Footnotes

1. 2 Samuel 24:1 A parallel to the famine reported in chapter 21. In this case, the wicked act that causes it is the census taken of men capable of bearing arms and the reliance on this human might. In fact, God alone is master of life and of victory. In the understanding of the ancients, who did not distinguish between what God simply tolerates and what he commands, he gave the order for the famine. In fact, the first Book of Chronicles (ch. 21) substitutes the name Satan for that of the Lord. The underlying historical fact is difficult to explain.