Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 21:7
This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He struck Israel.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator reports that God viewed the census command as evil and struck Israel, following Joab's refusal to count the tribes of Levi and Benjamin. This divine judgment occurs immediately after the census is completed but before David's confession in the next verse.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיֵּרַע (va.ye.re') translates literally to "it was displeasing" or "it was evil," describing God's assessment of the matter. The verb וַיַּךְ (va.yakh) means "he struck," indicating the immediate divine action against Israel.
The thread — Similar patterns of divine judgment following unauthorized or evil actions appear in Joshua 7:1, where Israel's unfaithfulness regarding devoted things brings defeat, and Joshua 7:5, where enemy forces strike the Israelites as a consequence.
Why it lands — The text states that God actively opposes commands that violate His authority, resulting in immediate judgment against the people. Readers must recognize that human initiative, even when framed for national benefit, provokes divine opposition when it bypasses prescribed worship and obedience.
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 God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.
Cross-references
- Joshua 7:1 The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted to destruction. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart. So the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites.
- Joshua 7:5 And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
- Joshua 7:13 Get up and consecrate the people, saying, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Among you, O Israel, there are things devoted to destruction. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.
- Joshua 22:16 “This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says: ‘What is this breach of faith you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the LORD and building for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel against the LORD this day?
- 2 Samuel 11:27 And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
- 2 Samuel 21:1 During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
- 2 Samuel 21:14 And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. After they had done everything the king had commanded, God answered their prayers for the land.
- 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.”
- 1 Kings 15:5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
- 1 Chronicles 21:14 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.