2 Samuel 24:18-25·~1 min

David Builds an Altar

Gad tells David to go up and build an altar on Araunah’s threshing floor. David obeys, and Araunah comes out and bows before the king.

A¹⁸nd 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.” ¹⁹So David went up at the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded. ²⁰When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, he went out and bowed facedown before the king.

Araunah offers the place and materials for the sacrifice, but David refuses a gift that costs him nothing. He buys the threshing floor and oxen, builds the altar, offers sacrifices, and the plague is stopped.

²¹“Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Araunah said. ²²Araunah said to David, “May my lord the king take whatever seems good to him and offer it up. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. ²³O king, Araunah gives all these to the king.” He also said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” ²⁴“No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” ²⁵So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

Section summaryGad directs David to build an altar on Araunah’s threshing floor, and David obeys. Though Araunah offers the site and materials freely, David insists on paying, then offers burnt and peace offerings there, and the plague is withdrawn from Israel.

Role in the chapterThis final movement resolves the chapter through obedient, costly worship. It ties mercy to a specific place and act, bringing judgment to rest without treating sacrifice as cheap or casual.