1 Chronicles21

Satan provoked David to number Israel, an act displeasing to God, which led to a devastating pestilence upon the land. David confessed his sin and chose to fall into God's hand, leading to the death of seventy thousand men. The plague ceased when the angel of the Lord was commanded to stay his hand at Ornan's threshingfloor, where David built an altar and offered sacrifices, accepted by fire from heaven.

Listen to this chapter

David Orders a Census

And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.

And David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them.

And Joab said, Jehovah make his people a hundred times as many as they are: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of guilt unto Israel?

Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.

And Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and a hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.

But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them; for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.

Judgment and David's Choice

And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.

And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing: but now, put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

And Jehovah spake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying,

Go and speak unto David, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.

So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Take which thou wilt:

either three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before thy foes, while the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of Jehovah, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of Jehovah destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

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

So Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel; and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of Jehovah standing between earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, O Jehovah my God, be against me, and against my father’s house; but not against thy people, that they should be plagued.

The Altar on Ornan's Threshing Floor

Then the angel of Jehovah commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and rear an altar unto Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of Jehovah.

And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons that were with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.

And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing-floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

Then David said to Ornan, Give me the place of this threshing-floor, that I may build thereon an altar unto Jehovah: for the full price shalt thou give it me, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen for burnt-offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal-offering; I give it all.

And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for Jehovah, nor offer a burnt-offering without cost.

So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.

And David built there an altar unto Jehovah, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and called upon Jehovah; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt-offering.

And Jehovah commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

The Significance of the New Altar

At that time, when David saw that Jehovah had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

For the tabernacle of Jehovah, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt-offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.

But David could not go before it to inquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of Jehovah.

Study Notes for 1 Chronicles 21

Verse 1

This parallel account (cf. 2 Sam 24) explicitly names 'Satan' as the agent provoking David, highlighting the spiritual warfare dimension behind David’s prideful action. The census was a sin because it showed reliance on military power rather than trust in God.

Verse 3

Joab, often pragmatic and ruthless, recognizes the census as a theological 'trespass' (sin). He understood that numbering the people without divine command usurped God's sovereignty over the nation.

Verse 5

The large numbers provided (1.1 million in Israel, 470,000 in Judah) underscore the immense military strength David was relying upon, which was the core issue of his sin of pride.

Verse 6

Joab’s refusal to count Levi and Benjamin confirms his spiritual sensibility regarding the census, as these tribes were often exempt from military service or were already counted for religious purposes.

Verse 7

The Chronicler emphasizes God’s immediate and severe displeasure, linking David's action directly to the subsequent divine judgment upon the whole community.

Verse 8

David’s immediate confession is sincere and complete. He recognizes his actions as 'foolishly' done, acknowledging a failure of wisdom and trust in God.

Verse 12

The three choices (famine, defeat, pestilence) are typical biblical forms of divine discipline. David must choose which form of judgment he and the nation will endure.

Verse 13

David chooses the pestilence because he prefers to fall directly into God's hands, trusting in the certainty of God's great mercy rather than the cruelty or unpredictability of human enemies.

Verse 14

The immense loss of life (70,000 men) demonstrates the gravity of David’s sin and the corporate suffering that results from the disobedience of a leader.

Verse 15

The Angel of the LORD is the agent of judgment. God 'repented' (meaning, he relented or changed the course of action) when the destruction reached Jerusalem, showing compassion amidst the deserved judgment.

Verse 16

David’s vision of the Angel confirms the reality of the divine intervention. David and the elders adopt the customary posture of repentance (sackcloth and prostration).

Verse 17

David intercedes passionately, accepting full personal responsibility and pleading for the people, echoing the sacrificial role of a true shepherd-king.

Verse 18

The command to build an altar at the exact spot where judgment stopped transforms the site of terror into the location of atonement, foreshadowing the future Temple site.

Verse 24

David insists on paying the full price, establishing a crucial principle: true sacrifice must cost the worshiper and cannot be offered to God freely at another’s expense.

Verse 25

The price (600 shekels of gold) is substantial, emphasizing the great value David placed on the acquisition of this holy ground for the purpose of national atonement.

Verse 26

God’s acceptance is signaled by fire descending from heaven, confirming divine approval of the sacrifice and validating this specific location as consecrated ground for future worship.

Verse 28

David recognizes that God’s response by fire established this spot as the permanent, divinely chosen location for sacrifice and the future Temple, superseding the traditional site at Gibeon.

Verse 29

The Chronicler notes that the original Mosaic Tabernacle was still functioning at Gibeon, highlighting the tension between the old, established site and the new, divinely designated location in Jerusalem.

Verse 30

David’s fear of the Angel’s sword prevents him from traveling to Gibeon, thus confirming the immediate necessity and legitimacy of the newly consecrated altar in Jerusalem.

Use ← → arrow keys to navigate

1 Chronicles21

David Orders a Census

Judgment and David's Choice

The Altar on Ornan's Threshing Floor

The Significance of the New Altar

Reading Style

Typeface

Font Size 19px

Reading Width 45 chars

Options