דברי הימים א, פרק כ״ז, פסוק כ״ד

King David's initiative to conduct a national census ultimately met with internal resistance and brought about disastrous consequences. The undertaking exposed a sharp conflict between royal ambition and the strict boundaries set by God.

The military commander, Joab, began the task of counting the people but deliberately chose not to complete it [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Deeply reluctant to carry out the king's command in its entirety, Joab conducted only a partial and estimated count of those aged twenty and older. In doing so, he intentionally skipped over certain groups entirely, such as the tribes of Levi and Benjamin [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Even though the census was halted midway, intense divine anger was triggered, resulting in a devastating plague that struck the nation. The severity of this punishment, despite the incomplete nature of the count, stemmed from the very intention to number all the Israelites. Such an act was viewed as crossing a fundamental boundary, directly offending the promises God made to the forefathers. God had assured them that the nation would multiply beyond measure, becoming as uncountable as the dust of the earth and the stars in the sky [רש״י].

In the aftermath of these tragic events, the final data was never fully entered into King David's official chronicles [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. There are different perspectives regarding how this missing information is reflected in the historical records. One view suggests that because of the plague, any attempt to count those under twenty was completely abandoned, leaving the official logs to document only the older adults [מצודת דוד]. Another approach addresses the differing numbers reported between the Book of Samuel and the Book of Chronicles. According to this explanation, the Book of Samuel records only a fraction of the actual count out of deep sorrow and mourning for those who died in the plague. In contrast, the Book of Chronicles presents the larger, comprehensive number. This higher figure serves two purposes: first, it honors David by highlighting the sheer size and unity of the massive army at his disposal; second, it justifies the divine wrath, proving that the anger was not unfounded, as an enormous portion of the nation had indeed been counted before the process was stopped [רש״י].