Bible Commentaries
1 Chronicles 21

Introduction

First Chronicles Chapter 21

1 Chronicles 21:1 "And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel."

The following is a statement about the same thing. 2 Samuel 24:1 "And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." It appears, the sin in the lives of the people of Israel had brought on this attack. The temptation to number them came to David, and he succumbed to the temptation. This is the first time in the Old Testament to see the name Satan.

1 Chronicles 21:2 "And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know [it]."

This numbering was not ordered by the LORD. Perhaps, David wanted them numbered, to see if everyone was paying their taxes. He could have wanted them numbered, to see how large an army he could put together. The reason does not matter. This will greatly displease the LORD. Joab was in control of his army, so he headed up the census taking.

1 Chronicles 21:3 "And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they [be]: but, my lord the king, [are] they not all my lord’s servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?"

It appears, from this, that David counted all the people as his servants. Joab tried to persuade David not to do this. He was afraid it would anger the LORD, and cause Him to punish Israel. He was telling David it did not matter how many they were, they all were his servants. This was one time David should have listened to Joab. The sad thing was that many times the king would sin, and all the people suffered the punishment.

1 Chronicles 21:4 "Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem."

Even though Joab did not want to do this, he had to obey the orders of his king. We read in 2 Samuel chapter 24, that it took nine months and twenty days to take the census.

1 Chronicles 21:5 "And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all [they of] Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah [was] four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword."

This is saying there were 1,100,000 men of Israel who drew the sword and 470,000 men of Judah who drew sword. This is a different figure than the count in 2 Samuel chapter 24. We will not belabor that here. The main thing is he numbered them, and God did not want him to do it.

1 Chronicles 21:6 "But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king’s word was abominable to Joab."

There is no reason given for Joab not numbering Benjamin, or Levi, except that he was totally opposed to the census. Levi was not counted, probably, because their men did not go to war, or pay taxes. The only thing I can think of about Benjamin, is the fact that he had been reduced to a very small number. These are just suppositions, not fact.

1 Chronicles 21:7 "And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel."

We know that David’s conscience had gripped him so greatly, that he began to grieve at the sin he had committed. We read earlier that God was already angry with the people was why he allowed David to be tempted in this way. The punishment of a king comes on the people who are his subjects, as well as the king.

1 Chronicles 21:8 "And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly."

David immediately repented and asked God to remove the sin. We are not certain whether some punishment had already begun upon the people, or not. We do know David was greatly grieved.

1 Chronicles 21:9 "And the LORD spake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying,"

1 Chronicles 21:10 "Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three [things]: choose thee one of them, that I may do [it] unto thee."

David’s seer is, also, called the prophet, Gad. The LORD always cares for His people. He heard the cry for forgiveness from David, and now sends the prophet with a message to him. The LORD will give David the option of three different punishments he could take. He will definitely be punished for this, but he will choose which punishment.

1 Chronicles 21:11 "So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee"

1 Chronicles 21:12 "Either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh [thee]; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me."

Any of the three would be terrible to bear. It appears, since David was trying to find the number of subjects he had, as if they were his possession, the LORD will take some of the people in either punishment. David must decide which would be the less painful. This would be a difficult to choice to make. Perhaps, he would prefer the one that would be over the fastest. It would, also, place himself into the hands of the LORD, rather than their enemies around them.

1 Chronicles 21:13 "And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great [are] his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man."

1 Chronicles 21:14 "So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men."

Even in the face of the punishment which David knew he deserved, he still wanted whatever punmishment was to come to be inflicted by the LORD. He knew the LORD was full of mercy. As bad as the loss of the 70,000 men was, it was, probably, less than they would have had from war, or famine. This was soon over.

1 Chronicles 21:15 "And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite."

God sent a destroying angel to perform the punishment on the people. He was so displeased with David, and in fact, all Israel that He was about to allow the angel to destroy Jerusalem. God’s wrath subsided, and He changed His mind about destroying Jerusalem. God started the killing by the angel, and now, He stops it. Jerusalem is the city of God. This was His place of fellowship with mankind. The angel was between heaven and earth. I believe the threshingfloor of Ornan was the point at which the destruction stopped.

1 Chronicles 21:16 "And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders [of Israel, who were] clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces."

We have discussed before that sackcloth was a sign of great mourning. When David’s spiritual eyes were opened, and he saw the angel with the drawn sword over Jerusalem, he and the elders fell on their faces before their LORD.

1 Chronicles 21:17 "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 evil indeed; but [as for] these sheep, what have they done? Let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued."

David takes total responsibility for the sin of numbering the people. He speaks to God, and asks Him to remove the punishment from the people for the sin he, himself, had committed. David is willing to take whatever punishment God has for him, but pleads for his subjects.

1 Chronicles 21:18 "Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite."

This is where Abraham had taken Isaac to sacrifice him to the LORD. We, also, know that God stayed his hand, and did not allow him to do this. This is supposed to be the spot where Abraham met Melchizedek and gave him a tithe. This would later be in the area of the temple. This particular site was a very special place. God wants David to build an altar in this spot where so many wonderful meetings with God and man had been previously made.

1 Chronicles 21:19 "And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD."

David immediately obeyed the LORD. He knew that Gad was bringing him God’s message.

1 Chronicles 21:20 "And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat."

The fear of the LORD had gripped Ornan. He and his sons were aware of the judgment of God on the people for the sin of David and they were afraid they would be killed too, so they hid.

1 Chronicles 21:21 "And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with [his] face to the ground."

Ornan recognized his king, and he came to find what he wanted. It was a custom to bow to the king.

1 Chronicles 21:22 "Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of [this] threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people."

David had immediately come to buy the threshing floor, where God had told him to build an altar. David did not want Ornan to give it to him. He wanted to pay full price to Ornan for the threshing floor. He explained to Ornan the purpose of his desire for the threshing floor, was to build an altar to the LORD there. He, also, expresses the urgency of the matter by telling him this was to stop the plague.

1 Chronicles 21:23 "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 [also] for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all."

Ornan was concerned about the plague, also. He was willing to give the threshingfloor to David for the purpose of putting up an altar there. He was even willing to give him the oxen for the sacrifice, as well.

1 Chronicles 21:24 "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 the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost."

1 Chronicles 21:25 "So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight."

It would not have been an offering from David, if the expense of the offering had been paid for by Ornan. David wanted this offering to be his. It must cost him his own money for the offering to be his. David wanted to pay, and must pay for this offering to be from him. This shekel was a half ounce of gold. This means that David paid him 300 ounces of gold for the whole thing. At present prices of about $400.00 per ounce, this would figure $120,000. We can see this was a large amount to pay.

1 Chronicles 21:26 "And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering."

This answering by fire would have been similar to the fire that came from heaven in Elijah’s day. The burnt and peace offering were accepted of 125 God. This, probably, means that fire from heaven came and consumed the burnt offering.

1 Chronicles 21:27 "And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof."

This is an unusual saying. Perhaps, even David saw the angel put his sword, that had been drawn for destruction, into his sheath. The plague is stayed.

1 Chronicles 21:28 "At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there."

1 Chronicles 21:29 "For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, [were] at that season in the high place at Gibeon."

The temple will be built on this sight many years later by Solomon, David’s son. This would be the place of sacrifice, as long as David lived. God had met with David, showing him where he wanted to meet with him.

1 Chronicles 21:30 "But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD."

This is speaking of David not going to Gibeon. God had shown David where He wanted him to sacrifice.

1 Chronicles 21 Questions

1. Who stood up against Israel?

2. What did David do, that was displeasing to God?

3. Why did David want the people numbered?

4. Who was to lead the numbering?

5. How did he feel about the numbering?

6. What did he say to David about the numbering?

7. How long did it take for the census?

8. How many men of Israel did they count of the age to go to war?

9. How many men of Judah did they count?

10. Why did he not count the Levites, or the Benjamites?

11. How did God show his displeasure?

12. In 1 Chronicles 21:8, what did David say to God?

13. Who was David’s seer?

14. What was another name for him, besides seer?

15. What offer of punishment did God make to David?

16. Why did God take some of David’s people in any of the three punishments?

17. Why do you suppose David chose the one he did?

18. How many people died from the punishment of the LORD?

19. Who did God send to Jerusalem?

20. What does 1 Chronicles 21:15 say, that God did to stop Him from letting the angel destroy Jerusalem?

21. When David lifted up his eyes, what did he see?

22. What did David and the elders do when David saw this?

23. How were David and the elders dressed?

24. In 1 Chronicles 21:17, who did David blame for this?

25. What did the angel of the LORD tell Gad to tell David?

26. What other things had happened at this particular spot?

27. What did David do, when Gad gave him the message?

28. What did Ornan do, when he saw David?

29. Why would David not take the place as a gift from Ornan?

30. How much did David pay Ornan?

31. How did David know his offering was accepted of God?

32. What would Solomon build here later on?

33. How long will David sacrifice here?

Verses 1-8

1Ch 21:1-8

1 Chronicles 21:1-8

DAVID’S NUMBERING THE PEOPLE;

THE PESTILENCE;

PURCHASE OF THE SITE FOR THE TEMPLE;

DAVID’S SIN IN NUMBERING THE PEOPLE

"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 Beersheba 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 that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. But Levi and Benjamin he counted not among them; for the king’s word was abominable to Joab. 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."

E.M. Zerr:

1 Chronicles 21:1-2. This verse should be read as an explanation of 2 Samuel 24:1, where it sounds as if the Lord induced David to number Israel. It is an established rule of literature that where two different accounts are given of the same event, the easier one should be used to explain the other. We know that God would not cause a man to do a certain thing, then punish him for doing so. Therefore, the whole story is that God was angry with David because he allowed Satan to mislead him.

1 Chronicles 21:3. The speech of Joab indicates the motive of David in ordering this enumeration of the people. He was especially interested in numerical strength, which would rather be a questioning of the power of God, which can operate independently of the great numbers of man. When a man decides to do a thing with the wrong motive, even if that thing would be right in itself, he is liable to neglect, some duty connected with it. David was guilty of such neglect as we shall see. Joab was a wise man and saw through the purposes of his king, and tried to get him to change his mind.

1 Chronicles 21:4. We again see the loyalty of Joab. Although he felt sure a mistake was about to be made, he prepared to carry out the word of his chief.

1 Chronicles 21:5-6. There is a difference of numbers between the two accounts of this transaction. I have explained it at the other place in 2 Samuel 24:9.

1 Chronicles 21:7. Smote Israel. This was according to the threat God made in connection with this subject. (Exodus 30:12.)

1 Chronicles 21:8. The penitence of David again showed itself and the reason he was said to be a man after God’s own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14.) It was not because he never made any mistakes, for all men do that, but because he always was fair and honest about it afterward. He did not try to justify himself in his wrong but confessed that he had "sinned greatly."

Verses 9-17

1Ch 21:9-17

1 Chronicles 21:9-17

GOD OFFERS DAVID A CHOICE OF THREE PUNISHMENTS

"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 unto 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, 50pray thee, 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 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 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 fathers’ house; but not against thy people, that they should be plagued."

E.M. Zerr:

1 Chronicles 21:9-10. The national prophet was Gad, who was directed to give a message from God to David. (Hebrews 1:1). The threat of a plague was. already made in the passage in Exodus referred to above. So there must be some form of punishment brought, but God was lenient in that he allowed David to have something to say about it.

1 Chronicles 21:11-12. Gad told David to select one of the three punishments named. Famine would affect the nourishment of his people; the sword would affect their lives violently; pestilence would affect them through some kind of disease. These three things, "famine, pestilence and the sword," seem to have been a familiar combination of calamities in the history and prophecies of old times. (Jeremiah 14:12, Ezekiel 5:12.)

1 Chronicles 21:13. Of the three misfortunes threatened, David regarded the last as offering the greatest opportunity for the Lord’s mercy. He had much confidence in the divine compassion, therefore he chose that proposal.

1 Chronicles 21:14. The first effect of the pestilence was the death of 70,000 men.

1 Chronicles 21:15. Chronologically speaking, this verse should come after the next two. God sent the destroying angel to attack Jerusalem and the work was begun. But the plea of David (soon to be considered) caused the mercy of God to "repent," which means he was to change his decree against Jerusalem.

1 Chronicles 21:16. The sight of such a misfortune upon his capital city caused David to feel sorrowful. He and his "elders" or leading men put sackcloth over their bodies and got down to the ground, having their faces downward. That was a practice of those times when one wished to express great anxiety and penitence.

1 Chronicles 21:17. The fine character of David was manifested on so many occasions. Many persons in royal position feel so important that consideration for others is absent from their minds. The thing that grieved David was the fact that others were having to suffer for his misdeeds. These sheep was said to indicate his sense of responsibility. As king over the people, he regarded himself as one who should have protected them as a shepherd would his sheep. Instead of doing that, he had brought harm to his flock by his own acts. In such a frame of mind he begged the Lord to lift the affliction from the innocent and place it on the guilty.

Verses 18-27

1Ch 21:18-27

1 Chronicles 21:18-27

THE PURCHASE OF THE THRESHING FLOOR OF ORNAN

"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 sheaf thereof."

E.M. Zerr:

1 Chronicles 21:18. The Lord heard the plea of David and decided to grant it. He was commanded through the prophet Gad, the national prophet at that time, to build an altar. It was to be built to the Lord, which means that the Lord was to be given some service by it. A threshing floor was an open space that was used on which to pile the harvested grain, to beat it in the process of separating the chaff from the grain. There could have been other places just as suitable for the erection of an altar, but the Lord had a special purpose in mind when he directed that David use this place.

1 Chronicles 21:19-20. Turned back comes from one original and means that Ornan looked up from his threshing and beheld the angel, (in the form of a man), and he and his sons were so shocked at the sight that they hid themselves. Wheat threshing was a very important work, and Ornan would not have paused in it had the circumstances not been unusually impressive.

1 Chronicles 21:21. Ornan must have recognized David on sight, and followed the prevailing custom of bowing in a gesture of profound respect.

1 Chronicles 21:22. God’s instructions for David to build the altar at this particular place brought him in contact with the owner, since it was the threshing time and he would be on the ground then. That gave him opportunity for proposing the purchasing of the property. Full price meant he wanted to pay the actual value of the real estate, not merely a "token" payment. David not only told Ornan the use he wished to make of the ground, but also the result he hoped to accomplish; to turn away the plague from the people.

1 Chronicles 21:23. Oman was a Jebusite which means he was of the ancient inhabitants of Jerusalem. He doubtless was familiar with the practices of the worshipers under the Mosaic system of altar service. He wished to contribute the articles for the service by donating the ground as a site for the altar. Besides that, he knew that the law called for animals for the blood sacrifices, and offered the oxen for the purpose. These animals were being used at that moment in the threshing. The work was done by heaping the reaped straw on the ground, then driving the oxen round and round to trample out the grain from the husk so that the wind could separate the wheat from the chaff. (Dent. 25:4.) Threshing instruments. The second word does not appear in the original. as a separate word. The two are from a Hebrew word that means "a sledge." It was used to haul the crop from the field to the threshing floor. It was made of wood and Oman was willing for it to be used for fire in the sacrifice. The law provided for meat (meal or grain) offering, and the material for such an offering was naturally available since the work of threshing was going on then. We can thus see that "all things were ready" for an important religious performance. Ornan offered to contribute the entire list free of charge for David’s use.

1 Chronicles 21:24. In this verse David gives us a view of what constitutes a genuine sacrifice. Unless we give up something of value, or give that which costs us some real value, we have not made any sacrifice. Many professed servants of God shrink from a service that would interfere with their personal interests. When they have looked after all of their personal matters, if there is any time or money left, they want to offer it to God. Such conduct puts God second in the line and there is no evidence that service offered on such terms will be accepted.

1 Chronicles 21:25. By weight means that no guessing was done as to the price to be paid for the property. After the full price of it had been determined, the amount was exchanged on a legal basis according to the established table of weights and measures.

1 Chronicles 21:26. Called upon the Lord is in connection with the offerings said David made on the altar. That indicates that calling upon the Lord consists in more than merely speaking his name. There must be some practical evidence of devotion if one expects the Lord to recognize the "call." It is the same today, and we have a specific instance of the subject in Acts and burnt offerings 22:16. These peace offerings are described in Leviticus 1, 3.

1 Chronicles 21:27. The Lord was entreated by the offerings of David, and commanded the destroying angel to cease the use of his sword.

Verses 28-30

1Ch 21:28-30

1 Chronicles 21:28-30

DAVID CONTINUES TO SACRIFICE ON THE THRESHING FLOOR

"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 because of the sword of the angel of Jehovah."

This chapter is parallel with 2 Samuel 24. See the Commentary on 2 Samuel 24. The variation regarding the price paid to Ornan is explained at that place.

Keil has explained the significance of the last paragraph here, which is not in 2Samuel.

God’s answering David’s sacrifice with fire from heaven taught David that the altar built upon the threshing floor of Ornan had been chosen by the Lord as the place where Israel should always thereafter offer their burnt-offerings and sacrifices.

This explains why David was afraid thereafter to go to the high place at Gibeon. The events of this chapter explain why Solomon’s temple was placed at that very location where God had answered David with fire from heaven. A few other variations in the parallels are of no importance.

E.M. Zerr:

1 Chronicles 21:28. David made some sacrifices with his plea to God for mercy. The plea was granted, and he then made additional offerings in gratitude for the divine favor. That was another fine example and one that is worthy of following today. Many people will pray or do other religious services when they are in trouble. When the trouble is removed they will forget God and give themselves over to their own personal interests.

1 Chronicles 21:29-30. In spite of the fact that God caused the angel to withdraw the sword from the slaughtering, David was so overawed by the whole procedure that he hesitated about going to the institution that was at Gibeon. He therefore was content to perform the service on the altar he built on the ground purchased from Ornan.