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Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) However, the king insisted, so even though Yoav and the army commanders disagreed, at the king’s command they set off to count the Israeli people.
OET-LV And_prevailed the_word the_king to Yōʼāⱱ and_over the_commanders the_army and_he/it_went_out Yōʼāⱱ and_commanders the_army to_(the)_face_of/in_front_of/before the_king to_register DOM the_people DOM Yisrāʼēl/(Israel).
UHB וַיֶּחֱזַ֤ק דְּבַר־הַמֶּ֨לֶךְ֙ אֶל־יוֹאָ֔ב וְעַ֖ל שָׂרֵ֣י הֶחָ֑יִל וַיֵּצֵ֨א יוֹאָ֜ב וְשָׂרֵ֤י הַחַ֨יִל֙ לִפְנֵ֣י הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ לִפְקֹ֥ד אֶת־הָעָ֖ם אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ ‡
(vayyeḩₑzaq dəⱱar-hammelek ʼel-yōʼāⱱ vəˊal sārēy heḩāyil vayyēʦēʼ yōʼāⱱ vəsārēy haḩayil lifənēy hammelek lifəqod ʼet-hāˊām ʼet-yisrāʼēl.)
Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXX Καὶ ὑπερίσχυσεν ὁ λόγος τοῦ βασιλέως πρὸς Ἰωὰβ καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἄρχοντας τῆς δυνάμεως·
¶ Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν Ἰωὰβ καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες τῆς ἰσχύος ἐνώπιον τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπισκέψασθαι τὸν λαὸν τὸν Ἰσραήλ.
(Kai huperisⱪusen ho logos tou basileōs pros Yōab kai eis tous arⱪontas taʸs dunameōs;
¶ Kai exaʸlthen Yōab kai hoi arⱪontes taʸs isⱪuos enōpion tou basileōs episkepsasthai ton laon ton Israaʸl. )
BrTr Nevertheless the word of the king prevailed against Joab and the captains of the host:
¶ And Joab and the captains of the host went out before the king to number the people of Israel.
ULT And the word of the king prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. And Joab and the captains of the army went out to the face of the king to inspect the people, Israel.
UST But the king commanded Joab and his officers to do it. So they left the king and went out to count the people of Israel.
BSB § Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army departed from the presence of the king to count the troops of Israel.
OEB But the king’s command prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. And Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to muster the people of Israel.
WEBBE Notwithstanding, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET But the king’s edict stood, despite the objections of Joab and the leaders of the army. So Joab and the leaders of the army left the king’s presence in order to muster the Israelite army.
LSV And the word of the king is severe toward Joab, and against the heads of the force, and Joab goes out, and the heads of the force, [from] before the king to inspect the people, even Israel;
FBV But the king was adamant so Joab and the army commanders left the king and went to census the people[fn] of Israel.
24:4 David is of course primarily interested in the number of men he can call up to serve in his army.
T4T But the king commanded Joab and his officers to do it. So they left the king and went out to count the people of Israel.
LEB But the word of the king prevailed over Joab and over the commanders of the army, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out from before the king to count the people of Israel.
BBE But the king's order was stronger than Joab and the captains of the army. And Joab and the captains of the army went out from the king, to take the number of the children of Israel.
Moff No Moff 2SA book available
JPS Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
ASV Notwithstanding, the king’s word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
DRA But the king’s words prevailed over the words of Joab, and of the captains of the army: and Joab, and the captains of the soldiers went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
YLT And the word of the king is severe towards Joab, and against the heads of the force, and Joab goeth out, and the heads of the force, [from] before the king to inspect the people, even Israel;
Drby But the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the army. And Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.
RV Notwithstanding the king’s word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
Wbstr Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
KJB-1769 Notwithstanding the king’s word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
KJB-1611 Notwithstanding, the kings word preuailed against Ioab, and against the captaines of the hoste: and Ioab and the captaines of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)
Bshps Notwithstanding, the kinges word preuayled agaynst Ioab & against the captaines of the hoast: And Ioab & the captaynes of the hoast, went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
(Notwithstanding, the kings word preuayled against Yoab and against the captains of the hoast: And Yoab and the captains of the hoast, went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.)
Gnva Notwithstanding the Kings worde preuailed against Ioab and against the captaines of the hoste: therefore Ioab and the captaines of the hoste went out from the presence of the King to nomber the people of Israel.
(Notwithstanding the Kings word prevailed against Yoab and against the captains of the host: therefore Yoab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the King to number the people of Israel. )
Cvdl Neuertheles the kynges worde preuayled agaynst Ioab and the captaynes of the hoost.So Ioab and ye captaynes of the hoost wente forth from the kynge, to nombre the people of Israel,
(Nevertheless the kings word preuayled against Yoab and the captains of the hoost.So Yoab and ye/you_all captains of the host went forth from the king, to number the people of Israel,)
Wycl Sotheli the word of the kyng ouer cam the wordis of Joab, and of the princes of the oost; and Joab yede out, and the princes of the knyytis, fro the face of the kyng, that thei schulden noumbre the puple of Israel.
(Truly the word of the king over came the words of Yoab, and of the princes of the oost; and Yoab went out, and the princes of the knyytis, from the face of the king, that they should number the people of Israel.)
Luth Aber des Königs Wort ging vor wider Joab und die Hauptleute des Heers. Also zog Joab aus und die Hauptleute des Heers von dem Könige, daß sie das Volk Israel zähleten.
(But the kings Wort went before/in_front_of against Yoab and the headleute the Heers. So pulled Yoab out_of and the headleute the Heers from to_him kings/king, that they/she/them the people Israel zähleten.)
ClVg Obtinuit autem sermo regis verba Joab et principum exercitus: egressusque est Joab et princeps militum a facie regis, ut numerarent populum Israël.
(Obtinuit however sermo king words Yoab and of_the_princes exercitus: egressusque it_is Yoab and prince militum from face king, as numerarent the_people Israel. )
God or Satan?
Who is responsible for trials and difficulties? Strangely, Scripture attributes some instances to God, some to Satan, and some to both. How can this be? The difference is one of perspective.
There is a notable difference between the accounts of David’s census in Samuel and in Chronicles. Second Samuel 24:1 attributes the census taking to God (“the Lord . . . caused David to harm them by taking a census”), while 1 Chronicles 21:1 attributes the action to Satan (“Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel”).
Second Samuel 24:1-25 tells the census story from God’s perspective as the primary agent; God permitted Satan’s action in order to fulfill his own purpose.
This phenomenon is not uncommon in Scripture. Matthew 4:1 contains a similar instance of dual agency, where Jesus is led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil. Perhaps the most notable similar experience is Job’s trial: It was brought on by Satan and permitted by God—after the Lord had spoken glowingly about Job (Job 1:6–2:7). Through all the trials that followed, Job’s heart was righteous despite Satan’s attempts to elicit a curse against God. Similarly, 2 Corinthians 12:7 teaches that a God-sent affliction can be delivered by a messenger from Satan. When Paul wrote that he was given a “thorn,” he used a passive verb, indicating that this affliction was given by God.
Satan works in many ways in an attempt to discourage or destroy God’s people. Yet God is sovereign. God does not author evil, but sometimes God makes use of others’ evil deeds to accomplish his good purposes (Gen 50:20).
Passages for Further Study
2 Sam 24:1-25; 1 Chr 21:1-30; Job 1:8–2:10; Matt 4:1-11; 12:22-37; Mark 8:31-33; John 13:21-31; Rom 8:28; 1 Cor 5:1-5; 2 Cor 12:6-10; Eph 2:1-7; Rev 20:1-3, 7-10
(Occurrence 0) the king’s word was final against Joab
(Some words not found in UHB: and,prevailed word/matter_of the=king to/towards Yōʼāⱱ/(Joab) and,over commanders the,army and=he/it_went_out Yōʼāⱱ/(Joab) and,commanders the,army to=(the)_face_of/in_front_of/before the=king to,register DOM the,people DOM Yisrael )
Joab and the other commanders of King David’s army were not able to convince David to not take a census.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche
(Occurrence 0) the king’s word
(Some words not found in UHB: and,prevailed word/matter_of the=king to/towards Yōʼāⱱ/(Joab) and,over commanders the,army and=he/it_went_out Yōʼāⱱ/(Joab) and,commanders the,army to=(the)_face_of/in_front_of/before the=king to,register DOM the,people DOM Yisrael )
This phrase represents the king’s command to them. Alternate translation: “what the king had commanded”
The Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, where all Israelite males were commanded to offer sacrifices to the Lord (Exodus 23:14-19; Deuteronomy 16:16-17), underwent several stages of reconstruction and development over hundreds of years. The first Temple was built by King Solomon to replace the aging Tabernacle, and it was constructed on a threshing floor on high ground on the north side of the city (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21). Hundreds of years later King Hezekiah expanded the platform surrounding the Temple. When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C., the Temple was completely destroyed (2 Kings 25:1-21; 2 Chronicles 36:17-21; Jeremiah 39:1-10; 52:1-30). It was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after a group of Jews returned to Judea from exile in Babylon (Ezra 1:5-6:15; Nehemiah 7:5-65). Herod the Great completely rebuilt and expanded the Temple once again around 20 B.C., making it one of the largest temples in the Roman world. Jesus’ first believers often met together in Solomon’s Colonnade, a columned porch that encircled the Temple Mount, perhaps carrying on a tradition started by Jesus himself (John 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12). But Herod’s Temple did not last long: After many Jews revolted against Rome, the Romans eventually recaptured Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple in A.D. 70.
2 Samuel 24:1-10; 1 Chronicles 21:1-8
After David had secured his reign over all Israel and greatly expanded his rule over neighboring nations, he commissioned Joab, the commander of his army, to “count the people of Israel and Judah.” Though Scripture does not explicitly state the reason for this order, the report that Joab provided to David nearly ten months later at the conclusion of the census makes his intentions clear: David was seeking a tally of all troops he had at his disposal throughout his kingdom. Joab initially resisted David’s order, and after the census was completed David was stricken with guilt over his actions, and ultimately the Lord punished Israel for David’s census. Yet nowhere in Scripture is the counting of troops clearly condemned. In fact, during the Israelites’ wanderings in the wilderness the Lord commanded two different censuses to be taken of Israel’s troops (Numbers 1; 26), and many of the accounts of Israel’s battles throughout the Old Testament include a careful tally of the troops involved, so it must have been normal practice to take a census such as David commissioned. Most scholars explain this discrepancy by inferring that Joab and others must have discerned that David was wrongly looking to military might instead of the Lord’s promise to fight for his people (Deuteronomy 20:1-4) or that he was disobeying the law by including those under twenty years of age (see Exodus 30:11-16; 1 Chronicles 27:23-24). While this may be true, it does not fully explain what this author has found to be a curious peculiarity about David’s census: The census takers do not appear to have traveled hardly anywhere within the core settlement areas of Israel or Judah. Instead, the census takers followed a route almost entirely along the perimeter of Israel’s core area of initial settlement, as shown on this map. They started out at Aroer and “the town in the middle of the gorge,” probably referring to modern Mudaynet as-Saliya in the Arnon Gorge (see also Deuteronomy 2:36; Joshua 13:9, 16), which were located at the far corner of Israel’s allotted land. Then they headed north to Jazer and Gilead, likely following the King’s Highway, which ran along the outer edge of Israel’s lands. Then they came to Tahtim-hodshi, which this author suspects is referring to the “lowlands of Kedesh.” The Israelite city of Kedesh was situated among the hills of upper Galilee, but just to the east of it lay a valley occupied primarily by the people of Maacah, who fought against and were defeated by David earlier in his reign. Then the census takers traveled to Dan, which is often cited along with Beersheba as marking the distant boundary of Israel (Judges 20:1; 1 Samuel 3:20; 2 Samuel 3:10; 17:11; 1 Chronicles 21:2), and on to Sidon and Tyre. The Bible never indicates that Sidon and Tyre were subdued by David, but he appears to have wielded considerable influence over Tyre (2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Chronicles 14:1; see also 1 Kings 5:2-11) and perhaps over Sidon as well. After this the census takers went to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites, likely indicating that they traveled through the coastal lands along the Mediterranean Sea. Lastly, they completed their route at the city of Beersheba in the Negev. This route along the perimeter of Israel’s core settlement areas suggests that, while David’s census takers were no doubt collecting troop information from the tribes of Israel (see 1 Chronicles 21:5-6), their primary focus appears to have been on David’s newly acquired lands, which would have been largely comprised of non-Israelites. This theory may also be supported by 2 Chronicles 2:17, which notes that “Solomon counted all the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census of them that David his father had taken.” Thus, this author suspects that Joab may have been urging David not to rely on troops from these non-Israelites to protect Israel and instead called upon the Lord to increase the number of “the people” (perhaps meaning the Israelite people) a hundredfold. At the same time, however, the biblical account of the census takers’ route never uses any of the names for the subdued nations (e.g., Moab, Ammon, Aram, Maacah, Philistia, etc.), though it does use vague references to “Canaanites” and “Hivites.” This may reflect a tension that existed at the time between David’s efforts to integrate these new lands into one great empire (thus explaining the aversion to identifying people by their former national affiliation) and the convictions of those like Joab, who may have been opposed to such integration.