¹tn Or “Satan.” The Hebrew word /f*c* (c*f*/) can refer to an adversary in general or Satan in particular. There is no article accompanying the term here, which suggests it should be understood generally.
²tn Heb “stood against.”
³tn Heb “and incited David to count Israel.” As v. 5 indicates, David was not interested in a general census, but in determining how much military strength he had.
sn The parallel text in 2 Sam 24:1 says, “The Lord’s anger again raged against Israel and he incited David against them, saying: ‘Go, count Israel and Judah!’“ The version of the incident in the Book of 2 Samuel gives an underlying theological perspective, while the Chronicler simply describes what happened from a human perspective. Many interpreters and translations render the Hebrew /fc as a proper name here, “Satan” (NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). However, the Hebrew term /fc, which means “adversary,” is used here without the article. Elsewhere when it appears without the article, it refers to a personal or national adversary in the human sphere, the lone exception being Num 22:22, 32, where the angel of the Lord assumes the role of an adversary to Balaam. When referring elsewhere to the spiritual entity known in the NT as Satan, the noun has the article and is used as a title, “the Adversary” (see Job 1:6-9, 12; 2:1-4, 6-7; Zech 3:1-2). In light of usage elsewhere the adversary in 1 Chr 21:1 is likely a human enemy, probably a nearby nation whose hostility against Israel pressured David into numbering the people so he could assess his military strength. For compelling linguistic and literary arguments against taking the noun as a proper name here, see S. Japhet, I & II Chronicles (OTL), 374-75.
⁴tn Or “people.”
⁵tn Heb “Go, count Israel.” See the note on “had” in v. 1.
⁶tn Heb “their number.”
⁷tn Or “people.”
⁸tn Heb “Why should it become guilt for Israel?” David’s decision betrays an underlying trust in his own strength rather than in divine provision. See also 1 Chr 27:23-24.
⁹tn Heb “and the word of the king was stronger than Joab.”
¹⁰map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
¹¹tn Heb “and Joab gave to David the number of the numbering of the army [or “people”].”
¹²tn Heb “a thousand thousands and one hundred thousand.”
¹³tn Heb “he”; the proper name (“Joab”) has been substituted for the pronoun here for stylistic reasons; the proper name occurs at the end of the verse in the Hebrew text, where it has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.
¹⁴tn Heb “There was displeasure in the eyes of God concerning this thing.”
¹⁵tn Heb “seer.”
¹⁶tn Heb “Three I am extending to you; choose for yourself one of them and I will do it to you.”
¹⁷tc Heb “or three months being swept away from before your enemies and the sword of your enemies overtaking.” The Hebrew term hpsn (Niphal participle from hps) should probably be emended to hksn (Qal infinitive from swn with second masculine singular suffix). See 2 Sam 24:13.
¹⁸tn Heb “or three days of the sword of the Lord and plague in the land, and the messenger [or “angel”] of the Lord destroying in all the territory of Israel.”
¹⁹tn Heb “There is great distress to me; let me fall into the hand of the Lord for his mercy is very great, but into the hand of men let me not fall.”
²⁰tn Or “an angel.”
²¹tn Or “destroy.”
²²tn Heb “while he was destroying.”
²³tn Or “saw.”
²⁴tn Or “was grieved because of.”
²⁵tn Heb “concerning the calamity.”
²⁶tn For this nuance of the Hebrew word br~, see BDB 913.
²⁷tn Heb “Now, drop your hand.”
²⁸tn In the parallel text in 2 Sam 24:16 this individual is called anwra, “Aravna” (traditionally, “Araunah”). The form of the name found here also occurs in vv. 18-28.
²⁹tn Heb “and David and the elders, covered with sackcloth, fell on their faces.”
³⁰tn “and doing evil I did evil.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite form of the verb for emphasis.
³¹tn Heb “let your hand be on me and on the house of my father.”
³²tn Heb “but on your people not for a plague.”
³³tn Heb “that he should go up to raise up.”
³⁴tn Heb “and David went up by the word of Gad which he spoke in the name of the Lord.”
³⁵tn Heb “nostrils.”
³⁶tn Heb “the place of the threshing floor.”
³⁷tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunctive here indicates the immediate purpose/result: “so I can build.”
³⁸tn Heb “For full silver sell to me.”
³⁹tn Following the imperative and first person prefixed verbal form with vav conjunctive, this third person prefixed verbal form with vav conjunctive introduces the ultimate purpose/result: “so the plague may be removed.” Another option is subordinate this form to the preceding imperative, but the latter may be taken as a parenthetical expansion of the initial request.
⁴⁰tn Heb “take for yourself.”
⁴¹tn Heb “what is good in his eyes.”
⁴²tn Heb “No, for buying I will buy for full silver.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
⁴³tn Or “without [paying] compensation.”
⁴⁴tn Heb “six hundred shekels of gold.” This would have been about 15 lbs. (6.8 kg) of gold by weight.
⁴⁵tn Or “peace offerings.”
⁴⁶tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁴⁷tn Heb “spoke to the messenger.”
⁴⁸tn Or “high place.”