Chapter 24 of Shmuel Bet is the concluding chapter of the book, and it recounts the census that King David conducted through Yoav, and the plague that came in its wake. We will read the opening pesukim, and then return to delve into the depth of the matter: what was David's sin, and why specifically does counting the people cause a plague.
וַיֹּסֶף אַף־יְהֹוָה לַחֲרוֹת בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וַיָּסֶת אֶת־דָּוִד בָּהֶם לֵאמֹר לֵךְ מְנֵה אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת־יְהוּדָה׃ - And the anger of Hashem burned again against Israel, and He incited David against them, saying: Go, count Israel and Yehudah.
The pasuk is puzzling from two angles. First, we do not know what the burning anger is about - why was the Holy One, blessed be He, angry with Israel? And second, what is the meaning of "and He incited David" - how is it possible that the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, incites David? Rashi resolved the problem simply: "And the anger of Hashem burned again against Israel - I do not know about what." Train your tongue to say: I do not know. But we do want to understand.
The Metzudat David offers two directions: it may be that the burning anger was over their rebelling against David, when they went and crowned Avshalom over themselves, and when that did not succeed, they went and crowned Sheva ben Bichri. They therefore carry an earlier sin of rebellion against the kingdom of the house of David, and this matter requires an accounting. Or it may be that they held another hidden sin, a sin concealed from David's eyes, and David was not aware that there were things hidden from his sight.
And who is the one who "incited"? The Metzudat David says this is the Satan. Do not begin to think that the Holy One, blessed be He, incited him, but rather "and He incited David against them" - the Satan. Just as we find with Iyov, that the Satan incited the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, to harm Iyov. We see that there is such a concept of an inciter, and here too it is the Satan.
Chazal add that there is in this a punishment for what David said to Shaul when he was pursued by him: "If Hashem has incited you against me, let Him accept an offering" - that is, if the Holy One, blessed be He, has incited you against me, I can bring Him a korban and thereby appease His wrath. This aroused reproach against him from Heaven. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "You called Me an inciter?" You call the Creator of the world an inciter? By your life, this thing will come back upon you - "and He incited David against them, saying: Go, count Israel." This incitement is a response to the incitement that David spoke.
The Malbim opens by bringing the words of the Abarbanel. It is known that much of the Malbim's commentary is built upon the foundations of the Abarbanel, and in many places he does not agree with him, but in many places he continues the line that he established. Rashi and the Ramban say that David's sin was that he counted them by head count and not by means of shekalim, for the way to count Israel is through shekalim - "so that there be no plague among them when they are counted."
And how did Shaul count the people when he went out to war? Once, "and he counted them in Bezek" - bezek refers to shards of pottery. When he was poor, he gave them shards: let each one bring a shard, we will count how many shards there are, and thus we will know their number - and he did not count them by head. And when they became wealthy, "and he counted them with lambs": each one took a lamb from the king's pens and brought it with him, they counted the lambs, and thus they knew their number without counting them by head.
The Abarbanel does not agree with this explanation. He argues: with Shaul we do not find that the Torah always requires counting through shekalim. The shekalim have a significance beyond the manner of counting - the shekalim are a kind of ransom. When you give the shekel, the shekel goes to the Sanctuary, and this is a ransom for their souls: "and they shall give a ransom for their souls, and there shall be no plague among them when they are counted." Was this David's problem, that he counted not through shekalim? Shaul too counted not through shekalim - with shards and with lambs - and we did not see that there was a plague among them.
Rather, says the Abarbanel and likewise the Ralbag, the problem was that he "made flesh his arm" by relying on the multitude of his people. David was confident: behold, we have counted, we have such a great army, if there is a war we are ready. What is this "we"? Our army, we are strong enough. There is in this a deficiency in faith in Hashem and in trust in Him. Is there any restraint upon Hashem to save whether by many or by few? Why do you rely on a census, on the number of human beings, and say we have such and such warriors, as if you rely on flesh and blood? In this lay David's deficiency, in the view of the Abarbanel.
The Malbim does not agree with him, and leans rather toward the approach of Rashi and the Ramban, that the flaw lay in the very act of counting itself: the counting itself was the defect. As is his way, he delves deeply into the matter, and he begins with the words of the Akedat Yitzchak, who explains why counting people causes a plague. After all, if I counted them, how is this worse than counting money or shards or lambs?
First - because of the evil eye. It is written in the sacred works that from the eyes of an envious soul poisonous vapors emerge, what in our terms would be called radiation, and these vapors are capable even of killing. When a person looks with an evil eye, he can, through that evil force emerging from the eye, cause real harm and even death. So says the Akedat Yitzchak, and so too the Ramban brings, and it is cited in other places as well.
Another matter: blessing rests only upon something hidden from the eye. The very existence of a thing endures only through its being concealed. The Akedat Yitzchak says: the entire standing and survival of the seed of the house of Yaakov, and their being fruitful and multiplying, are against the natural order, against the stars. The reality of the world opposes the existence of the people of Israel, and how, in spite of this, does Israel exist? Through being hidden from the eye.
And why is the existence of Israel against the natural order? Because they are not under its dominion. Consequently the entire reality of the stars and the heavenly constellations, as it were, oppose the people of Israel, over whom they have no control: take them away from us, we the stars do not rule over them - Israel is above the constellation. Therefore the existence of Israel endures as long as they sit quietly, as long as they are hidden, and then they are fruitful and multiply in a miraculous manner, since they are not under the dominion of the natural order. But the moment there is publicity, the miracle must be revealed, and this turns into an open miracle. A hidden miracle the Holy One, blessed be He, performs constantly, but an open miracle is not performed casually: it requires many merits. Therefore one is told: do you want blessing to rest? Conceal it. Among the nations it is not so, for they are under the constellations of the stars, but you are not under the constellations of the stars, and consequently if the matter were revealed, this would be an open miracle, and an open miracle the Holy One, blessed be He, does not perform. Therefore blessing rests only upon something hidden from the eye.
And the Akedat Yitzchak gives yet another reason: beyond the matter of publicity, there is a further problem. As long as we are included as a community, we have great merit, and this merit strengthens us to endure. But the moment we become a collection of individuals, a collection of individuals has no permanence. This is always the virtue of the collective; the collective is a merit in and of itself. Therefore it is written that a person should never remove himself from the community, for when you remove yourself from the community, they say: wait, let us examine you, who are you, what are you, what is your condition. And woe to the man they begin to examine.
For this reason it is said that a person should not pray alone, but should always seek a minyan. If you pray alone, they say: this one considers himself a tzaddik, let us see what his story is, let us open the books and check. And if they begin to examine each one individually - woe and alas. "Tzibbur" (community) is an acronym for tzaddikim, beinonim, and resha'im (righteous, intermediate, and wicked); the community includes all of them within it. But when a person is examined individually, the community and the collective have no power to protect him.
I once brought a parable for this. I remember that as a child I was sent to buy strawberries. You know the method of those with the carts: they place the rotten ones on the bottom and the beautiful ones on top, and the seller takes from the bottom and loads with a scoop. I said to him: do not use the scoop, I will choose. He said to me: no, absolutely not. I said to him: what, you will leave me the rotten ones? He would not agree under any circumstances, and he spoke plainly: no way, you will take only the good ones from me? This is exactly our situation as a collective. When we are a collective, included among us are those who are imperfect and those who need repair, but we are a collective, and as a collective we pass. If they begin to examine each and every one of us, it is possible that many of us would not even receive a passing grade.
This is the flaw of counting. When you come and count, you say: here is one and another one and another one - you have removed them from the community. When I speak of them globally, that is how they are; but when I begin to count them, I separate them, for in order to count you must separate. And therefore, Heaven forbid, the matter can bring about a plague, for then they begin to examine them one by one.
Seemingly one should wonder, says the Malbim: if so, how does the counting of Shaul differ from this counting? There too they carried out a count, and there too they separated between them. Rather, let us examine four expressions of counting that are mentioned, some in this count and some in the count of Shaul, and if we learn to distinguish between them we will understand the difference between David's counting and Shaul's counting. Here the verse used three expressions: "לך מנה את ישראל" (go, count Israel), "ופקדו את העם" (and take a census of the people), "וידעתי את מספר העם" (that I may know the number of the people) - manah, pakod, sefor. And a fourth expression of counting is "nasa," as in "נשא את ראש בני גרשון" (take the head count of the sons of Gershon).
The verb "safar" (to count) refers to the counting itself: one, two, three. "Uses'fartem lachem mimacharat haShabbat" - the very act is called counting. And more examples: "asperem michol yirbeyun" (I would count them, they are more than the sand), "ki atah tze'aday tispor" (for You count my steps), "tispor yerachim timlenah" (you count the months they fulfill), "vayakehu kedei rish'ato bemispar" (and he struck him according to his wickedness by number). Wherever one counts one, two, three, that is sefirah.
The verb "pakad" refers to the total figure: how many were there altogether. After I have counted the individuals, I take a census of them all and say that their number is two million people. That is called a census. For this reason, says the Malbim, the verb pakad has an additional meaning, from the sense of "lefaked" (to command): I command them and take charge of their affairs, you do this and you do that, I give them orders and instructions. Once I have the count, I know that here there are two hundred thousand and here three hundred thousand, and I can command them. The counting itself does not help me command them; what helps is the final figure, the total sum.
The verb "manah" is a third verb: this is when I already know the number, and I want to know whether any of them are missing. I know how many they are, but the number was accurate twenty years ago, and now I want to count them and know how many have gone missing since. As it is written, "ta'avorenah hatzon al yedei moneh" (the sheep shall pass under the hand of one who counts) - we know how many there were, and we bring a counter to count how many are missing. And likewise "chesron lo yuchal lehimanot" (a deficiency cannot be counted), that there is a shortage and I want to count how much is missing. "Moneh mispar lakochavim" (He counts the number of the stars) - that the Holy One, blessed be He, counts them so that they will never fall short of their proper number. "Im yuchal ish limnot et afar ha'aretz gam zar'acha lo yimaneh" (if a man can count the dust of the earth, then your seed too shall be counted) - just as one cannot count how much is missing from the dust, so it will be impossible to count any shortage in Israel, for their deficiency will always be replenished immediately. And likewise "mi manah afar Ya'akov umispar et rova Yisrael" (who has counted the dust of Yaakov and numbered the fourth part of Israel): concerning the dust it says "who has counted," for it is not possible to count how much has been diminished from it.
And what is "nasa"? Nasa means to take a census, but a census that carries importance, as in "nasa et rosh benei Gershon" (lift up the head of the sons of Gershon) - from the sense of elevating, of raising up the heads of the men of war: who will be their prince, who will be their head.
Now, after this introduction, we can explain the matter. In Chumash HaPekudim (Bemidbar), as well as in the plains of Moav, where we saw that Israel underwent a process of counting, you will not find that Scripture used either the verb "manah" or the verb "safar." For there the purpose was not the counting itself - neither to know how many were missing nor to count one, two, three - but rather the verb "pakad" or "nasa" appears: pakad, to know the total figure in order to give them orders; or nasa, from the sense of elevating and of exaltation.
And likewise regarding Shaul it is written "vayifkedem baTelaim" (and he numbered them in Telaim) - this is a permitted act. To know the total number is a permitted act. And even "bemispar shemot" (by the number of names) - there the counting was not of heads, in which there is an evil eye, but a counting of names: each one wrote his name and family name, they counted the names, and through this they knew the total. Note that it does not say "count the children of Israel," and it is not said that Shaul counted the people, but rather the verb there is "pakad." To take a census (pakad) is permitted, and to lift up (nasa) is permitted; to count with manah or with safar is a forbidden act, in which one brings about the evil eye.
And if you should ask: but did not Shaul too separate them into individuals? The answer: no, he took a census of them (pakad), stated the total figure and did not say one, two, three - and that is the problem with counting. He did not count them, he numbered them in Telaim. And if you should ask: but is not blessing found only in a thing hidden from the eye? The Malbim says that here too, when one counts the men of war, there is no problem in it. Why? Because when you count the men of war, you do not know how many the entire nation of Israel numbers. I know how many people go out to war from age twenty to age sixty, I have numbered how many they are and I know there are a million men - but how many does the entire nation of Israel number? That figure remains concealed. There is no concern of an evil eye here, and no concern that you are separating them and turning each one into a distinct unit that is not part of the whole, since in any case you do not know how many the entire nation of Israel numbers. You counted only the men of the army, and those below age twenty are not counted - and thus blessing rests, for they still remain hidden from the eye. Therefore the main problem is in counting (sefirah) and in numbering (menyah).
Now note, says the Malbim, that here in what Yoav did, these three expressions are used, and Yoav uses them in order to understand what David's intention was. When David went out to his wars up until this period, we do not find that he counted them. David would pass a shofar throughout the land, they would gather the men, and everyone would come, enlist, and go immediately to battle. There was no situation requiring one to know how many they were and who was going out; people would come of their own accord and willingly to fight the wars of Hashem.
All of this held true up until the time of Avshalom's rebellion and afterward the rebellion of Sheva ben Bichri. Look: when Shaul numbered them at Bezek there were three hundred thousand men and thirty thousand men of Yehudah, and afterward when he numbered them in Telaim there were two hundred thousand men of Israel and ten thousand men of Yehudah - that is to say, one hundred and twenty thousand, as it were, disappeared. Why? Because there was no compulsory conscription; they said, whoever wants to come, let him come to the army, and they would come. Throughout David's days this held up. But toward the end of his days, after Avshalom's rebellion and the rebellion of Sheva ben Bichri, David no longer relies on the people to show up on the day of muster, does not rely that when the shofar is blown everyone will present himself, and does not rely on the collective enlistment immediately when a summons is sent that they be counted. Therefore David sees a need to begin to count them and number them.
Proof of this: David began to take a tax from them, which had not been the case before. Previously everyone would donate willingly to the royal house, but when the rebellion occurred and matters were destabilized, David needed to impose a tax upon them. And just as he did not rely on them to give to the royal house willingly and required a compulsory tax, so too he needed to count them. And how would the count be? He wanted them to be recorded in his register, so that he would know each and every one, who was present and who was not, who arrived and who did not arrive, and whoever did not arrive - they would put him in prison and punish him. In other words: I do not rely on you to come willingly to fight, you were even capable of rebelling against me, and if so I do not rely on you to present yourself on the day of muster. And for this purpose he sought to count Israel.
So let us take note: "and He incited David against them" - hatred was stirred up between them and David, and from this it was said "Go, number Israel and Judah." What is meant by "number"? We said that he wanted to know not the total sum but whether any of them would be missing when he would need them for battle. When I call them up for war, will there be men lacking? Go and number - I want to know who will be missing from me on the day of reckoning, how many men capable of going out to battle I have, so that when the day of reckoning arrives I will be able to say: a hundred thousand are missing here, why did they not come. This is the meaning of "number": to know how many are missing. And therefore it is written in Divrei HaYamim "And Satan stood up against Israel and incited David to number Israel" - Satan stirred up strife and told him: they will be missing from you. With what did Satan incite him? "Number" - they will be missing from you, when you need the army of battle they will not come.
And if you ask: did he not also number Judah? The Malbim says that regarding Judah he relied on them, for they were from his own tribe, and the main point was to number Israel; and along with Israel he also numbered Judah, but the count for the sake of Judah was superfluous, since Judah were faithful to David the whole way through.
וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶל־יוֹאָב שַׂר־הַחַיִל אֲשֶׁר־אִתּוֹ שׁוּט־נָא בְּכׇל־שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִדָּן וְעַד־בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע וּפִקְדוּ אֶת־הָעָם וְיָדַעְתִּי אֵת מִסְפַּר הָעָם׃ - And the king said to Yoav, the commander of the army who was with him: Go now throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beer Sheva, and take a census of the people, that I may know the number of the people.
Note: "and take a census of the people" - this is to know the total number, and as we said this is not a great problem, since the total sum does not break them down into their individuals. But immediately afterward: "that I may know the number of the people" - I do not ask merely to know the total sum, but that you count them for me one by one and know their number. And what is meant by "number" (mispar)? The Malbim says that mispar is also from the word sefer (book): I want you to know their number and write them down in a book. In simple terms, says the Malbim, he asked him to conduct a population census, as is customary today in the countries of Europe, where the government knows about everyone who is born - who he is, how old he is, and at every stage there is a precise record of him. "Count for me their number" means: enter their number in a book.
And moreover: "and take a census of the people" - is he asking to count the men of the army? No, the people. For if you count only the men of the army, in ten years the number is no longer relevant; but if you number the people for me, then already today it will be written for me that there is a man named Moshe Cohen and this child was born yesterday, and in twenty years the record will show that Moshe Cohen needs to be enlisted. That is, I do not ask to know only today's figure, but all of them, their number even from a young age, so that I will not have a situation of "numbering" - that any will be missing from me.
And here is precisely the flaw. If you were only to know the global number - it would not be so bad. And if within the global number you were to know only the men of the army - also not so bad, for there is still no evil eye, since I have not counted everyone and I do not know how many the entire people number. But if you ask to count also the children among them, from infant to elderly man, and to know the precise number of all Israel - here you introduce the evil eye, for blessing rests only upon that which is hidden from the eye, and you reveal the matter to the eye. Therefore this thing caused wrath, and stirred up from above a burning anger because of the numbering and the counting.
It emerges, says the Malbim, that all the troubles were included here: the evil eye, because you counted individuals and took them out of the collective and turned them into a collection of individuals; the nullification of the blessing that rests upon what is hidden, because you counted even those under twenty years old and not only those who go out to the army; and their separation into individuals, for your aim is not to know the collective but the individuals - and by this you cause there to be a plague. And this is what Chazal say, that he erred in a matter that schoolchildren know: that you went and counted their individuals, whereas Shaul wanted to know only their sum, and therefore his act was legitimate and the act of King David was not. And if he already wanted to do so, what should he have given? A ransom for their souls. And you did not give a ransom for their souls - and if so it emerges that you both sinned in their numbering and also did not rectify it by giving the ransom.
וַיֹּאמֶר יוֹאָב אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ וְיוֹסֵף יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶל־הָעָם כָּהֵם וְכָהֵם מֵאָה פְעָמִים וְעֵינֵי אֲדֹנִי־הַמֶּלֶךְ רֹאוֹת וַאדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ לָמָּה חָפֵץ בַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה׃ - And Yoav said to the king: May the Lord your God add to the people, however many they may be, a hundredfold, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it; but why does my lord the king desire this thing?
How much is "however many they may be, a hundredfold"? Rashi says: "however many they may be" - double, "and however many they may be" - a second double. That is, this multiple too we shall multiply: we have fourfold, we multiply again - eight, and multiply again - sixteen, and so on a hundred times, to the power of a hundred. And Rashi says that what is here is more than what Moshe said, "May the Lord add to you a thousandfold as many as you are": Moshe said He would multiply them a thousand times, but here the multiple multiplies itself. Yet nevertheless Moshe's blessing is preferable, for it was for a long time, whereas Yoav's blessing was for that time - "while the eyes of my lord the king still see it," that this blessing should rest now.
And what is Yoav in fact arguing to him? He says to him: what you are asking is not fitting. Why? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to increase the people of Israel - "May the Lord add to you as many as you are" - He wishes that the people of Israel multiply, that the evil eye not rest upon them and that diminishment not rest upon them; and counting and numbering are harmful and cast an evil eye. And beyond this he says to him: why do you want there to be a plague among them, God forbid? For the counting causes a plague, as it is written "that there be no plague among them when you number them" - a ransom is needed, atonement is needed, a coin must be given. And furthermore he says to him that the matter is superfluous: "but why does my lord the king desire this thing?"
And in Divrei HaYamim he adds: "Are they not all servants to my lord? Why does my lord seek this?" For we explained that David's entire concern was that since they had rebelled against him, on the day of reckoning, when he would want to gather men for the army, the men would vanish and he would have no one to draft. Yoav tells him: You have nothing to worry about. When you want them for the army, they are all servants to my lord, and if so, they will all come when you call them, and you have no cause for concern.
And I found a beautiful hint in the Torah to Yoav's argument. There are explicit pesukim in the Torah that David transgressed with what he did: "When you take the sum of Bnei Yisrael according to their counting... then they shall give every man a ransom for his soul to Hashem when you count them, that there be no plague among them when you count them." Follow me: "befakod" - bet, "otam" - alef, "velo" - vav, "yihyeh" - yod. Read it from the end to the beginning: Yoav. "And they shall give every man a ransom for his soul to Hashem when you count them, that there be none" (velo yihyeh) - the initial letters are bet, alef, vav, yod, and from left to right they spell Yoav. And this was in fact Yoav's very argument: why are you counting them, you are causing there to be a plague among them. A true precision, for who is like this in the Torah.
וַיֶּחֱזַק דְּבַר־הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶל־יוֹאָב וְעַל שָׂרֵי הֶחָיִל וַיֵּצֵא יוֹאָב וְשָׂרֵי הַחַיִל לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ לִפְקֹד אֶת־הָעָם אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - But the word of the king prevailed against Yoav and against the officers of the army; so Yoav and the officers of the army went out before the king to count the people, Yisrael.
The word of the king was strong upon Yoav, the command was absolute, and Yoav could not stand against it.
וַיַּעַבְרוּ אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּן וַיַּחֲנוּ בַעֲרוֹעֵר יְמִין הָעִיר אֲשֶׁר בְּתוֹךְ־הַנַּחַל הַגָּד וְאֶל־יַעְזֵר׃ - And they crossed the Yarden and camped at Aroer, to the right of the city that is in the middle of the valley, toward Gad and to Yazer.
Chazal say that he began with Bnei Gad. Bnei Gad were mighty and forceful men, as it is said of them "and tears the arm together with the crown of the head" - they would cut off from a man not only the head but half his body, the head together with the arm. Yoav said: Perhaps here Bnei Gad will fight against me and stop me. But it did not help, and they did nothing.
וַיָּבֹאוּ הַגִּלְעָדָה וְאֶל־אֶרֶץ תַּחְתִּים חׇדְשִׁי וַיָּבֹאוּ דָּנָה יַּעַן וְסָבִיב אֶל־צִידוֹן׃ - And they came to the Gilad and to the land of Tachtim Chodshi, and they came to Dan Yaan and around to Tzidon.
"The land of Tachtim Chodshi" - the meaning is a new place, a place whose inhabitants are few. He said: I will begin with this, here there are few people, and perhaps in the meantime David will regret it, perhaps something will change. "Danah" refers to Bnei Dan, "Yaan" is the name of a place, "Tzidon" is the name of a place - he passes through the names of the places.
וַיָּבֹאוּ מִבְצַר־צֹר וְכׇל־עָרֵי הַחִוִּי וְהַכְּנַעֲנִי וַיֵּצְאוּ אֶל־נֶגֶב יְהוּדָה בְּאֵר שָׁבַע׃ - And they came to the fortress of Tzor and to all the cities of the Chivi and the Kenaani, and they went out to the Negev of Yehuda, to Beer Sheva.
They reach the fortress at Tzor, and from there they continue to all the cities of the Chivi and the Kenaani, to the Negev of Yehuda.
וַיָּשֻׁטוּ בְּכׇל־הָאָרֶץ וַיָּבֹאוּ מִקְצֵה תִשְׁעָה חֳדָשִׁים וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם׃ - And they roamed through all the land, and they came to Yerushalayim at the end of nine months and twenty days.
"They roamed" - they traveled throughout the entire land to count Israel. After nine months and twenty days they reach Jerusalem and complete the census.
וַיִּתֵּן יוֹאָב אֶת־מִסְפַּר מִפְקַד־הָעָם אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ וַתְּהִי יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁמֹנֶה מֵאוֹת אֶלֶף אִישׁ־חַיִל שֹׁלֵף חֶרֶב וְאִישׁ יְהוּדָה חֲמֵשׁ־מֵאוֹת אֶלֶף אִישׁ׃ - And Yoav gave the sum of the counting of the people to the king, and Israel numbered eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Yehudah were five hundred thousand men.
What is the meaning of the double expression "the sum of the counting"? If we recall, there is a difference between "mifkad," which means the overall total, how many they are in the end, and "mispar," which is the detailed reckoning: exactly how many people there are, who each one is, what children they have, how old they are. We saw that David was not satisfied with a mere total but wanted a detailed count; David said: I want to know them in their details. That is the essence of the problem and the essence of the plague, when one descends into their particulars. Yoav wanted at first to give him the total count, the overall number, but David was not satisfied with that and wanted the detailed number of the people, and therefore Yoav was forced to give him "the sum of the counting" - both the detailed tally and the overall total. There was no choice but to hand over all the details.
Here there is a contradiction between what is written here and the account in Divrei HaYamim, where a different number appears, and as is our way we will not enter into all the fine details. There are several resolutions to this: how to explain the contradiction, what the exact true number really was, and why here in our text a number appears that is significantly smaller than the number in Divrei HaYamim.
וַיַּךְ לֵב־דָּוִד אֹתוֹ אַחֲרֵי־כֵן סָפַר אֶת־הָעָם וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל־יְהֹוָה חָטָאתִי מְאֹד אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי וְעַתָּה יְהֹוָה הַעֲבֶר־נָא אֶת־עֲוֺן עַבְדְּךָ כִּי נִסְכַּלְתִּי מְאֹד׃ - And David's heart smote him after he had counted the people, and David said to Hashem: I have sinned greatly in what I have done, and now, Hashem, please remove the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.
David deeply regrets it after having counted the people, and says "I have sinned": what I did is a cause for bringing a plague upon the people, and it is a great sin in my hands. And regarding this he asks "please remove the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly" - the iniquity I committed contained great foolishness.
Let us note the language "after he had counted the people so." For we saw that not every counting was forbidden; if it had been only a census and they had brought only the final total, we saw that this is a lesser problem. The essence of the problem is when they are counted in a detailed manner, when one descends into the particulars and knows exactly how many there are - this causes a plague and the evil eye that can, God forbid, hold sway over them. And what pained him was the "after he had counted the people so": after he had counted the people in that way, by the forbidden means - about this David's heart smote him.
And what is the difference between "chet" (sin) and "avon" (iniquity)? The Malbim says that "chet" signifies an error in action: I did something improper, that is called sinning. And "avon" is from the root meaning distortion, and signifies a distortion of the mind. And here there truly was a distortion of the mind: he erred in his reasoning and erred in his judgment, deciding incorrectly when he ordered them counted, and as a result he sinned in practice by giving the order to count the people. But where did it begin? From the distortion of the mind, which is an error in thinking. Therefore he opens "I have sinned greatly in what I have done," and adds "please remove the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly" - for it all began with this: the iniquity lay in the foolishness, and since it is a distortion of the mind, the matter stemmed from foolishness.
The chapter opens with divine wrath and incitement, and with the counting of the people that David carried out through Yoav. According to the Abarbanel and the Ralbag the sin lay in relying on the multitude of the people and making flesh one's arm of strength, but the Malbim, like Rashi and the Ramban, holds that the flaw is in the very act of counting. According to the Akeidat Yitzchak, a detailed count arouses the evil eye, removes the blessing that rests only upon that which is hidden from the eye, and takes Israel out of the category of a "community" and into a collection of individuals that has no enduring existence. From this comes the distinction between the terms: "pakod" and "naso," which denote the overall total and elevation, are permitted - and so Shaul counted them at Bezek and with lambs; whereas "safor" and "manoh," which denote descending into details and checking who is missing, are forbidden. David, who after the rebellion of Avshalom and Sheva ben Bichri feared that they would not stand up on the day of reckoning, sought not merely a census but a full population registry - "and I will know the number of the people" - and in this he combined all the flaws together, and moreover did not give the ransom for their souls. Yoav argued against him that the Holy One desires the multiplying of Israel and that counting brings a plague, and even hinted at this in the verse "when counting them, and there shall not be," yet nonetheless the king's word prevailed. In the end David's heart smote him, and he confesses the sin of the deed and the iniquity of the distortion of the mind that led him to it.