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5.31 2 Samuel -- Close of 2 Samuel

The final chapters of this history include some miscellaneous incidents whose chronological placement are not determined:  battles with the Philistines and the giants, Psalm 18, lists of David's mighty men.  There were at least four foreigners among the mighty men:  Zelek the Ammonite (2 Sam 24:37), Uriah the Hittite (2 Sam 24:39), Ithmah the Moabite (1 Chron 11:46), Ishmaiah the Gibeonite (1 Chron 12:4). The presence of these "enemies of Israel" amongst David's elect refutes the idea of absolute racial purity in Israel at the height of its power. 

         

David conducted a census of the number of Israelite soldiers, thus inciting the judgment of God (2 Sam 24).  For three days, a plague raged.  Interestingly, God stopped the plague at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (2 Sam 24:16). The Jebusites were Canaanites, the original inhabitants of Jerusalem.  The prophet Gad told David to build an altar to God on Araunah's land.  Araunah offered the land to David for free, but David insisted on paying for the land and the oxen. 2 Samuel ends with the stopping of the plague.   
 

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