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So the king said to Joab the captain of the army who was with him, “Go through all the families of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba. Number the people, so I may know how many there are.” But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are. And may it be while the eyes of my lord the king still see. But why does my lord the king find this thing pleasing?” But the king’s word was stronger than Joab and the captains of the army. So Joab and the army leaders went out from the king to number the people of Israel.

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So the king said to Joab(A) and the army commanders[a] with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba(B) and enroll(C) the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are.”

But Joab(D) replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over,(E) and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”

The king’s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 24:2 Septuagint (see also verse 4 and 1 Chron. 21:2); Hebrew Joab the army commander