sidon.
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.
2 Samuel 24:8After nine months and twenty days going through the whole land, they return to Jerusalem with the complete numbers.
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.
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.
2 Samuel 24:11The next morning, the word of the Lord comes to the prophet Gad, David’s seer.
2 Samuel 24:12God sends Gad to offer David three options of punishment, so that he may choose one.
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.
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.
2 Samuel 24:15The Lord sends a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men die between Dan and Beersheba during that time.
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.
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.
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.
2 Samuel 24:19David obeys exactly what Gad says, following the Lord’s order.
2 Samuel 24:20Araunah sees the king approaching with his servants and bows before him with his face to the ground.
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.
2 Samuel 24:22Araunah offers to give everything for free: the oxen for the sacrifice and the threshing equipment for the wood.
2 Samuel 24:23Araunah hands everything over to the king and still wishes that the Lord may be pleased with him.
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.
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.

Chapters

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