The common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse is often not translated. King James Version renders it “And,” but this connector sounds out of place in English. However, in certain languages the beginning of this new section may seem somewhat abrupt and will therefore require some kind of introduction such as “One day…” (so Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie).

Satan stood up against Israel: Satan is seen as the ruler of the forces of evil and was a member of God’s heavenly court in some books of the Old Testament (see Job 1.6-12; Zech 3.1-2). The Hebrew name Satan means “the opponent” or “the adversary.” Interpreters are divided on how the name should be understood here in 1 Chronicles. There are three interpretations:

(1) The Hebrew word satan had become a proper name by the time that 1 Chronicles was written. Therefore most translations in English and French translate it as a proper name (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). But it is not likely that the term here is to be understood as in later Jewish and Christian theological developments, so this translation is not recommended.
(2) There is no definite article before the word here in the Hebrew text, so some interpreters understand the reference to be an unspecified heavenly accuser, “A satan” (New American Bible). Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates this word as “The accusing angel,” but it is better to say “An accusing angel.” According to this understanding, the word satan had not yet become a synonym for “the Devil.”
(3) Other interpreters suggest that the Hebrew word satan without a definite article still meant “adversary” (see Num 22.22; 1 Sam 29.4) and that the writer is not referring to a heavenly being but is rather referring to a human being, probably the ruler of a nearby country. Following this understanding, Knoppers begins this verse with “An adversary took his stand against Israel.” This interpretation makes sense in the context since the writer did not follow the parallel text of 2 Sam 24.1 in claiming that God made David take the census; and to claim that a heavenly being incited David would still make God indirectly responsible for David’s actions. Unlike 1 Chronicles, 2 Sam 24.1 says that God made David take the census.

The Hebrew idiom stood up against does not necessarily mean that Satan was sitting down. Rather, the sense is that he “took his stand against” (New Jerusalem Bible), “opposed” ( NET Bible), or “brought trouble on” (similarly Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). Since Israel here refers to the nation, some versions say “the people of Israel” (Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje) or “the Israelites” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). As frequently happens in 1 Chronicles, Israel here refers to the entire nation and is not limited to the northern kingdom.

And incited David to number Israel: According to the account in this book, it was Satan (or, an adversary) who caused David to bring trouble on the people of Israel. The parallel passage in 2 Sam 24.1 says that God caused David to take the census. Some writers argue that there is a sense in which both God and Satan were involved in provoking David to take this action since the same Hebrew verb rendered incited is used in each case, but more likely the author of 1 Chronicles did not want to say that God caused David to do evil. The Hebrew verb translated incited means “to urge someone to do something.” Frequently, the person is urged to do something wrong, but the context determines whether the urging is for good or bad. This verb may be rendered “pushed” (Bible en français courant) or “caused” (New Living Translation).

To number Israel may be rendered “to count the people of Israel” (New Revised Standard Version). Some languages may have a technical word or expression for the verb number in this context, such as “take/make a census” (so Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, La Bible du Semeur, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). The census most likely included only males eligible to serve in the military, as verse 5 indicates. See Num 1.1-46, where only males old enough “to go forth to war” are included in the census. For this reason it may be helpful here to say “to count the number of people capable of fighting in all the tribes of Israel.” Compare also “to count how many warriors Israel had” ( NET Bible). In this context taking a census reflected David’s lack of trust in God, who gave military victories to David (see 1 Chr 18.6, 13).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .