Who tempted David to number Israel?

Textual conflict

Interpretive tension

The passages pull in different directions, but the conflict depends on how their wording, scope, or narrative context is read.

Importance

Foundational

A central claim about origins, salvation, divine justice, or religious authority.

Parallel accounts assign the same census incitement to God and Satan without describing an intermediary relationship.

An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.