David did not count the men aged twenty or under, because the LORD had said that He would make Israel as numerous as the stars of the sky.
Parallel translations
- WEB But David didn’t take the number of them from twenty years old and under, because Yahweh had said he would increase Israel like the stars of the sky.
- KJV But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of the heavens.
- NKJV But David did not take the number of those twenty years old and under, because the Lord had said He would multiply Israel like the stars of the heavens.
- NASB But David did not count those twenty years of age and under, because the Lord had said He would multiply Israel as the stars of heaven.
- NLT When David took his census, he did not count those who were younger than twenty years of age, because the Lord had promised to make the Israelites as numerous as the stars in heaven.
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
David did not count those twenty and under, recalling God's promise to multiply Israel like the stars. It grounds the census in God's covenant pledge.
Overview
The Chronicler notes David's restraint in the census, leaving the youngest uncounted because the Lord had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars. This echoes God's covenant to Abraham and a trust that the nation's increase rested on divine promise, not human tally. It teaches that God's people flourish by his faithful word rather than by counting their own strength.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Gen 15:5And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
- Num 1:18and on the first day of the second month they assembled the whole congregation and recorded their ancestry by clans and families, counting one by one the names of those twenty years of age or older,
- Heb 11:12And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
- 1 Chr 21:2–5So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 27:23 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.