II Shmuel 34: David's Choice

YINR 929: Tanach Yomi · Oct 6, 2026 · 3m

According to chapter 24, God looked for a way to punish the people by enticing David to conduct a census. Counting the nation is against the will of God, unless God is the one officially mandating the count. This is a little confusing because the text says that God did initiate this census in a way, but not in an official way. God sends Gad the prophet to present David with three potential punishments: 1) an attack by an enemy (the sword), 2) pestilence, or 3) a famine. In Hebrew they are cherev (חֶרֶב), dever (דֶּבֶר), and raav (רָעָב). David chooses pestilence. He reasons with Gad that of…