Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
Parallel translations
- WEB Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to take a census of Israel.
- KJV And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
- NKJV Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.
- NASB Then Satan stood up against Israel and incited David to count Israel.
- NLT Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Satan incites David to take a census of Israel. It introduces the great sin and its disastrous consequences.
Overview
Chronicles names Satan as the one who moved David to number Israel, while the parallel in 2 Samuel 24 speaks of the Lord's anger prompting it; faithful readers harmonize these by seeing Satan as the instrument within God's sovereign permission, as in Job 1-2. The census appears to express trust in numbers and military might rather than in the Lord. The episode exposes the sin even of a godly king and prepares for the place where atonement and the temple will arise.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 2 Sam 24:1–25Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
- Zech 3:1Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
- Rev 12:10And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God.
- Job 2:1On another day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him.
- Job 2:4–6“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.
- 1 Kgs 22:20–22And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one suggested this, and another that.
- Acts 5:3Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?
- John 13:2The evening meal was underway, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.
- Luke 11:53As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things,
- Job 1:6–12One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
- Luke 22:31Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.
- Matt 4:3The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
- Heb 10:24And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.
- Jas 1:13When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The genealogies and the everlasting covenant with David trace the single thread of promise running through the generations straight to the Christ in whom the line reaches its goal.
How 1 Chronicles 21:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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