1 Chronicles 21

1 Chronicles 21 follows 1 Chronicles 20, which concludes the record of David's wars. The chapter narrates David's census, the plague sent as punishment, and the building of an altar at the place where the plague was stayed. In 1 Chronicles 22 this place becomes the site of the temple. The same event is also recorded in 2 Samuel 24.

Outline

• Verses 1–6 Satan (rendered Sadan in the Korean Revised Version) provokes David to number Israel. Joab objects, but at the king's command he counts the people from Beersheba to Dan. He reports 1,100,000 men in Israel who drew the sword and 470,000 in Judah; the tribes of Levi and Benjamin are not counted.
• Verses 7–13 God smites Israel, and David confesses his sin. Gad the seer presents three punishments: three years of famine, three months of fleeing before enemies, or three days of pestilence. David chooses to fall into the hand of the LORD rather than into the hand of man.
• Verses 14–17 Seventy thousand men die in the pestilence. The LORD stays the angel who was about to destroy Jerusalem, and the angel stands by the threshing floor of Ornan. David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fall on their faces, and David asks that the punishment fall on himself and his father's house.
• Verses 18–25 Through Gad comes the command to build an altar on that threshing floor. Ornan offers to give the site and the offerings freely, but David refuses to offer burnt offerings without cost and pays six hundred shekels of gold.
• Verses 26–30 When David offers burnt offerings and peace offerings, fire comes down from heaven, and the angel puts his sword back into its sheath. Because David is afraid of the angel's sword, he does not go to Gibeon, where the tabernacle of Moses stood, but offers sacrifice at this place.

Key Verses

• 1 Chronicles 21:1 "And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David" — This verse is widely discussed because its wording differs from that of 2 Samuel 24:1.
• 1 Chronicles 21:13 "Let me fall now into the hand of the LORD . . . but let not me fall into the hand of man" — This verse shows David's reliance on God's mercy even in the face of judgment.
• 1 Chronicles 21:24 "Nor offer burnt offerings without cost" — This verse is frequently cited in discussions of giving that involves sacrifice.

People and Places

• David
• Joab: David's army commander. He objects to the census and leaves out Levi and Benjamin.
• Gad: David's seer, who delivers God's word to David.
• Ornan: A Jebusite living in Jerusalem. In 2 Samuel 24 he is called Araunah.
• The angel of the LORD: An angel with a drawn sword.
• From Beersheba to Dan: An expression that joins the southern and northern extremities of the land of Israel to denote the whole land.
• Jerusalem
• The high place at Gibeon: The location at that time of the tabernacle of the LORD made by Moses and of the altar of burnt offering.

Points for Reflection

• Differences from 2 Samuel 24: 2 Samuel states that the LORD, in His anger, moved David, whereas this chapter states that Satan provoked him.
• Traditionally, the two accounts are read together as meaning that God permitted Satan's activity (compare Job 1:6).
• Some scholars, noting that the Hebrew word satan lacks the definite article here, take it as a common noun meaning "adversary."
• Differences in numbers: The two accounts also differ in their figures.
• Number of men: 2 Samuel gives 800,000 and 500,000; this chapter gives 1,100,000 and 470,000.
• Length of the famine: 2 Samuel gives seven years; this chapter gives three years.
• Price: 2 Samuel gives fifty shekels of silver; this chapter gives six hundred shekels of gold.
• The difference in price is sometimes explained by distinguishing the price of the threshing floor and the oxen from the price of the entire surrounding site; others attribute it to variations that arose in the course of scribal copying.
• Why the census was sinful: The text does not state the reason directly. Some interpret it as pride that relied on military strength; others attribute it to a violation of the ransom requirement in Exodus 30:12 (the payment due when the people were numbered).
• The temple site: 2 Chronicles 3:1 records that Solomon built the temple on this threshing floor, that is, on Mount Moriah. For this reason, one tradition identifies the site with Moriah, where Abraham was to offer Isaac, though the text does not directly state that the two are the same place.
• Fire from heaven: Together with Leviticus 9:24, 1 Kings 18:38, and 2 Chronicles 7:1, this event is read as a sign that God accepted the sacrifice.
• Connection to the New Testament: Some sermons connect David's prayer that he, rather than the people, be struck (v. 17), along with the sacrifice that stayed the plague, to the atonement of Christ.

In the Korean Church

Verse 24, "nor offer burnt offerings without cost," is frequently cited in sermons on offering and dedication.