1 Tawarikh 21:1-2

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  21:2 David told Joab and the leaders of the army, ⁴  “Go, count the number of warriors ⁵  from Beer Sheba to Dan. Then bring back a report to me so I may know how many we have.” ⁶ 

1 Tawarikh 17:14-19

17:14 I will put him in permanent charge of my house and my kingdom; his dynasty will be permanent.”’” ⁷  17:15 Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him. ⁸ 

David Praises God

17:16 David went in, sat before the Lord, and said: “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, ⁹  that you should have brought me to this point? 17:17 And you did not stop there, O God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family. ¹⁰  You have revealed to me what men long to know, ¹¹  O Lord God. 17:18 What more can David say ¹²  to you? You have honored your servant; you have given your servant special recognition. ¹³  17:19 O Lord, for the sake of your servant and according to your will, ¹⁴  you have done this great thing in order to reveal your greatness. ¹⁵ 

[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.

[21:2]  ⁴ tn Or “people.”

[21:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “Go, count Israel.” See the note on “had” in v. 1.

[21:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “their number.”

[17:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “and his throne will be established permanently.”

[17:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “according to all these words and according to all this revelation, so Nathan said to David.”

[17:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “house.”

[17:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and this was small in your eyes, O God, so you spoke concerning the house of your servant for a distance.”

[17:17]  ¹¹ tn The translation “You have revealed to me what men long to know” is very tentative; the meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear. The text appears to read literally, “and you see me like the searching of man, that which is upward,” which is nonsensical. The translation above assumes the following: (1) The Qal verb translated “you see me” is repointed as a Hiphil, “you showed me,” (2) תּוֹר (tor) is understood in the sense of “searching, exploring,” and (3) הַמַּעֲלָה (hamma’alah) is taken in a temporal sense of “that which lies beyond.” Thus one could translate, “you have shown me what men search for, what lies beyond.”

[17:18]  ¹² tn The word “say” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[17:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “for honoring your servant, and you, your servant, know.”

[17:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “heart.”

[17:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to make known all the great deeds.”