John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 3. And Joab said unto the king , etc.] Not so rudely and insolently as he did on account of his mourning for Absalom, but in a more modest, decent, and polite manner: now the Lord thy God add unto the people (how many soever they be) an hundredfold ; he wished his subjects were an hundred times more numerous than they were: and that the eyes of my lord the king may see [it] ; that he might live to see with his own eyes so great an increase: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing ? he being now old, and therefore it might seem strange to indulge such curiosity, pride, and vanity, and besides quite needless and useless: the numbering of them would not make them more or less; and they were all the king’s servants, who were ready to obey him whenever he needed them, whether numbered or not; and it might be prejudicial to them, and bring down the wrath of God upon them, as well as be a troublesome and expensive business; all which, though not expressed here, is hinted at in ( 1 Chronicles 21:3).
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-9 - For the people's sin David was left to act wrong, and in his chastisement they received punishment. This example throws light upo God's government of the world, and furnishes a useful lesson. The prid of David's heart, was his sin in numbering of the people. He though thereby to appear the more formidable, trusting in an arm of flesh mor than he should have done, and though he had written so much of trustin in God only. God judges not of sin as we do. What appears to u harmless, or, at least, but a small offence, may be a great sin in the eye of God, who discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. Eve ungodly men can discern evil tempers and wrong conduct in believers, of which they themselves often remain unconscious. But God seldom allow those whom he loves the pleasures they sinfully covet.
Original Hebrew ויאמר559 יואב3097 אל413 המלך4428 ויוסף3254 יהוה3068 אלהיך430 אל413 העם5971 כהם1992 וכהם1992 מאה3967 פעמים6471 ועיני5869 אדני113 המלך4428 ראות7200 ואדני113 המלך4428 למה4100 חפץ2654 בדבר1697 הזה׃2088
