1 Tawarikh 21:1

The Lord Sends a Plague against Israel

21:1 An adversary ¹  opposed ²  Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had. ³ 

1 Tawarikh 14:1-17

David’s Prestige Grows

14:1 King Hiram of Tyre ⁴  sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons, ⁵  and carpenters to build a palace for him. 14:2 David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that he had elevated ⁶  his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

14:3 In Jerusalem ⁷  David married ⁸  more wives and fathered more sons and daughters. 14:4 These are the names of children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 14:5 Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 14:6 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 14:7 Elishama, Beeliada, ⁹  and Eliphelet.

14:8 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed ¹⁰  king of all Israel, all the Philistines marched up to confront him. ¹¹  When David heard about it, he marched out against ¹²  them. 14:9 Now the Philistines had come and raided ¹³  the Valley of Rephaim. 14:10 David asked God, “Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord said to him, “March up! I will hand them over to you!” 14:11 So they marched against Baal Perazim and David defeated them there. David said, “Using me as his instrument, ¹⁴  God has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out.” So that place is called Baal Perazim. ¹⁵  14:12 The Philistines left ¹⁶  their idols ¹⁷  there, so David ordered that they be burned.

14:13 The Philistines again raided the valley. 14:14 So David again asked God what he should do. ¹⁸  This time ¹⁹  God told him, “Don’t march up after them; circle around them and come against them in front of the trees. ²⁰  14:15 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, then attack. ²¹  For at that moment the Lord is going before you to strike down the army ²²  of the Philistines.” 14:16 David did just as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer.

14:17 So David became famous ²³  in all the lands; the Lord caused all the nations to fear him. ²⁴ 

[21:1]  ¹ tn Or “Satan.” The Hebrew word שָׂטָן (satan) can refer to an adversary in general or Satan in particular. There is no article accompanying the term here, which suggests it should be understood generally (cf. NAB “a satan”).

[21:1]  ² tn Heb “stood against.”

[21:1]  ³ tn Heb “and incited David to count Israel.” As v. 5 indicates, David was not interested in a general census, but in determining how much military strength he had.

[21:1]  sn The parallel text in 2 Sam 24:1 says, “The Lord’s anger again raged against Israel and he incited David against them, saying: ‘Go, count Israel and Judah!’“ The version of the incident in the Book of 2 Samuel gives an underlying theological perspective, while the Chronicler simply describes what happened from a human perspective. Many interpreters and translations render the Hebrew שָׂטָן as a proper name here, “Satan” (NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). However, the Hebrew term שָׂטָן, which means “adversary,” is used here without the article. Elsewhere when it appears without the article, it refers to a personal or national adversary in the human sphere, the lone exception being Num 22:22, 32, where the angel of the Lord assumes the role of an adversary to Balaam. When referring elsewhere to the spiritual entity known in the NT as Satan, the noun has the article and is used as a title, “the Adversary” (see Job 1:6-9, 12; 2:1-4, 6-7; Zech 3:1-2). In light of usage elsewhere the adversary in 1 Chr 21:1 is likely a human enemy, probably a nearby nation whose hostility against Israel pressured David into numbering the people so he could assess his military strength. For compelling linguistic and literary arguments against taking the noun as a proper name here, see S. Japhet, I & II Chronicles (OTL), 374-75.

[14:1]  ⁴ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[14:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “craftsman of a wall,” that is, masons skilled at building stone walls.

[14:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “was lifted upwards.”

[14:3]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[14:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “took.”

[14:7]  ⁹ tn In 1 Chr 3:8 and 2 Sam 5:16 this name appears as “Eliada.” The form here represents a variant spelling of the name.

[14:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “designated”; NCV “had been made king”; CEV “had become king.”

[14:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to seek David.”

[14:8]  ¹² tn Heb “went out before.”

[14:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “stripped.”

[14:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “by my hand.”

[14:11]  ¹⁵ sn The name Baal Perazim means “Lord of outbursts” in Hebrew.

[14:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “abandoned.”

[14:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “gods.”

[14:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and David again asked God.”

[14:14]  ¹⁹ tn The words “this time” are not in the Hebrew text.

[14:14]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew word translated “trees” is defined by HALOT 129 s.v. בָּכָא as “shrubs.” Some translate “balsam trees” (see BDB 113 s.v. בָּכָא), cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT.

[14:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “go out in battle.”

[14:15]  ²² tn Heb “camp.”

[14:17]  ²³ tn Heb “the name of David went out.”

[14:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and the Lord placed fear of him upon all the nations.”