2 Samuel 24:3

WEB

Joab said to the king, "Now may the Lord your God add to the people, however many they may be, one hundred times; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?"

KJV

And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?

Commentary

And Joab said unto the king,.... Not so rudely and insolently as he did on account of his mourning for Absalom, but in a more modest, decent, and polite manner: now the Lord thy God add unto the peop le (how many soever they be) an hundredfold; he wished his subjects were an hundred times more numerous than they were: and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it; that he might live to see with his own eyes so great an increase: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? he being now old, and therefore it might seem strange to indulge such curiosity, pride, and vanity, and besides quite needless and useless: the numbering of them would not make them more or less; and they were all the king's servants, who were ready to obey him whenever he needed them, whether numbered or not; and it might be prejudicial to them, and bring down the wrath of God upon them, as well as be a troublesome and expensive business; all which, though not expressed here, is hinted at in Ch1 21:3 .