2 Samuel 24:8
ESV
So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
NIV
After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
NASB
So when they had roamed about through the whole land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
CSB
When they had gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
NLT
Having gone through the entire land for nine months and twenty days, they returned to Jerusalem.
KJV
So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
NKJV
So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
What does 2 Samuel 24:8 mean?
For some unnamed but serious reason, God is angry with Israel (2 Samuel 24:1). As part of His plan to punish them, He incites David to take a census of all the men who are eligible and able to fight. He tells the commanders of the regular army to "go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba" (2 Samuel 24:2). Joab and the generals are strongly against this plan, but David prevails (2 Samuel 24:1–4).The census-takers start in southern Reuben, across the Jordan, travel up to Dan, the city in the north of the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh, cross west to the Mediterranean port city Sidon, and make their way south again to Beersheba, just inside the Negev (2 Samuel 24:5–7). It takes them nearly ten months.
When they finish, they count more than a million men in the northern tribes and about half as many in Judah. Because Joab thinks the census is an abomination against God, he changes the numbers. He takes out all the Levites, which is standard (Numbers 1:49) and the Benjaminites (2 Samuel 24:9; 1 Chronicles 21:5–6). It seems he thinks the lower number will foil whatever reason David has for the census.
God very rarely called for a census. The main purpose of a census seems to have been to count the temple tax (Exodus 30:11–16). So, David may want to know how much he can tax the people for the supplies for the temple. In Numbers 1, He told Moses to count the number of fighting men from twenty years old and older; the Levites weren't included. This was supposed to be the army that invaded the Promised Land, but because of their cowardice, God kept them in the desert for another forty years (Numbers 13—14). God orders another census in Numbers 26 to help Joshua plan the attack. So, David may have wanted the census to feel good about his army. Either way, he wasn't trusting God to provide.
