O king, Araunah gives all these to the king." He also said to the king, "May the LORD your God accept you." O king, Araunah gives all these to the king.Araunah, a Jebusite, owned the threshing floor where David intended to build an altar to the LORD. The Jebusites were the original inhabitants of Jerusalem before David conquered the city. Araunah's willingness to give his property and resources to David reflects a recognition of David's authority and possibly a reverence for the God of Israel. This act of generosity is significant in the context of ancient Near Eastern customs, where offerings to a king were a sign of loyalty and respect. Araunah's gesture also highlights the importance of sacrificial giving in worship, a theme echoed throughout Scripture, such as in the widow's offering in Mark 12:41-44. He also said to the king,
Araunah's direct address to King David underscores the personal nature of this interaction. In the ancient world, direct communication with a king was a privilege and often carried significant weight. This phrase indicates Araunah's respect and submission to David's authority, which is crucial in understanding the dynamics of leadership and servitude in biblical narratives. The personal dialogue between Araunah and David also sets the stage for the subsequent negotiation, emphasizing the relational aspect of leadership. “May the LORD your God accept you.”
Araunah's blessing reflects a recognition of the divine favor upon David. The phrase "the LORD your God" indicates Araunah's acknowledgment of the covenant relationship between the LORD and Israel, with David as the anointed king. This blessing is a prayer for divine acceptance, which is central to the sacrificial system in the Old Testament. The desire for God's acceptance is a recurring theme, seen in passages like Genesis 4:4-5, where God accepts Abel's offering but not Cain's. This phrase also foreshadows the ultimate acceptance of Christ's sacrifice, as seen in Hebrews 10:10, where Jesus is the perfect offering accepted by God for the atonement of sin. Persons / Places / Events 1. DavidThe King of Israel, who is seeking to make a sacrifice to the LORD to atone for his sin of conducting a census. 2. AraunahA Jebusite who owns the threshing floor where David intends to build an altar to the LORD. He offers his property and resources freely to the king. 3. Threshing FloorThe location owned by Araunah, which becomes the site for David's altar and later the site for Solomon's Temple. 4. The LORDThe God of Israel, whom David seeks to appease through sacrifice. 5. The CensusThe event that led to God's displeasure with David, resulting in a plague upon Israel. Teaching Points The Cost of True WorshipTrue worship often requires personal sacrifice. David insists on paying for the threshing floor, demonstrating that genuine worship should cost us something. Generosity and WillingnessAraunah's willingness to give freely to the king reflects a heart of generosity. Believers are encouraged to give willingly and joyfully to the work of the Lord. Repentance and RestorationDavid's actions show the importance of repentance and making amends. When we sin, we must seek God's forgiveness and take steps to restore our relationship with Him. God's AcceptanceAraunah's blessing, "May the LORD your God accept you," highlights the desire for divine acceptance. Our offerings and sacrifices should be made with a heart seeking God's approval. The Role of LeadershipAs a leader, David's actions had consequences for the entire nation. This underscores the responsibility of leaders to act righteously and seek God's guidance. Bible Study Questions 1. What does David's insistence on paying for the threshing floor teach us about the nature of true worship and sacrifice? 2. How does Araunah's generosity challenge us in our own giving to God and others? 3. In what ways can we apply the principle of repentance and restoration in our daily lives? 4. How can we ensure that our offerings and sacrifices are acceptable to God, as Araunah wished for David? 5. What lessons can we learn from David's leadership in this passage, and how can we apply them in our roles of influence? Connections to Other Scriptures 1 Chronicles 21This chapter provides a parallel account of the same event, offering additional details about the circumstances and David's repentance. Genesis 22The account of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac, which parallels David's willingness to offer a costly sacrifice to God. Psalm 51David's psalm of repentance, which reflects his heart attitude in seeking God's forgiveness. Romans 12:1The call for believers to offer themselves as living sacrifices, connecting to the theme of sacrificial giving and worship. People Araunah, Canaanites, Dan, David, Gad, Gadites, Hittites, Hivite, Hivites, Joab, ZidonPlaces Aroer, Beersheba, Dan, Gilead, Jazer, Jerusalem, Jordan River, Kadesh, Negeb, Sidon, TyreTopics Accept, Araunah, Arau'nah, Gives, O, Offering, Pleased, ServantDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Samuel 24:23 6603 acceptance, divine 2 Samuel 24:10-25 7435 sacrifice, in OT 2 Samuel 24:11-25 4843 plague 2 Samuel 24:16-25 4524 threshing-floor 2 Samuel 24:22-23 4552 wood 2 Samuel 24:22-24 5865 gestures Library The Exile --Continued.
We have one psalm which the title connects with the beginning of David's stay at Adullam,--the thirty-fourth. The supposition that it dates from that period throws great force into many parts of it, and gives a unity to what is else apparently fragmentary and disconnected. Unlike those already considered, which were pure soliloquies, this is full of exhortation and counsel, as would naturally be the case if it were written when friends and followers began to gather to his standard. It reads like …
Alexander Maclaren—The Life of DavidThe Universal Chorus
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that stteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. M en have generally agreed to dignify their presumptuous and arrogant ^* disquisitions on the works and ways of God, with the name of wisdom ; though the principles upon which they proceed, and the conclusions which they draw from …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux Meditations for one that is Like to Die.
If thy sickness be like to increase unto death, then meditate on three things:--First, How graciously God dealeth with thee. Secondly, From what evils death will free thee. Thirdly, What good death will bring unto thee. The first sort of Meditations are, to consider God's favourable dealing with thee. 1. Meditate that God uses this chastisement of thy body but as a medicine to cure thy soul, by drawing thee, who art sick in sin, to come by repentance unto Christ, thy physician, to have thy soul healed …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety Consolations against Impatience in Sickness.
If in thy sickness by extremity of pain thou be driven to impatience, meditate-- 1. That thy sins have deserved the pains of hell; therefore thou mayest with greater patience endure these fatherly corrections. 2. That these are the scourges of thy heavenly Father, and the rod is in his hand. If thou didst suffer with reverence, being a child, the corrections of thy earthly parents, how much rather shouldst thou now subject thyself, being the child of God, to the chastisement of thy heavenly Father, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The Order of Thought which Surrounded the Development of Jesus.
As the cooled earth no longer permits us to understand the phenomena of primitive creation, because the fire which penetrated it is extinct, so deliberate explanations have always appeared somewhat insufficient when applying our timid methods of induction to the revolutions of the creative epochs which have decided the fate of humanity. Jesus lived at one of those times when the game of public life is freely played, and when the stake of human activity is increased a hundredfold. Every great part, …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus Of Love to God
I proceed to the second general branch of the text. The persons interested in this privilege. They are lovers of God. "All things work together for good, to them that love God." Despisers and haters of God have no lot or part in this privilege. It is children's bread, it belongs only to them that love God. Because love is the very heart and spirit of religion, I shall the more fully treat upon this; and for the further discussion of it, let us notice these five things concerning love to God. 1. The …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial The Hardening in the Sacred Scripture.
"He hath hardened their heart."-- John xii. 40. The Scripture teaches positively that the hardening and "darkening of their foolish heart" is a divine, intentional act. This is plainly evident from God's charge to Moses concerning the king of Egypt: "Thou shalt speak all that I command thee; and I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not harken unto you, and I will lay My hand upon Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit The Prophet Amos.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the prophet Amos, since on the main point--viz., the circumstances under which he appeared as a prophet--the introduction to the prophecies of Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Samuel
Alike from the literary and the historical point of view, the book[1] of Samuel stands midway between the book of Judges and the book of Kings. As we have already seen, the Deuteronomic book of Judges in all probability ran into Samuel and ended in ch. xii.; while the story of David, begun in Samuel, embraces the first two chapters of the first book of Kings. The book of Samuel is not very happily named, as much of it is devoted to Saul and the greater part to David; yet it is not altogether inappropriate, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 2 Samuel 24:23 NIV2 Samuel 24:23 NLT2 Samuel 24:23 ESV2 Samuel 24:23 NASB2 Samuel 24:23 KJV
2 Samuel 24:23 Commentaries
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