Iddo] Spelt quite differently in Hebrew from the name of the father of the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah i. 1).
Abner] 1 Samuel xiv. 50, 51.
²³But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the Lord had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of heaven.
23. took not the number] In Numbers i. 3 ff. it is said that in the census which God commanded Moses to take in the wilderness only those above twenty years old were to be numbered, and a chief from each tribe was appointed to assist Moses in the task of numeration. The Chronicler in this section wishes to say that, though David erred in taking the census unbidden by Jehovah, he at least conformed to the principles of the Law in carrying out his project: those under 20 years of age were not counted, and the princes just enumerated may be supposed to correspond to the chiefs who assisted Moses.
²⁴Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but finished not; and there came wrath for this upon Israel; neither was the number put into the account in the chronicles of king David.
24. but finished not] Compare xxi. 6.
into the account in] A summary of the numbers of David’s census is given in xxi. 5 and also (with divergences) in 2 Samuel xxiv. 9. The Chronicler probably means in the present passage that the details of the census were not entered in the official records.
the chronicles] Literally the acts of the days; compare Introduction, [§ 5].
25–31.
Various Officers of the King.
Twelve different officers are named here who acted as stewards of king David’s property.