Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 21:1
Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator reports a hostile action against Israel before shifting to David’s direct orders to Joab and the military commanders to conduct a nationwide census from Beersheba to Dan.
The words — The Hebrew שָׂטָן (śāṭān) literally means “an adversary,” paired with וַיָּ֙סֶת (wayyāsēṯ), which denotes inciting or provoking David to number the people.
The thread — The motif of a counterforce provoking a leader appears in 2 Samuel 24:1, where the anger of the LORD stirs David, and in Zechariah 3:1, where Satan stands to accuse Joshua the high priest.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of a named adversary initiating a royal decision, requiring the reader to weigh the immediate narrative claim against the parallel account that attributes the same provocation to divine judgment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 24:1 Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
- Zechariah 3:1 Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
- 1 Kings 22:20 And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one suggested this, and another that.
- Job 2:1 On another day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him.
- Job 2:4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.
- Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God.
- Job 1:6 One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
- Matthew 4:3 The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
- Luke 11:53 As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things,
- Luke 22:31 Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you like wheat.