Joab Counts Israel and the Two Notes of the Census

"Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the host" (2 Samuel 24:4). He said to him: Either I am king and you are captain of the host, or you are king and I am captain of the host. "And they came to Gilead" (2 Samuel 24:6) — [that is] Gadash. "And to the land of Tahtim-hodshi" (ibid.) — [that is] Beth Yeraḥ. "And they came to Dan-jaan" (ibid.) — [that is] Paneas. Rabbi Yochanan said: And why Dan-jaan? Benjamin entered [Egypt] with ten and is blessed with thirty thousand, and Dan entered with his Tzelmonit [his single clan] and is blessed with sixty thousand. "And they came to the stronghold of Tyre" (2 Samuel 24:7) — [that is] the mounds of Tyre. "And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king, and Israel was" (2 Samuel 24:9) — but since they were counted, their strength weakened like a female. Here you say "And Israel was eight hundred thousand men" (ibid.), and there you say "And all Israel was a thousand thousand and a hundred thousand men" (1 Chronicles 21:5). Say from now on: Joab made two notes, one larger and one smaller. He said: If he accepts the smaller, [good]; if not, I will give him the larger.