2 Samuel 24:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And Gad came that day to David and said to him, "Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."

NIV: On that day Gad went to David and said to him, "Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."

NASB: So Gad came to David that day and said to him, 'Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.'

CSB: Gad came to David that day and said to him, "Go up and set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."

NLT: That day Gad came to David and said to him, 'Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.'

KJV: And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.

NKJV: And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

David sinned by ordering a census of fighting men. As punishment, God sent an angel across Israel with a pestilence. Many thousands are dead. When David sees the angel on the hill above Jerusalem, he dresses in sackcloth and begs God to punish him and his family, not the innocent in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 24:1–2, 12, 15–17).

The site where the angel has stopped is the top of Mt. Moriah. A Jebusite owns the land and uses it for a threshing floor; the high elevation allows the wind to blow away the chaff from the grain. God sends Gad the seer to tell David to build an altar there.

Araunah, or Ornan (1 Chronicles 21:18), is a Canaanite whose family was likely there centuries before David took the city. But he recognizes David as king. When David asks to buy the land, Araunah agrees and offers to donate his oxen and grain for the sacrifice and his threshing sledge and yoke for the firewood (1 Chronicles 21:23). David insists on paying for everything, including a larger piece of land (2 Samuel 24:24; 1 Chronicles 21:25). David sacrifices the oxen, and God spares Jerusalem (2 Samuel 14:19–25).

God's order from the Mosaic law leaves some room for interpretation:

"Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord must be cut off from the people of Israel." (Leviticus 17:8–9)

Now, God is telling David to sacrifice outside of Jerusalem. When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they erected the tabernacle in Shiloh and set the ark inside. Since Samuel's childhood, the tabernacle has been in Nob (1 Samuel 21:1–6). As of the events of this chapter, the tabernacle is in Gibeon (1 Chronicles 16:39–40). The ark was stolen by the Philistines and recovered (1 Samuel 4:11; 6:1–18), and has moved in Beth-shemesh, Kiriath-jearim (1 Samuel 18–21), traveled with the army (1 Samuel 14:18), back to Kiriath-jearim (2 Samuel 6:2), and is now in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:12–15). David is too afraid of the angel to go to the tabernacle in Gibeon, but God allows him to sacrifice on the hilltop.

Later, Solomon will build the temple on the same site.

Second Samuel 24:18–25 (1 Chronicles 21:18–28) portrays David's effort to honor God's righteousness and sovereignty. To punish David and Israel for their sins, God has sent a destroying angel who stops right before it reaches Jerusalem (2 Samuel 24:1–17). David buys the threshing floor where the angel stands and offers sacrifices. God accepts the offering and stops the plague. That spot will later house the temple. This is the final story of David's reign. First Kings 1 begins the transition of the kingdom to Solomon.

Second Samuel 24 (1 Chronicles 21) is the final story in the epilogue to 1 and 2 Samuel. God is angry with Israel and incites David to take a census. When it's finished, David accepts blame, and God punishes Israel with a plague. The plague's progress stops at a threshing floor just short of Jerusalem. David buys the land and offers a sacrifice. The land will later house the temple. In the chiasm—the mirror arrangement—epilogue of 1 and 2 Samuel, this story is partnered with God's punishment of Saul's family for their sin against the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21:1–14).

Second Samuel 24 (1 Chronicles 21) marks the end of the epilogue of 1 and 2 Samuel. Second Samuel 21—24 is a mirrored pattern showing how God's blessings on Israel are dependent on their obedience. Here, God is angry with Israel and incites David. The nation is disciplined by a deadly plague. In 2 Samuel 24, the story shows that God disciplines Israel's disobedience. In 1 Chronicles 21, the focus is on how David got the land for the temple.