Taking
the satan in this verse as a terrestrial opponent, nonetheless, does not seem
the most plausible reading of the passage. That a human adversary, rather than
God, would stir up trouble for Israel creates more questions than it answers.
If the adversary were a military opponent, whatever came of this threat to
Israel’s safety? If one of David’s advisers, then why did this person counsel
the king in this way? Parallels with other stories in the Hebrew scriptures
also suggest that this satan is more likely to be celestial than terrestrial.
For instance, 1 Kgs 22 (// 2 Chr 18) God entices Ahab to his death through the
agency of a deceptive spirit. Moreover, that 1 Chr 21:1 speaks of a heavenly
opponent in the service of God makes perfect sense as an interpretation of 1
Sam 24. The Chronicler clarifies that God did not incite David directly, but
did so through the agency of a superhuman intermediary. If the satan is human,
however, then a much more drastic and less easily explicable interpretive
maneuver has taken place.
Reading
the Census Story in Light of the Balaam Narrative
The satan
of 1 Chr 21 is very likely a divine attacker or executioner like the one who
comes against Balaam in Num 22. Several impressive similarities between the
Chronicles and Numbers pericopes make this by far the most plausible interpretation
of the Chronicles passage. . . . the parallels between the census story and Num
22 are abundant and significant. Before the Chronicles account was composed,
several similarities existed already between Num 22 and the earlier version of
the census story in 2 Sam 24. These links likely prompted the editor to read
the account of David’s census in light of the Balaam narrative. These parallels
include the following:
1. Both
accounts begin in a like fashion, declaring that God is angry. Num 22:22: wayyiḥar
‘ap ‘ělōhîm, “God’s anger was kindled” 2 Sam 24:1: wayyōsep ‘ap yhwh laḥărôt,
“Again the anger of the LORD was kindled”
2. In both
stories the angel of Yahweh goes forth as an executioner to punish the guilty (Num
22:22-30; 2 Sam 24:15-16).
3. When
Balaam and David see the angel of Yahweh, they confess their sin.
Num
22:34: wayyō’mer Bil’ām ‘el mal’ak yhwh ḥāṭ’tî, “he said, ‘It is I who
have sinned’”
4. God
instructs both Balaam and David as to how they can avoid (further) disaster.
Balaam will not be killed if he speaks only what Yahweh commands him when he
arrives in Moab (Num 22:35). The plague will be stopped and Jerusalem spared if
David builds an altar and makes an offering on the threshing floor of Araunah
the Jebusite (2 Sam 24:18-25). Both men obey their orders.
5. A
further and very important correlation is the perplexing theological paradox in
both passages: God brings disaster upon an individual or group for a decision
that is instigated by God’ In the Balaam story, God grants Balaam permission to
undertake his journey, but then responds in anger when the prophet sets out on
it (Num 22:20-22). Likewise, God incites David to take the census of Israel,
but then sends a plague against the people in response (2 Sam 24:1).
With such
an impressive list of commonalities
between the two stories, it would have made sense to a postexilic interpreter
to associate the narratives and borrow ideas and language from one to clarify the
other. (Ryan E. Stokes, Satan: How God’s Executioner Became the Enemy [Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2019], 22-23)