David’s Numbering of Israel (II Sam. 24; I Chron. 21)

There is a common misconception that this passage shows that it was wrong to take a census of Israel, and that Israel suffered punishment from God because of a sin which was David’s alone. In fact the picture given by the text is quite different.

  • It was God who moved David to number Israel (II Sam. 24:1). Therefore, David was following a command from God, which could not be sinful.
  • The law (Ex. 30:12-16) permits the numbering of Israel (possibly even com­mands it). Something which is a matter of commandment in the law could not be sinful per se.
  • The law, however, sets two conditions on the numbering of Israel:
    1. Those numbered must pay the half-shekel temple tax,
    2. There must be no exceptions, all Israel must be numbered, not just part of it.

If these conditions were not met, a plague was to strike Israel.

  • David accepts God’s command to number Israel while Joab opposes it. (I Chron. 21:2,3). It strikes me that if Joab opposed something wrong it would be the only time in his life. It seems more likely that Joab opposed the action because it would be an unpopular tax. Be that as it may, Joab’s opposition led him to fail to keep the conditions laid down in the law.
  • The second condition (no exceptions) was not kept. Joab failed to number Benjamin and Levi (I Chron. 21:6), contrary to David’s will.
  • The punishment for this was a plague (as required by Ex. 30:12). The pun­ishment was on Israel, rather than on David. When God offers a choice of punishment and David leaves the choice to God, he answers in the knowledge of what the law set as a punishment.
  • I Kings 15:5 intimates David did not sin in this matter.
  • David’s fault (I Chron. 21:17) was to start a process that was not finished. Joab refused to complete the census and David did not make him do so.

This is a different picture from the idea that David sinned by deciding to number Israel.