Passage Analysis Essay: David takes a Census
Historical/Cultural
The Biblical passage found in 2 Samuel 24 tells the story of king David taking a census of Israel and Judah and in result of this, receiving punishment from God.The two books of Samuel were previously one book but were divided in the Hebrew Bible in the fifteenth century. The two books, along with I and II Kings make up a four part history of the kings of Israel. Seeing as the books of I and II Samuel cover a large span of time in Israel's history, no one man could have lived through the entire history and written the books by himself. Because of this, many scholars believe that there are multiple authors of the books in addition to multiple outside sources having been used to create this completion (NBD “Samuel, the book of” 1056).
The main focus of this story is on the census that David took of Israel and Judah. A census in the ancient near east, during the reign of David was much different than the censuses which are taken today. Today, a census is a numbering of all citizens, male and female which includes details such as age, sex, and race. During reign of David, censuses were taken primarily for specific purposes, such as the distribution of rations, fiscal revenues, or military levies (ABD “Census”). Concerning the census taken by David in 2 Samuel 24, it is a count of the number of men of military age from the the border of Dan, which is located in the north of Israel, just below Mt. Hermon and Beer-sheeba, which is a town located in the south Judean desert (ABD “Dan” and “ Beer-sheba” 641, 12).
The story of David being punished by God for taking a census takes place in the nation of Israel during the four hundred-year dynasty of king David. During h...
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...passage but at the root of it all is David's humanity. Though David was anointed and a “man after God's own heart”, he made many mistakes. This passage shows that David was not perfectly in tune with God's voice at all times. David did something God clearly did not want him to do, and did not realize the consequences until after the sin had already been committed. However, even though David did sin, and his sin was punished, he had a heart of repentance when he realized what he had done and was willing to make things right at all costs. Theologically, the lesson that should be drawn from this is that it was not David's actions which made him great, but his heart to please God, and even greater, God's heart of mercy towards him. If it had not been for God's intervention, David would have been nothing more but another man.
A loss of David’s innocence appears during his killing of a magpie. This “it can be done in a flick of the finger”. The particular significance about this plays an important part in his as he considers that he also is capable of committing such unfortunate yet immoral things. “Looking in the dead bird’s eye, I realised that these strange, unthought of connections - sex and death, lust and violence, desire and degradation - are there, there, deep in even a good heart’s chambers”.
He tries to explain that in order to be happy, one must put himself in other people's shoes, to know that there is another world that you must enter that revolves around another individual. A person must learn that he must look at both sides of the road before crossing the road of judgment. Meaning that a person must think twice before judging someone due to the fact that you are incapable off reading other people's minds thus you cannot make a judgment about how tough their lives are and the daily hardships that they have to put up with. Before you start complaining about how long the line at the store is, realise that you are not the only person waiting in line and that there are other people waiting in line too just like you are. David uses plenty of metaphors and examples in order to further explain to the audience his statement. One example he uses in the beginning of the story is the fish example, where two young fish meet an older fish who asks them "how is the water", the two young fish then go on to reply by saying "what the hell is water?". After reading through the story, one realises that what the author means by 'water' is that in this scene, water is the representation of life. Thus you can think of it as the older fish asking the
Among Jewish peasantry at the time of Jesus were two distinct types of prophets: the action prophets, who "led sizable movements of peasants from the villages of Judea in anticipation of God's new, eschatological act of liberation," and the oracular prophets, who delivered oracles of either judgment or deliverance (185). The former, as illustrated by the case of Theudas, appea...
Spurgeon, C. H. The Treasury of David. Vol. 1. III vols. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan
Smith, D. (n.d.). Why did God punish King David for taking a Census? Retrieved May 17, 2011, from BibleSudy.org: http://www.biblestudy.org/question/why-did-god-punish-king-david-for-taking-a-census.html
The Book of Daniel is the account of the activities and visions of Daniel, which elaborates through journeys and lesson on him. The Book of Daniel is found in the Ketuvim section of the Tanakh (Matthews). The word Daniel means “God is my Judge”. The genre of the book of Daniel is a Narrative History (Cohn). In both the Hebrew and Greek canons the book is titled after its main character, Daniel. The book is made up of six court tales and four apocalyptic visions set in the time of the Babylonian captivity (Bergan). The Babylonian captivity was a time when Jews were captives in Babylon (Wallace). Daniel connects the Old and New Testaments through Daniel. God revealed the exact date month and year of Messiah death and events leading to his return. Daniel demonstrates God’s complete control and comprehension over time and nations by giving detailed prophecies about the succession of kingdoms and rulers. Daniel tells the ahead of eventual establishment of Messiah’s kingdom, which will overthrow the kingdoms of this world (Wallace). For the reason, Daniel is often the most attacked book in the Bible because of the controversial accusations and words he proclaims. The Book of Revelation completes the plan started in the Book of Daniel. There are twelve chapters in the Book of Daniel. Those are 1: Induction into Babylon, 2: Nebuchadnezzar's dream of an image, 3: The fiery furnace, 4: The madness of Nebuchadnezzar, 5: Belshazzar's feast, 6: Daniel in the lions' den, 7: Daniel's first vision, 8: Vision of the ram and goat, 9: Prophecy of Seventy Weeks, 10: Vision of a man, 11: Kings of the North and South, and 12: Epilogue. Key people of of this book include Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Belshazzar, and Darius. Alth...
And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
The book of Judges is the sequel to Joshua. It is the seventh book of the Old Testament. It recounts stories and events from the death of the hebrew leader and prophet Joshua to the birth of the hebrew Samuel. That is roughly, from the end of the Israelite conquest of Canan in the 13th Century B.C to the begining of the monarchy in the 11 th century B.C. It tells about the hebrews from Joshua’s Death to the time of Samuel. It was written in about 550 BC, on tablets named the Ras Shamra tablets. The Ras Shamra tablets where later discovered in the early 20th Century, even though the stories and acountings of the judges where already known and written. The book of Judges belongs to a specific historical tradition which is called the Deuteronomic history. The author of the book of Judges, was in exile in Babylonia. While in exile he was deeply concerned with foreign domination. So he wrote many of his stories on the migration of the tribe of Dan to the North and the sins of the Benjamites. The author emphasized that Israel was being influenced by foreign powers and the loss of freedom and prosperity. Recurring throughout the book is the stereotyped formula: "The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the lord." Then after each period or subjection the author introduces another formula: " But when the people of Israel cried the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people. Through-out the book, the book of judges tells about prophets, rulers and influencial people such as: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tilian and Samson. There are also many more minor people.
the things beyond his surrounding. He also gave David the confidence he needed to accept his
the things beyond his surrounding. He also gave David the confidence he needed to accept his
The way we have been raised and the relationships we build towards our parents and other individuals have a huge impact on our entire life. Small situations that accour in or during our childhood, can have vital effects and consequences the rest of our life's. Neglection and age differents can be one of many reasons due to an unstable development. David was confronted with some of these things along with topics as death, already at an early age. This caused a deep depression and superficial relationship with his parents and others. Life is something extremely valuable and it is extremely important how we influence and effect others. We are all on the “same” journey.
The book of first and second Kings is a continuation of the cyclical cycle that Israel follows throughout the Old Testament. The Israelites are unfaithful in their relationship to God, they are consequently disciplined by God through oppression, consequently they petition God for divine assistance, and God then sends a deliverer. In II Kings 4, the current deliverer for God’s people is a man named Elisha. In this particular scene of the Old Testament, readers are able to see Elisha’s miraculous power given by God in a time of Israel’s disobedience and discipline. This exegesis will explore the social and historical surroundings of the story, the contextual meaning behind the text, and its purpose in the Bible.
In the introductory section, consisting of verses 1-5, David makes two claims: “(1) his innocence and (2) the sins of his enemies” (Spurgeon 28). When you read a Psalm by David, God is usually the subject of Praise and thanksgiving, but that is not the case here, God is instead the one who is being petitioned to do something. The plea that David makes for God to not remain silent in verse 1b is a cry for help. The basis for David’s petition is then given in verses 2-5:
Kingship played a vital role in the progression and development of the kingdom of Israel throughout history from the time they first were freed by the mercy of Yahweh. The presentation of ancient Hebrew culture from kingship in the Old Testament reveals the tradition in
Scholars also believe the text of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel were originally one manuscript. These scholars believe the book of Samuel was written as a part of a whole sequence beginning with Joshua and ending with Kings. Others believe two literary sources lay behind the present form of Samuel. Though differences have been noted, such as the story of David and Goliath being much shorter in the Septuagint, these scholars still have not determined the author, time of writing or the purpose of the text. I noted some minor textual differences in my research but the main theme and message remained the same in all sources that I verified.