24:1 The Lord’s anger again raged against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go count Israel and Judah.” 1 24:2 The king told Joab, the general in command of his army, “Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba and muster the army, so I may know the size of the army.”
1:11 David then grabbed his own clothes 2 and tore them, as did all the men who were with him.
1:5 Then the leaders 3 of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites – all those whose mind God had stirred – got ready 4 to go up in order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. 5
10:5 Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead, 6
a cudgel with which I angrily punish. 7
10:6 I sent him 8 against a godless 9 nation,
I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry, 10
to take plunder and to carry away loot,
to trample them down 11 like dirt in the streets.
13:2 12 On a bare hill raise a signal flag,
shout to them,
wave your hand,
so they might enter the gates of the princes!
13:3 I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; 13
I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, 14
my boasting, arrogant ones. 15
13:4 16 There is a loud noise on the mountains –
it sounds like a large army! 17
There is great commotion among the kingdoms 18 –
nations are being assembled!
The Lord who commands armies is mustering
forces for battle.
13:5 They come from a distant land,
from the horizon. 19
It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, 20
coming to destroy the whole earth. 21
1 sn The parallel text in 1 Chr 21:1 says, “An adversary opposed Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had.” The Samuel version gives an underlying theological perspective, while the Chronicler simply describes what happened from a human perspective. 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. See the note at 1 Chr 21:1.
2 tc The present translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
3 tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”
4 tn Heb “arose.”
5 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
6 tn Heb “Woe [to] Assyria, the club of my anger.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.
7 tn Heb “a cudgel is he, in their hand is my anger.” It seems likely that the final mem (ם) on בְיָדָם (bÿyadam) is not a pronominal suffix (“in their hand”), but an enclitic mem. If so, one can translate literally, “a cudgel is he in the hand of my anger.”
8 sn Throughout this section singular forms are used to refer to Assyria; perhaps the king of Assyria is in view (see v. 12).
9 tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “impious”; NCV “separated from God.”
10 tn Heb “and against the people of my anger I ordered him.”
11 tn Heb “to make it [i.e., the people] a trampled place.”
12 sn The Lord is speaking here (see v. 3).
13 tn Heb “my consecrated ones,” i.e., those who have been set apart by God for the special task of carrying out his judgment.
14 tn Heb “my warriors with respect to my anger.”
15 tn Heb “the boasting ones of my pride”; cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV “my proudly exulting ones.”
16 sn In vv. 4-10 the prophet appears to be speaking, since the Lord is referred to in the third person. However, since the Lord refers to himself in the third person later in this chapter (see v. 13), it is possible that he speaks throughout the chapter.
17 tn Heb “a sound, a roar [is] on the mountains, like many people.”
18 tn Heb “a sound, tumult of kingdoms.”
19 tn Heb “from the end of the sky.”
20 tn Or “anger”; cf. KJV, ASV “the weapons of his indignation.”
21 tn Or perhaps, “land” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NLT). Even though the heading and subsequent context (see v. 17) indicate Babylon’s judgment is in view, the chapter has a cosmic flavor that suggests that the coming judgment is universal in scope. Perhaps Babylon’s downfall occurs in conjunction with a wider judgment, or the cosmic style is poetic hyperbole used to emphasize the magnitude and importance of the coming event.