Adonoy's anger was again kindled against Yisroel. I do not know what it was [they did].

He enticed. Stirred him up.

Their [current] number. [Yoav meant with] the word כׇּהֵם to convey that their amount should double and the second word וְכָהֵם, to convey a second doubling to have now a total of four times [the original population] and then to again double the [new] total for one hundred times.¹ It follows that Yoav's blessing was more then Moshe's who said, "One thousand times you [current] number".² Furthermore, Moshe's blessing was only [to take effect] a long time [into the future] but Yoav's was intended [to take effect] immediately as it says [here], "[With] my master, the king's eyes [being able to] see it."

footnotes: ¹ For a total of two hundred times the current population. ² Devorim 1:11.

[The valley of] Gad unto Yazer. He [Yoav] started with the people of Gad because they were hardened warriors. He reasoned, "If only they fight me and stop me".³

footnotes: ³ From taking this census.

And to a land of a new [settlement]. A place where there was a new settlement whose population was small; perhaps in the interim Dovid would reconsider and sent him a messenger to stop.

To Don's portion. To the people of Don.

Ya'an. The name of the place.

The sum of the people's census. If there was a counting, why was a [second] counting [needed]?⁴ He [Yoav] made two countings, one major one and one smaller one. He reasoned, "I will show him [Dovid] the smaller one and if he gets angry, I will show him the larger one." That is why the verse uses the word מִפְקָד which conveys [that something is] missing. This is how [the verse] is interpreted in the Pesikta.

footnotes: ⁴ The verse uses two different words but they both mean “counting.”

Yisroel's [total] was. They became enfeebled like a woman.⁵

footnotes: ⁵ וַתִּהִי is the feminine conjugation.

Eight hundred thousand. But in Divrei Hayomim⁶ it says, "One million and one hundred thousand"? In the Aggadah of the Amoroyim⁷ we find, Rabbi Yehoshua, the son of Levi said The verses fill in in one place what is missing in another place; there are two tribes which were not counted⁸ because this is what is written in Divrei Hayomim,⁹ "Levi and Binyomin were not counted among them because the king's command was abhorrent to Yoav." Yoav said, With these [tribes] I can escape [from my commitment] and say [as an excuse] The tribe of Levi is not counted together with the rest of the tribes but [instead] is counted from one month old and up¹⁰ [and as far as] Binyomin [is concerned] it is enough that [their ranks] were depleted by the incident of the concubine in the valley.¹¹ In the tract about the thirty-two rules [by which the Torah is elucidated] [authored] by Rabbi Eliezer, the son of Rabbi Yosse the Galilite we learned [as follows], one verse says,¹² "The [total of] all Yisroel was one million and one hundred thousand… and Yehudah [totaled] four hundred and seventy thousand." Another verse says,¹³ "Yisroel's [total] was eight hundred thousand… and the men of Yehudah were five hundred thousand." The difference between the two [accounts] is three hundred thousand." What happenned to them? A third verse redresses the imbalance, "The people of Yisroel by their number, of the heads of families and the officers in charge of thousands and of hundreds and their marshals serving the king in all matters pertaining to the division those entering [the service] and those leaving, for every month of the year, each division had twenty-four thousand men." This teaches us that the [missing] three hundred thousand were [already] accounted for in the royal record and did not need to be counted [again].¹⁴ How does this work?¹⁵ Twenty four thousand for [each of the] twelve [months] gives us two hundred and eighty-eight thousand this leaves us with twelve thousand [still unaccounted for] these are the leaders of Yisroel¹⁶ themselves.¹⁷

footnotes: ⁶ Divrei Hayomim I, 21:5. ⁷ Pesikta Raba 11. ⁸ And they account for the difference. ⁹ Ibid 21:6. ¹⁰ Bamidbar 2:15. ¹¹ The story is related in Shoftim beginning in chapter 19. ¹² Divrei Hayomim I, 21:5. ¹³ Our verse here. ¹⁴ The amount of Yisroel soldiers numbered in Divrei Hayomim is 1,100,000. Subtracting the 800,000 Yisroel soldiers numbered in our verse, we get 300,000. ¹⁵ How do we account for 300,000 using this verse that only mentions 24,000. ¹⁶ The leaders were not included in the 24,000 officers and marshals mentioned in Divrei Hayomim I, 27:1. ¹⁷ Our verse of 800,000 is the figure of those who needed to be counted. the verse in Divrei Hayomim I, 21:5 includes our 800,000 in addition to the 300,000 already accounted for.

I will afflict you with [one of] three [things]. One of three and so [we find], "With two [of my daughters] you will marry [into my family] today",¹⁸ i.e., with one of two. "I will take three from you" is retribution for the three [curses] you put on Shaul, "Either Adonoy will smite him or his day will come and he will die or he will go down to battle and perish."¹⁹

footnotes: ¹⁸ Shmuel I, 18:21. ¹⁹ Ibid, 26:10.

I am in great anguish. The least of them is very difficult.

Let us fall into the hand of Adonoy. I.e. Pestilence²⁰ and not the sword nor famine because it [famine] is also controlled by the rich who have store houses of produce. Rabbi Alexandri said, Dovid reasoned, "If I choose the sword then [the people of] Yisroel will say [about me], 'he is relying on his strength to save himself from death but others will die', and if I choose famine they will say, He is relying on his wealth [to save himself]. I will choose pestilence against which everyone is equal."²¹

footnotes: ²⁰ Controlled exclusively by God. ²¹ Midrash Tehilim 17:4.

From the morning until the appointed time. [Yonoson translates:] "From the time of the slaughtering of the daily morning offering until its blood was sprinkled."

The Yevusite. He was the chief officer of the Zion fortress the name of which is Yevusi.²²

footnotes: ²² Having formerly belonged to them, see earlier verses 5:6–5:9.

Aravnoh saw. He was hiding from the angel, this is what is written in Divrei Hayomim.²³

footnotes: ²³ Divrei Hayomim I, 21:20.

The rake. A wooden utensil full of jagged edges which is heavy and it is constantly applied to straw; it cuts it to become fodder to feed the animals:

Aravnoh the prince. He was the chief officer of the Yevusi [fortress].²⁴

footnotes: ²⁴ See Rashi earlier on verse 16.

Fifty shekolim. [But] in Divrei Hayomim²⁵ it says, "Golden Shekolim weighing six hundred," how is this possible? [The answer is] he collected fifty silver shekolim from each tribe that is [a total of] six hundred²⁶ and he gave him an amount of silver that had the value of [six hundred] gold [shekolim]. We also are taught this in the end of Zevochim,²⁷ "He collected an amount of silver that had a value of six hundred gold shekolim, and we also learned this in the Sifri.²⁸

footnotes: ²⁵ Divrei Hayomim I, 21:25. ²⁸ Re’eh, 10.