2 Samuel 24:23
ESV
All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the Lord your God accept you."
NIV
Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king." Araunah also said to him, "May the Lord your God accept you."
NASB
Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king.' And Araunah said to the king, 'May the Lord your God be favorable to you.'
CSB
Your Majesty, Araunah gives everything here to the king." Then he said to the king, "May the Lord your God accept you."
NLT
I will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice.'
KJV
All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee.
NKJV
All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.”
What does 2 Samuel 24:23 mean?
Both 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 tell the story of David's census of the fighting men of Israel. Once the census is complete, David realizes he has committed a horrible sin. In judgment, God sends an angel who spreads a supernatural pestilence over the nation, wreaking death as it goes. But the Lord stops the angel on the mountain top above Jerusalem. When David sees the angel and, once more, repents, God tells him to go to the top of the mountain and offer a sacrifice. God will halt the plague when this is complete.The accounts of this story in two separate books are not identical. The slight variations as well as the following chapters reveal that although this is the same story, the accounts have different purposes.
Second Samuel 24 is part of a chiasm: a mirrored arrangement of themes with a central, main idea. This one is compiled as an epilogue to David's reign. It's the last section, and it's matched with 2 Samuel 21:1–14: Saul and the Gibeonites. This first story tells of how David must hand over seven of Saul's sons and grandsons to atone for Saul's sin against the Gibeonites.
The next layers of the chiasm recount the glories of David's fighting men (2 Samuel 21:15–22; 23:8–39). The center is the point of the chiasm: David is blessed and protected by God's grace when he obeys God (2 Samuel 22:1—23:7).
God's grace is expressed both in the angel's halt at Jerusalem and withdrawal of the plague upon David's sacrifice. This verse, which is not repeated in 1 Chronicles 21, does as well. A Jebusite—a Canaanite—living under an Israelite king, agrees to sell his land, then he offers to give David the firewood and the animals and grain to sacrifice. Finally, he prays that YHWH will accept David. In a hard and tragic situation, God is still gracious when David obeys.
The intended message of 1 Chronicles 21 is different. That passage focuses on the land and the people who own it (1 Chronicles 21:20). It adds that the tabernacle is in Gibeon, and David is too afraid of the angel to travel there (1 Chronicles 21:29–30). In the very next verse, David says, "Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel" (1 Chronicles 22:1). The purpose of the story in 1 Chronicles is the explanation of how David got the land where Solomon would build the temple (1 Chronicles 22:2–19).
