What Does 1 Chronicles 21:1 Mean in the King James?
And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The adversary reaches Israel by moving David (דָּוִד, Dāwîḏ, “beloved”) to turn the people into a count.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now: opposition can reach you through an impulse that looks like ordinary administration. It holds influence and agency together: an adversary incites David, whose name means beloved, yet David still acts.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a decision is harmless simply because it looks practical; an adversarial impulse can move through the practical.
THE ROOT
וַיָּסֶת
wayyāset
GROWS FROM
סות
sût
To incite, entice, or persuade someone toward an action.
“provoked” in this verse is wayyāset. The verb depicts one person moving another toward action, rather than striking Israel directly. The adversary supplies the pressure, while the decision remains David’s.
ALSO GROWS
hēsît: He incited or enticed.
הֵסִית
This form shows the root at work as one person inducing another to act.
massît: One who persuades or incites.
מַסִּית
The root can name the agent who produces the inducement as well as the act itself.
לִמְנוֹת
limnōt
GROWS FROM
מנה
mānāh
To count, appoint, or assign.
The verb behind “number” also carries the sense of assigning. Its noun branch מְנָה (mĕnāh, portion or allotment) lets counting echo the power to set out shares; the census can carry more weight than arithmetic alone.
ALSO GROWS
mānāh: To count or appoint.
מָנָה
This is the action David is moved to take: to count Israel.
mĕnāh: A portion or allotted share.
מְנָה
This branch reveals the root’s link between counting and assigning a measure.
שָׂטָן
śāṭān
GROWS FROM
שׂטן
śṭn
To oppose or act as an adversary.
“Satan” in this verse is śāṭān. Without the Hebrew article, שָׂטָן (śāṭān, an adversary) reads as a role of opposition. The verse shows that opposition operating through David’s incitement and decision.
ALSO GROWS
śāṭān: An adversary or opponent.
שָׂטָן
The noun names the opposing role that stands against Israel.
leśiṭnô: To oppose or accuse him.
לְשִׂטְנוֹ
This verbal form in Zechariah 3:1 shows the same root as an action against someone.
THE PATTERN
A count can express either a ruler’s claim over people or attentive care for each life.
When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.THE THREAD
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.Both verses use מָנָה (mānāh, to count or assign). In Genesis, the inability to count marks a promise beyond human measure; here, counting is an act David is moved to initiate, revealing how the same act can place a people under a ruler’s measure.
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