Глава 21

1–6. Numbering the Israelites. 7–17. Pestilence. 18–30. David's purchase of Orna the Jebusite's threshing floor and sacrifice. 1 Chronicles 21:1. And Satan rose up against Israel, and stirred up David to number the Israelites. In (2 Samuel 24:1) the inspiration to number Israel is attributed to God himself; here to Satan. As a force dependent on God, it acts according to His permission and is noted by the author of the book. Chronicles as the main culprit, accompanied by harmful consequences for Israel. According to the book. The census of Kings is one of the events at the end of David's reign; according to the book of Chronicles, it followed the victorious wars of David, which increased the glory of his reign and contributed to the emergence of a sense of pride and self-exaltation that was unforgivable for the king of a theocracy. The author follows not a chronological distribution of events, but an ideological one. 1 Chronicles 21:3. And Joab said, May the Lord multiply his people a hundred times as many as there are. Are they not all, my lord the king, my lord's servants? Why does my lord require this? So that this can be imputed to Israel? Joab's answer is presented in the book. Paralipomenon has some features compared to the book. Kingdoms Namely, David’s commander cites two, unmentioned in the last, considerations against the census. It is unnecessary, firstly, because all subjects are loyal to the king. Why know their number? Secondly, numbering the people, as a fruit of pride, can bring disaster to Israel. 1 Chronicles 21:4. But the king's word prevailed over Joab; and Joab went and went about all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. The book of Chronicles omits a description of the procedure for conducting the census. As directed by book 2. Kings (2 Samuel 24:5-7), it began on the east Jordanian side, continued in the area of ​​​​the northern tribes and ended in the south. 1 Chronicles 21:5. And Joab gave David the census of the people, and all the Israelites were a thousand thousand, and a hundred thousand men drew the sword, and four hundred and seventy thousand of the Jews drew the sword. The number of Jews shown is approximately the same as in 2 books. Kings (500,000, according to 2 Samuel 24:9), but there are many more Israelites: (1,100,000) instead of (800,000). It is difficult to say what explains this difference. 1 Chronicles 21:6. But he did not number the Levites and Benjaminites among them, because the king's word was disgusting to Joab. As can be seen from the order of the census (2 Samuel 24:5–7), the tribe of Benjamin was to be counted last. But Joab’s consciousness of the criminality of the act was so strong (“the king’s word was disgusting to him”) that he could not finish the census (cf. 1 Chronicles 27:24). The Levites who lived in the inheritances of all the tribes could be counted along with the inhabitants of these latter. And if Joab does not do this, then in fulfillment of the law of Moses, which exempts them from a census of a political nature (Num. 1:47-49). 1 Chronicles 21:12. or three years - famine, or three months you will be pursued by your enemies and the sword of your enemies will reach you; or three days - the sword of the Lord and the plague on the earth and the Angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. So, consider what I should answer to Him who sent me with a word. Addition against the book. Kings: “the sword of the Lord” and “The Angel of the Lord”, introduced into the text in accordance with the further narrative (1 Chron. 21:14–16). 1 Chronicles 21:16. And David lifted up his eyes and saw the Angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, with a sword drawn in his hand, stretched out towards Jerusalem; and David and the elders fell on their faces, covered in sackcloth. The detail noted in this verse is not found in book 2. Kingdoms The repentant feelings of David and his elders are quite understandable in view of their earlier repentance (1 Chron. 21:8). 1 Chronicles 21:20. Orna turned, saw the Angel, and his four sons disappeared with him. Orna was threshing wheat then. The Second Book of Kings does not speak about the fear of Orna and his sons, nor about the fact that they hid in the threshing floor. But this fact, noted by the book. Chronicles is also assumed to be the book of Kings, precisely by its remark: “Orna went out” (2 Sam. 24:20), i.e. from the threshing floor. 1 Chronicles 21:22. And David said to Orna, Give me the place under the threshing floor, I will build an altar on it to the Lord; give it to me for a real price so that the extermination of the people will stop. The details of David's conversation with Orna (2 Samuel 24:20–21) do not change the essence of the matter. 1 Chronicles 21:25. And David gave Orna six hundred shekels of gold for the place. As directed (2 Samuel 24:24), the threshing floor was purchased for 50 shekels, which in our money is approximately 25 rubles. But it seems more likely to read the book of Chronicles: 600 shekels. From the story of Abraham it is clear that in ancient times one cave was valued at 400 shekels. 1 Chronicles 21:26. And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings; and he called upon the Lord, and He heard him, sending fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. The sending of fire on David's sacrifice is a sign of its pleasing to God (1 Kings 18:37–38). 1 Chronicles 21:28. At this time, David, seeing that the Lord heard him at the threshing floor of Orna the Jebusite, offered a sacrifice there. If the first sacrifice served as an expression of remorse, then the second - gratitude for the end of the disaster. 1 Chronicles 21:29. The tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on high in Gibeon. 1 Chronicles 21:30. And David could not go there to seek God, because he was terrified by the sword of the Angel of the Lord. According to the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 12.5), the sacrifice must be performed only in the place indicated by the Lord himself. The sacrifice not in Gibeon, where the tabernacle of Moses and the altar were located, but on the threshing floor of Orna violated this decree. But the justification for David in this case was the fact that he was “terrified by the sword of an Angel,” i.e. the appearance of the Angel aroused in him a feeling of reverent fear of the holiness of the place, and therefore it was considered quite convenient for sacrifice. You might be interested in: