2 Samuel 24:21
in 2 Samuel 24“Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said. “To buy your threshing floor,” David replied, “that I may build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build an altar unto Jehovah, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
KJV
And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 24
Commentary
6 notes on this verseNotice, brothers, that no place in the land of the Jews was found worthy for the altar of the Lord to be built; but in the land of the Gentiles a place is chosen where the angel is seen and the altar of the Lord …
This site's exposition
rear an altar unto the Lord
on 2 Samuel 24:18-23
Gad returns the same day with an instruction rather than another choice, go up and build an altar on Araunah's floor. Araunah sees the king coming and bows himself to the ground, then offers the floor, the oxen for the burnt offering, and the threshing instruments for wood, refusing no part of what the king might need. Adam Clarke reads the offer as loyalty to the king, care for a people under plague, and regard for his own safety in one gesture, and Araunah closes it with a blessing, the Lord thy God accept thee.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
1 And again the anger of the L ORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. 2 For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v1-2
), generously offered him, not only the ground to build his altar on, but oxen for sacrifices, and other things that might be of use to him in the service (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
And Araunah said, wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed--It is evident that the plague was not stayed till after the altar was built, and the sacrifice offered, so that what is related (2Sa 24:16) was by anticipation. Previous to the offering of this sacrifice, he had seen the destroying angel as well as offered the intercessory prayer (2Sa 24:17).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲרַ֔וְנָה | ʾaravnah | Araunah | H728 → | 9 times |
| מַדּ֛וּעַ | madua' | why? | H4069 → | 72 times |
| בָּ֥א | ba' | has he come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֲדֹנִֽי־ | ʾadoni- | lord my | H113 → | 333 times |
| הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עַבְדּ֑וֹ | avdo | servant his | H5650 → | 799 times |
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| דָּוִ֜ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| לִקְנ֧וֹת | liknot | to buy | H7069 → | 84 times |
| מֵעִמְּךָ֣ | meimekha | from with <the> you | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַגֹּ֗רֶן | hagoren | the threshing floor | H1637 → | 36 times |
| לִבְנ֤וֹת | livnot | to build | H1129 → | 376 times |
| מִזְבֵּ֙חַ֙ | mizbeach | an altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֔ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְתֵעָצַ֥ר | veteatzar | so it may be restrained | H6113 → | |
| הַמַּגֵּפָ֖ה | hamagefah | the plague | H4046 → | 25 times |
| מֵעַ֥ל | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָעָֽם׃ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲרַ֔וְנָהAraunah
ʾaravnahH728 →9 times
מַדּ֛וּעַwhy?
madua'H4069 →72 times
בָּ֥אhas he come
ba'H935 →2568 times
אֲדֹנִֽי־lord my
ʾadoni-H113 →333 times
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עַבְדּ֑וֹservant his
avdoH5650 →799 times
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
דָּוִ֜דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
לִקְנ֧וֹתto buy
liknotH7069 →84 times
מֵעִמְּךָ֣from with <the> you
meimekhaH5973 →1050 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַגֹּ֗רֶןthe threshing floor
hagorenH1637 →36 times
לִבְנ֤וֹתto build
livnotH1129 →376 times
מִזְבֵּ֙חַ֙an altar
mizbeachH4196 →401 times
לַֽיהוָ֔הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְתֵעָצַ֥רso it may be restrained
veteatzarH6113 →
הַמַּגֵּפָ֖הthe plague
hamagefahH4046 →25 times
מֵעַ֥לfrom on
mealH5921 →5755 times
הָעָֽם׃the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 106:30But Phinehas stood and intervened, and the plague was restrained.
it leads to
- Numbers 25:6–8
Just then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and the whole congregation of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of…
- Numbers 25:14–15
The name of the Israelite who was slain with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.
- Joshua 7:12
This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be…
- 1 Kings 18:40–41
Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there.
- Deuteronomy 13:9–11
Instead, you must surely kill him. Your hand must be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
- Numbers 25:6–8
Through
Numbers 25:8followed the Israelite into his tent, and drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and on through the belly of the woman. So the plague against the Israelites was halted,
it leads to
- Numbers 16:46–48
Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the…
- Psalms 106:29–31
So they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
- Numbers 16:46–48
Through
2 Samuel 24:3But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:11
May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised.
- Deuteronomy 1:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About 2 Samuel

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 122.1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
