1 Chronicles 27 24

1 Chronicles 27:24 kjv

Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David.

1 Chronicles 27:24 nkjv

Joab the son of Zeruiah began a census, but he did not finish, for wrath came upon Israel because of this census; nor was the number recorded in the account of the chronicles of King David.

1 Chronicles 27:24 niv

Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the men but did not finish. God's wrath came on Israel on account of this numbering, and the number was not entered in the book of the annals of King David.

1 Chronicles 27:24 esv

Joab the son of Zeruiah began to count, but did not finish. Yet wrath came upon Israel for this, and the number was not entered in the chronicles of King David.

1 Chronicles 27:24 nlt

Joab son of Zeruiah began the census but never finished it because the anger of God fell on Israel. The total number was never recorded in King David's official records.

1 Chronicles 27 verses

1 Chronicles 27 24 Meaning

1 Chronicles 27:24 explains that Joab, King David's military commander, began a census of Israel's fighting men, but this enumeration was divinely interrupted and never fully completed. The reason for its incompletion and lack of official documentation was the Lord's wrath, which afflicted Israel because of this unauthorized act. Consequently, the partial and ill-fated census figures were never formally recorded within King David's official historical annals or chronicles.

1 Chronicles 27 24 Context

1 Chronicles 27 is embedded within a section of the book (chapters 23-27) detailing King David's comprehensive organization of the kingdom before his death. This particular chapter meticulously lists the divisions of the army and various royal administrators. Verse 24 is a critical parenthetical statement that explains why a full, official census, a foundational component for military organization (as was usually the purpose of such counts), is not included despite the detailed lists of military leaders. It refers back to David's infamous census described in 1 Chronicles 21 (and 2 Samuel 24), an act of pride or distrust that displeased God and brought a plague upon Israel. The Chronicler inserts this note to underscore that the divine judgment against the census was so severe that the results were neither completed by Joab nor permitted to become part of the official royal records, highlighting God's rejection of an act initiated outside His will.

1 Chronicles 27 24 Word analysis

• "And Joab" (וְיוֹאָב, vĕyo’āv): Identifies the direct executor of David's census command. As David's powerful and often calculating army commander, his involvement shows that the king's order was implemented through his highest military authority, despite Joab's initial, albeit brief, reluctance (1 Chron 21:3).
• "the son of Zeruiah": A familial identifier, placing Joab in direct relation to David's royal lineage (Zeruiah was David's sister). This emphasizes that even those closest to the throne were impacted by David's sin and God's response.
• "began to count" (הֵחֵל לִמְנוֹת, hehẹ̄l limnōṯ): The verb "began" highlights the initiation of the task, while "לִמְנוֹת" (limnōṯ, to number/count) points to the act itself which was the object of God's displeasure. It shows a human enterprise starting on an ill-advised path.
• "but finished not" (וְלֹא כִלָּה, vĕlō’ khillāh): The emphatic "not completed" is crucial. This is not a human failure to complete a task, but a divine intervention that halted the process, signifying a purposeful incompletion by higher power.
• "because wrath" (כִּי־הָיָה קֶצֶף, kī-hāyāh qeṭsep): "כִּי" (kī, because) directly attributes the cause of incompletion to "קֶצֶף" (qeṭsep), meaning intense "wrath" or "fury." This signifies God's deep and active displeasure with David's census, portraying divine anger as an immediate consequence.
• "came upon Israel for it" (עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל־זֹאת, ‘al-yiśrā’ēl ‘al-zō’ṯ): Clearly states that the divine wrath was directed at the entire nation of "Israel," highlighting communal consequence for a leader's sin. "For it" (עַל־זֹאת, al-zō’ṯ) pinpoints the census itself as the specific reason for the divine judgment.
• "neither was the number put in the account" (וְלֹא עָלָה הַמִּסְפָּר בְּמִסְפַּר, vĕlō’ ‘ālâ hammispar bĕmispar): "וְלֹא עָלָה" (vĕlō’ ‘ālâ) means "did not go up" or "was not entered." This signifies the official exclusion of the census figures from any recognized administrative or historical record. It is a further layer of divine repudiation, preventing legitimization.
• "of the chronicles of king David" (בְּדִבְרֵי הַיָּמִים לַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִיד, bĕdibrê hayyāmîm lammẹleḵ Dāwîḏ): "דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים" (dibrê hayyāmîm), literally "words of the days," refers to the official annals or historical records of the king. The absence of the census details from these crucial, enduring records underscored that the sinful act should not be remembered as a legitimate or praiseworthy event of David's reign.

Words-group analysis:

• "And Joab...began to count, but finished not": This segment encapsulates the human initiation of a task against divine will, leading to its direct cessation by divine power. It sets the stage for the consequence of ungodly action.
• "because wrath came upon Israel for it": This phrase succinctly delivers the theological rationale for the incompletion. It establishes a direct cause-and-effect link between David's prideful census (through his commander Joab) and God's fierce displeasure, manifested as a devastating national affliction.
• "neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David": This final part highlights the administrative and historical consequence. The purposeful omission from the official royal records is a potent symbol of divine judgment, permanently invalidating the act and its results in human history, thus providing a moral lesson for posterity about acts disapproved by God.

1 Chronicles 27 24 Bonus section

The chronicler’s inclusion of this specific parenthetical verse serves several vital purposes for the post-exilic community reading his work. It reassures them that God remains sovereign over human actions and records, judging not only deeds but also their very intent. The incomplete and unrecorded census stands as a silent polemic against human boasting in numbers or might, urging a reliance solely on divine strength, a crucial message for a fragile community that lacked the military and political grandeur of David's time. The non-inclusion of the census results from David's chronicles, which would typically contain all major governmental and military data, subtly signals that the census itself, being born of sin, had no true, lasting, or divinely sanctioned value in the legitimate history of God's people.

1 Chronicles 27 24 Commentary

1 Chronicles 27:24 is a concise but profoundly significant explanatory note within a meticulous record of David's kingdom administration. It directly addresses the anomalous absence of a completed census of David's fighting men, which one might otherwise expect in such a detailed account. The verse cuts to the heart of the matter, identifying the "wrath" of God as the reason for the census's interruption and its ultimate omission from official historical documents. This wrath (qetsep) signifies God's active judgment against an act originating from human pride, rather than divine command, illustrating that God's governance extends beyond punitive plagues to the very historical records of kings. The incompletion of the count and its explicit exclusion from David's "chronicles" serve as a permanent historical repudiation, a lasting testament to an action that God rejected, ensuring that future generations would not legitimize or emulate this particular misstep of their revered king. It is a powerful reminder that not all actions, even those undertaken by powerful rulers, find favor with God or deserve a place in an approved historical memory.