Final Years

Sheba's Revolt

The reconciliation after Absalom's defeat was fragile. A worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjaminite (Saul's tribe), sounded the trumpet and proclaimed:

"We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!" — 2 Samuel 20:1

All the men of Israel withdrew from following David. Only the men of Judah remained.

The Concubines

The first thing David did upon returning to Jerusalem was take the ten concubines whom Absalom had publicly violated, put them in a guarded house, and provide for them — but he had no relations with them. "So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood" 2 Sam 20:3.

Amasa's Failure and Death

David had appointed Amasa — Absalom's former commander, son of David's sister Abigail — as commander of his army, replacing Joab. (David had promised this during Absalom's revolt as part of his reconciliation strategy with the rebels.)

David commanded Amasa to assemble Judah within three days. Amasa delayed beyond the appointed time. David then commanded Abishai (not Joab) to pursue Sheba.

Joab went anyway. At the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab approached him:

"Is it well with you, my brother?" — 2 Samuel 20:9

Joab took Amasa's beard with his right hand to kiss him. Amasa did not notice the sword in Joab's left hand. Joab struck him in the belly. Amasa's intestines spilled out. He died without a second blow 2 Sam 20:10.

This was the second commander Joab had killed by deception in this manner — the first was Abner, also at a city gate, also by treachery. Joab had now eliminated both potential rivals for the position of commander.

The Wise Woman of Abel

Joab pursued Sheba to Abel of Beth-maacah, a fortified city in the far north of Israel. They began throwing up a siege mound.

A wise woman called from the wall. She negotiated with Joab: if Joab would withdraw, the city would deliver Sheba's head. She went to the people of the city; they cut off Sheba's head and threw it over the wall to Joab.

Joab blew the trumpet. The siege ended. The men dispersed to their tents.

Joab Restored to Command

2 Samuel 20:23 — almost casually — notes: "Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel." With Amasa dead, David had no choice but to keep Joab.

The Famine and the Gibeonites

2 Samuel 21 records events that are not strictly chronological — likely earlier in David's reign but recorded here as a thematic appendix.

The Three-Year Famine

A famine came for three years in succession. David inquired of the LORD. The LORD replied:

"There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death." — 2 Samuel 21:1

Who Were the Gibeonites?

The Gibeonites had tricked Joshua into a covenant of peace during the original conquest Josh 9. The Israelite covenant — though obtained by deception — was binding before God. Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, had broken that covenant by killing them, an act not recorded in the historical narrative but referenced here.

The Gibeonites' Demand

David asked them what would satisfy them. They refused silver or gold; they refused to put any man in Israel to death. They demanded:

"Let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD." — 2 Samuel 21:6

David spared Mephibosheth (son of Jonathan) because of his covenant with Jonathan. He delivered:

• Armoni and Mephibosheth — two sons of Saul by Rizpah daughter of Aiah
• Five sons of Merab (Saul's daughter) by Adriel the Meholathite (these had been raised by Saul's other daughter Michal, hence sometimes called "Michal's five sons")

Rizpah's Vigil

The seven were executed on the mountain before the LORD. Their bodies were left hanging.

Rizpah, Saul's former concubine — the woman over whom Abner and Ish-bosheth had quarreled years earlier — spread sackcloth on the rock from the beginning of harvest until rain fell. She kept the birds of the air off the bodies by day and the beasts of the field off by night 2 Sam 21:10.

When David heard, he gathered the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh-gilead and the bones of the seven. He buried them all in the tomb of Saul's father Kish at Zela in Benjamin 2 Sam 21:14.

"And after that God responded to the plea for the land."

The Final Philistine Battles

2 Samuel 21:15–22 records the four giant-killings (covered in Chapter 10). The first of these is the only one in which David himself fought:

"And David grew weary. And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, 'You shall no more go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.'" — 2 Samuel 21:15–17

"Lest you quench the lamp of Israel" — David was the lamp. He was getting old. He could not be allowed back on the battlefield.

2 Samuel 22 / Psalm 18 — The Great Song

2 Samuel 22 reproduces (almost verbatim) Psalm 18, "the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul." This is the great retrospective song summing up David's military career.

Key sections:

• Vivid imagery of God descending in storm and earthquake to rescue him
• Acknowledgment that "the LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness... I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt" — written before Bathsheba
• Recital of God's training: "He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze"
• Closing covenant note: "Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever"

The Last Words of David

2 Samuel 23:1–7 records "the last words of David" — a separate oracle, not his final deathbed instructions (those are in 1 Kings 2 and 1 Chronicles 28–29) but a final psalm of theological reflection:

"The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: 'When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.' For does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?" — 2 Samuel 23:2–5

David referred to himself in the opening as: "the oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel."

The Census and the Plague

2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 give parallel accounts of David's most spiritually catastrophic act.

The Different Causes

The two passages give different proximate causes:

• 2 Samuel 24:1 — "Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, 'Go, number Israel and Judah.'"
• 1 Chronicles 21:1 — "Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel."

The harmonization most commentators offer: as in Job 1–2, God's sovereign anger against Israel for some unstated reason was the ultimate cause; Satan was the proximate instrument; David's own pride was the willing vehicle. The same pattern as Job — God permits, Satan tempts, the man chooses.

The Sin

The text does not explicitly state why a census was sinful. Possible reasons:

• The Mosaic provision that a census required a redemption price of half a shekel per person, "that there be no plague among them when you number them" Ex 30:12 — and David apparently did not collect this
• The motive: pride in his military strength rather than reliance on God
• The implicit boasting: counting his soldiers to enjoy the count

Joab's Objection

Joab — uncharacteristically — objected to the census:

"May the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?" — 2 Samuel 24:3

The king's word prevailed. Joab and the commanders went out to number Israel.

The Numbers

The census took 9 months and 20 days. The results:

Account	Israel	Judah
2 Samuel 24:9	800,000 valiant men who drew the sword	500,000
1 Chronicles 21:5	1,100,000	470,000

The variation is explained in 1 Chronicles 21:6: "Levi and Benjamin he did not include in the numbering, for the king's command was abhorrent to Joab." Joab's incomplete numbering may account for some of the discrepancies; later reconciliations also note that 2 Samuel may have included some classes of soldiers that 1 Chronicles excluded or vice versa.

David's Conscience

After the count, David's heart struck him. He said to the LORD:

"I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly." — 2 Samuel 24:10

The Three Choices

The prophet Gad (David's seer since the days of Adullam) came to David with three options from the LORD:

#	Punishment	Duration
1	Famine	Three years (2 Sam 24:13) / Seven years (some manuscripts and 1 Chr 21:12)
2	Flight before enemies	Three months
3	Pestilence	Three days

David's Choice

"I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is great, but let me not fall into the hand of man." — 2 Samuel 24:14

He chose pestilence — direct from God's hand.

The Plague

From morning to the appointed time, 70,000 men of Israel died. The angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it. The LORD relented:

"It is enough; now stay your hand." — 2 Samuel 24:16

The angel stood by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (called Ornan in 1 Chronicles). David saw the angel and cried:

"Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house." — 2 Samuel 24:17

The Threshing Floor of Araunah

Gad commanded David to go up and raise an altar to the LORD on Araunah's threshing floor. David went up.

Araunah offered to give the threshing floor, oxen, and wood for free. David refused:

"No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing." — 2 Samuel 24:24

The price details:

• 2 Samuel 24:24 — David paid 50 shekels of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen
• 1 Chronicles 21:25 — David paid 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site (a much larger amount, likely for the entire surrounding area beyond just the threshing floor and oxen)

David built an altar there. He offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. The LORD answered him with fire from heaven on the altar 1 Chr 21:26. The plague was stayed.

The Site of the Temple

This threshing floor became, by David's recognition, the location for the temple:

"Then David said, 'Here shall be the house of the LORD God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.'" — 1 Chronicles 22:1

2 Chronicles 3:1 confirms: "Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite."

This is the same Mount Moriah where Abraham had offered Isaac Gen 22. The site of:

• The binding of Isaac (~2000 BC)
• The cessation of David's plague (~970 BC)
• The First Temple (Solomon's) (~960 BC)
• The Second Temple (Zerubbabel's, expanded by Herod) (~516 BC – AD 70)
• Today the Dome of the Rock
• The future Third (Tribulation/Millennial) Temple of prophecy

Temple Preparations

1 Chronicles 22–29 records David's extensive preparations for the temple Solomon would build. Though David could not build it, he organized everything:

Materials Stockpiled

Material	Quantity
Gold from David's own treasures	100,000 talents (~3,750 tons)
Silver from David's own treasures	1,000,000 talents (~37,500 tons)
Bronze	Beyond weighing
Iron	Beyond weighing
Timber (cedar)	From the Sidonians and Tyrians
Hewn stone	Prepared in abundance

From the leaders of Israel (1 Chr 29:7):

• 5,000 talents of gold + 10,000 darics
• 10,000 talents of silver
• 18,000 talents of bronze
• 100,000 talents of iron
• Precious stones

The Plans Given

1 Chronicles 28:11–19 records that David gave Solomon detailed plans for:

• The vestibule (porch)
• The houses (the holy place and most holy place)
• The treasuries
• The upper rooms
• The inner chambers
• The room for the mercy seat
• The courts and surrounding chambers
• The treasuries for the dedicated things
• The divisions of priests and Levites
• The weights of gold for each utensil
• The weights of silver for each utensil
• The pattern of the chariot of the cherubim

David testified: "All this he made clear to me in writing from the hand of the LORD, all the work to be done according to the plan" 1 Chr 28:19.

The temple, though built by Solomon, was designed by David through divine revelation.

Levitical Organization

1 Chronicles 23–26 records the divisions David established:

Role	Number / Detail
Levites of military age (30 and up)	38,000 total
Levites for temple work	24,000
Officers and judges	6,000
Gatekeepers	4,000
Musicians	4,000
Priestly divisions	24 (the courses of the priests; Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, served in the eighth — Abijah Luke 1:5)
Musician divisions	24 (descendants of Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun)

Civil Administration

1 Chronicles 27 lists David's civilian administrators:

• 12 monthly military divisions of 24,000 men each — rotating service so Israel always had a standing army of 24,000
• Tribal officers — one for each tribe
• Overseers of the king's various estates (vineyards, herds, flocks, storehouses, oil, fields)
• The king's personal counselors

David's Charge to Israel

1 Chronicles 28:8–10 — David spoke before all the assembly:

"Be careful to seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever. And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. Be careful now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it." — 1 Chronicles 28:8–10

David's Prayer of Dedication

1 Chronicles 29:10–19 records David's prayer when the people had given willingly for the temple. This is one of the great public prayers of Scripture:

"Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all... But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you... O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own." — 1 Chronicles 29:10–14, 16

Psalm 30

Psalm 30 is titled "A Psalm of David. A Song at the dedication of the house" — possibly composed for the dedication of the temple site itself (the threshing floor of Araunah), since the temple proper would not be dedicated until Solomon's day:

"I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me... You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!" — Psalm 30:1, 11–12

The Closing Years

David was now old. His body was failing. The next chapter — the final chapter of his life — would involve a coup attempt by his oldest surviving son, a deathbed succession, and the last words of the shepherd-king.