2 Samuel 24 · Verse 21

2 Samuel 24:21

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.
2 Samuel 24:21, King James Version

2 Samuel 24:21 in other translations

BSB“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.”
WEBAraunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy your threshing floor, to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people.”
ASVAnd 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.
YLTAnd Araunah saith, ‘Wherefore hath my lord the king come unto his servant?' and David saith, ‘To buy from thee the threshing-floor, to build an altar to Jehovah, and the plague is restrained from the people.'
DARBYAnd Araunah said, Why is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build an altar to Jehovah, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
BBEAnd Araunah said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To give you a price for your grain-floor, so that I may put up an altar to the Lord, and the disease may be stopped among the people.
WebsterAnd Araunah said, Why is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

What does 2 Samuel 24:21 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
21. 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). This was a sacrifice of expiation; and the reason why he was allowed to offer it on Mount Moriah was partly in gracious consideration to his fear of repairing to Gibeon (1Ch 21:29, 30), and partly in anticipation of the removal of the tabernacle and the erection of the temple there (2Ch 3:1).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel 24:18-25

God's encouraging us to offer to him spiritual sacrifices, is an evidence of his reconciling us to himself. David purchased the ground to build the altar. God hates robbery for burnt-offering. Those know not what religion is, who chiefly care to make it cheap and easy to themselves, and who are best pleased with that which costs them least pains or money. For what have we our substance, but to honour God with it…

Read the full comment on 2 Samuel 24:18-25 →

2 Samuel 24:21 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
אֲרַ֔וְנָה'a.Rav.nahAraunahH728
מַדּ֛וּעַma.Du.a'why?H4069
בָּ֥אba'has he comeH935
אֲדֹנִֽי\־'a.do.ni-lord myH113
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְha.Me.lekhthe kingH4428
אֶל\־'el-toH413
עַבְדּ֑וֹav.Doservant hisH5650
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
דָּוִ֜דda.VidDavidH1732
לִקְנ֧וֹתlik.Notto buyH7069
מֵעִמְּךָ֣me.'i.me.Khafrom with <the> youH5973
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַגֹּ֗רֶןha.Go.renthe threshing floorH1637
לִבְנ֤וֹתliv.Notto buildH1129
מִזְבֵּ֙חַ֙miz.Be.achan altarH4196
לַֽיהוָ֔הla.Yah.wehto YahwehH3068
וְתֵעָצַ֥רve.te.'a.Tzarso it may be restrainedH6113
הַמַּגֵּפָ֖הha.ma.ge.Fahthe plagueH4046
מֵעַ֥לme.'Alfrom onH5921
הָעָֽם\׃ha.'Amthe peopleH5971

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Samuel 24:21

  • 1 Chronicles 21:22

    Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the Lord: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

  • Numbers 25:8

    And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

  • 2 Samuel 24:18

    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.

  • Genesis 23:8-16

    And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you. And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead. …

  • 2 Samuel 21:3-14

    Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord? And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them. …

  • Psalms 106:30

    Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.

  • 2 Samuel 24:3

    And Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?

  • Jeremiah 32:6-14

    And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. So Hanameel mine uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. …

  • Numbers 16:44-50

    And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun. And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Wherefore.
3,18
To buy.
Ge 23:8-16; 1Ch 21:22; Jer 32:6-14
the plague.
21:3-14; Nu 16:47-50; 25:8; Ps 106:30

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 2 Samuel 24:20

    And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.

  • 2 Samuel 24:21

    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.

  • 2 Samuel 24:22

    And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.

Read all of 2 Samuel 24

2 Samuel 24:21 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y Arauna dijo: ¿Por qué viene mi señor el rey á su siervo? Y David respondió: Para comprar de ti la era, para edificar altar á Jehová, á fin de que la mortandad cese del pueblo.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et Arauna dit: Pourquoi le roi, mon seigneur, vient-il vers son serviteur? Et David dit: Pour acheter de toi l’aire, pour bâtir un autel à l’ Éternel, afin que la plaie soit arrêtée de dessus le peuple.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und Arawna sprach: Warum kommt mein Herr, der König, zu seinem Knechte? Und David sprach: Die Tenne von dir zu kaufen, um Jehova einen Altar zu bauen, damit die Plage von dem Volke abgewehrt werde.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
et egressus adoravit regem prono vultu in terram, et ait: Quid causæ est ut veniat dominus meus rex ad servum suum? Cui David ait: Ut emam a te aream, et ædificem altare Domino, et cesset interfectio quæ grassatur in populo.