Understanding the Plague in 2 Samuel 24: Why Did God Strike 70,000?

I’m studying the account in 2 Samuel 24 where David orders a census and God responds with a devastating plague. According to the passage, God offers David three choices of punishment—famine, military defeat, or disease—and David selects the plague. Seventy thousand people die before the Lord relents. Can someone explain why God would enact such a severe judgment over a census? How do theologians interpret this episode and its implications for God’s justice and mercy?

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