So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.”
For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him,.... Or who was with him, even Joab, who was now at court, and was a counsellor of David, as well as his general; or which army was with Joab, a standing army he had the command of: go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba...
For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which [was] with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people. (c) Because he did this to determine his power and to trust in it, it offended God, for otherwise it was lawful to number the people, .
2Sa 24:2 David entrusted the task to his commander-in-chief Joab. אתּו אשׁר, “who was with him:” the meaning is, “when he was with him” (David). We are not warranted in attempting any emendations of the text, either by the expression אתּו אשׁר, or by the reading in the Chronicles, העם ועל־שׂרי (“and to the rulers of the people”); for whilst the latter reading may easily...