Biblical Hebrew Forum

["David Stabnow" <dstabno AT lifeway.com>]

I have come up with some answers to my own question:

It is not unusual for a clause with the subject "the anger of the Lord" to
be followed by a clause where the subject is clearly "the Lord" even though
there is no explicit change of subject (Ex 4:14; Nm 12:9; 32:10; Ps 106:40;
2 Ch 25:15?; explicit: 2 Sm 6:7; Nm 11:33).

Howard implies that the anger incites and speaks to David (NASB says "it
incited").  That is based on the possibility that "anger" is the subject of
the second clause, that is, of the verb "incited."  However, there are very
few cases where "the anger of the Lord" is clearly the subject of a verb
other than "burned."  That is, it seems that it is rare for anger to be
personified (likely: Dt 29:27; Is 5:25b; 2 Ch 12:12; possible: Nm 32:13; Dt
6:15; 7:4; 11:17; Jdg 2:14 [but see 2:20]; 3:8; 10:7; 2 Sm 24:1; 2 Kg 13:3;
24:20; Is 5:25a; Jr 23:20 & 30:24 [but note "His heart"]; Zph 2:2
["burning"]; 1 Ch 13:10; 2 Ch 25:15?).  Putting this with the previous
point, it is likely that the Lord--not His anger--incites and speaks to
David.

These are arguments from silence, which arguments are admittedly weak
because of our limited corpus.  So Howard's interpretation of 2 Sm 24:1 is
still possible.  But for myself, I conclude:

Again the Lord's anger burned against Israel. He incited David against them
by instructing: "Go, count Israel and Judah!"

Howard argues that the "adversary" in 1 Ch 21:1 is a political enemy
brought by the Lord in response to the sinfulness of the nation.  In 1 Kg
11 the adversary "arose"; in Zch 3:1 (and 1 Ch 21:1) Satan "stood."
However, in Ps 109:6 "an accuser" stands.  Therefore, if Howard argues that
this is a political threat, "arose" would be expected, but "stood" is
possible.

On the other hand, I am not convinced by those who argue that by the time
of the Chronicler "Satan" had become a proper name without the article (I
agree with Sara Japhet in Old Testament Library).  So I agree with Howard's
interpretation of 1 Ch 21.  I translate:

An adversary stood up against Israel and incited David to count Israel.

Dave Stabnow
Bible Translation Editor
Broadman & Holman Publishers
Nashville, Tennessee
615-251-5851
david.stabnow AT lifeway.com

    Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
do everything for God's glory.  (1 Cor 10:31, HCSB)