Samuel 24 Essay -- Bible, Census, David

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 â€Å"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 â€Å"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 â€Å"Dan† and â€Å" 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... ...passage but at the root of it all is David's humanity. Though David was anointed and a â€Å"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.