2 Samuel 24:9

The context

Second Samuel 24 narrates David's decision to count the fighting men, an act treated as sin, and the plague that follows. Verse 9 gives the results of the count. The same episode is retold in Chronicles with different numbers and a different account of who prompted the census.

What it establishes

It establishes the figures the Samuel tradition preserves and that the census itself was judged as a serious fault. The numbers are given as a military levy, not a total population.

What it does not establish

It does not resolve the discrepancy with Chronicles. The two accounts give different totals, and the difference is a known textual and literary problem. Harmonisations that posit different counting methods are proposals, not statements found in either text.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• Dennis McKinsey single-handedly disproves Biblical inerrancy in his book, "Biblical Errancy" - your team should read it.

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.