A common misinterpretation views this verse as David avoiding a census altogether due to divine prohibition, akin to his earlier sinful numbering in 2 Samuel 24, whereas here he purposefully excludes only those under twenty to respect God's promise of vast increase, not out of fear of sin; others erroneously apply it to oppose modern censuses or population tracking, ignoring the specific historical and covenantal context of Israel's promised growth.
I Chronicles 27:23
King James Version (1769)
23 But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the Lord had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of the heavens.
In organizing Israel's military divisions, David refrained from counting males under twenty years old, honoring God's promise to multiply the nation like the stars of heaven, demonstrating trust in divine abundance rather than relying solely on human enumeration for national strength.