“But after he had taken the census, David was conscience-stricken. David said to Adonai, ‘I have greatly sinned in what I have done. But now, Adonai, please! Put aside your servant’s sin, for I have done a very foolish thing.’”-2 Samuel 24:10 Now that the census was over, David finally came to his senses. He […]

“But he didn’t count Levi and Binyamin among them, because the king’s order was hateful to Yo’av.” -1 Chronicles 21:6 So yesterday I said that the account of this census here in 2nd Samuel 24 also appears in 1st Chronicles 21. However, the numbers don’t quite add up. And we’re also told that Benjamin and […]

“Yo’av reported the results of the census to the king: there were in Isra’el 800,000 valiant men who could handle a sword, while the men of Y’hudah numbered 500,000.“-2 Samuel 24:9 The results of the census were 800,000 for Israel (the 10 northern tribes) and 500,000 for southern Judah. So the combined total was 1.3 […]

“After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.” -2 Samuel 24:8 Verse 6 tells us the census concluded in Judah at Beersheba. This was the southernmost city in the Kingdom of Judah. After that, we’re told something fascinating. We’re told that […]

“Then they arrived at Dan-Ya‘an, went around to Tzidon and came to the stronghold of Tzor. They went on to the cities of the Hivi and of the Kena‘ani, and finished in the south of Y’hudah, at Be’er-Sheva.“-2 Samuel 24:7-8 So what are we to make of this mysterious reference to “the cities of the […]