2 Samuel 24:23

All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(23) All these things did Araunah.—This clause should be rendered as a part of Araunah’s address to David: “The whole, O king, does Araunah give unto the king.” (Comp. 1Chronicles 21:23.) Then, after a moment’s pause, he added, “The LORD thy God accept thee.” The first word king, however, is omitted in some MSS., and in the LXX., Vulg., and Syr. The word “give,” of course, means only offer. David actually bought the threshing-floor and other things required.

Benson Commentary

2 Samuel 24:23. All these things did Araunah as a king — That is, with a royal bounty; give unto the king — He not only offered, but actually gave them; he resigned his right and property in them to David; though David, by his refusal, returned it to Araunah again. The words in the Hebrew are, these things gave Araunah the king unto the king. From whence some infer that, before the taking of Jerusalem, he was the king of the Jebusites; or a man of the greatest authority among them, like a king; or was descended from the blood royal of the Jebusites. But neither the Greek, nor the Syriac, nor the Arabic copies have the word king, nor had the Vulgate it, till the edition published by Sextus; nor was it in the Chaldee Paraphrast, in the time of Kimchi, who cites it thus: Araunah gave to the king what the king asked of him. The Lord thy God accept thee — He was a Jebusite by nation, but a sincere and hearty proselyte; which made him so liberal in his offers to God’s service, and the common good of God’s people.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

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; and how can it be better bestowed? See the building of the altar, and the offering proper sacrifices upon it. Burnt-offerings to the glory of God's justice; peace-offerings to the glory of his mercy. Christ is our Altar, our Sacrifice; in him alone we may expect to escape his wrath, and to find favour with God. Death is destroying all around, in so many forms, and so suddenly, that it is madness not to expect and prepare for the close of life.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Either, "the whole O king does Araunah give unto the king;" or (2) "the whole did king Araunah give to the king." The former is preferable.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

23. All these things did Araunah, as a king, give—Indicating, as the sense is, that this man had been anciently a heathen king or chief, but was now a proselyte who still retained great property and influence in Jerusalem, and whose piety was evinced by the liberality of his offers. The words, "as a king," are taken by some to signify simply, "he gave with royal munificence."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

As a king; the particle as being understood, as it oft is in the Hebrew, i.e. with a royal bounty. Or, Arannab the king, as he might be called, either because he was king of the Jebusites before David took their city, or because he was the son and heir of that king.

These things did Araunah give; he not only offered, but actually gave them, i.e. he actually resigned his right and property in them unto David; for so he did; and David by his refusal returned it to Araunah again.

The Lord thy God accept thee; he was a Jebusite by nation, but a hearty proselyte; which made him so liberal in his offers to God’s service, and the common good of God’s people.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king,.... The note of similitude as is not in the text; from whence some have thought he was king of the Jebusites before Jerusalem was taken out of their hands, or however was of the royal race, perhaps the son and heir of the then king at that time; or he has this title given him, because of his great liberality, having the spirit of a prince in him, even of a king; so Ulysses addressed Antinous, saying, thou art like a king, and therefore should give more largely than others (h):

and Araunah said unto the king, the Lord thy God accept thee; thine offering with a good will; with pleasure and delight, as the Targum; that so the plague might be removed, and which no doubt made him the more ready to part with the above things, and all that he had; so dreadful did the calamity appear to him, and especially after he saw the angel with his drawn sword just over him.

(h) Homer. Odyss. 17. ver. 335.

Geneva Study Bible

All these things did Araunah, {m} as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.

(m) That is, abundantly, for as some write, he was king of Jerusalem before David won the tower.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

23. All these things, &c.] Render, The whole doth Araunah, O king, give unto the king. The words are a continuation of Araunah’s speech in 2 Samuel 24:22. Cp. 1 Chronicles 21:23. Although the rendering, “the whole did king Araunah give unto the king,” is grammatically possible, it is inconceivable that so important a fact as that Araunah was the former king of Jebus should be only mentioned in so incidental a way, and the striking picture drawn by Dean Stanley (Lect. II. 111) of the meeting of the two princes—“the fallen king of the ancient fortress, the new king of the restored capital, each moved alike by the misfortune of a city which in different senses belonged to each”—must be given up as destitute of historical foundation. But the word O king is not found in the Sept. or Vulg., and should probably be omitted. In this case the words will be the narrator’s summary of Araunah’s offer: “the whole did Araunah give unto the king:” give, as in the strikingly similar offer of Ephron to Abraham, meaning offer. See Genesis 23:11.

accept thee] The same word is used of God’s acceptance of prayer and sacrifice in Job 33:26 (E. V. be favourable); Ezekiel 20:40-41; Ezekiel 43:27, &c.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 23. - All these did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. The Hebrew is, "The whole gave Araunah the king to the king;" and so the Vulgate, dedit Areuna rex regi. The rendering of the Revised Version (and Keil), "All this, O king, doth Araunah give unto the king," requires a change both of the order and of the tense. It is, of course, possible (though highly is probable) that Araunah was the representative of the kings of Jebus, and a titular monarch, like the Maori king in New Zealand. But the word is omitted in the Septuagint and Syriac, and is probably a mere repetition of the following word. The remark is made in order to point out Araunah's generosity; and to mark even more clearly how hearty and sincere he was in his offering, the narrator adds, in Araunah's own words, his prayer for God's acceptance of David and his offering. 2 Samuel 24:23

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Aravnah replied, "Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold (i.e., there thou hast) the ox for the burnt-offering, and the threshing-machine, and the harness of the ox for wood" (i.e., for fuel). הבּקר, the pair of oxen yoked together in front of the threshing-machine. הבּקר כּלי, the wooden yokes. "All this giveth Aravnah, O king, to the king." המּלך is a vocative, and is simply omitted by the lxx, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic, because the translators regarded it as a nominative, which is quite unsuitable, as Aravnah was not a king. When Thenius, on the other hand, objects to this, for the purpose of throwing suspicion upon the passage, that the sentence is thus stamped as part of Aravnah's address to the king, and that in that case the words that follow, "and Aravnah said," would be altogether superfluous; the former remark is correct enough, for the words "all this giveth Aravnah ... to the king" must form part of what Aravnah said, inasmuch as the remark, "all this gave Aravnah to the king," if taken as the historian's own words, would be in most glaring contradiction to what follows, where the king is said to have bought the floor and the oxen from Aravnah. And the words that follow ("and Aravnah said") are not superfluous on that account, but simply indicate that Aravnah did not proceed to say the rest in the same breath, but added it after a short pause, as a word which did not directly bear upon the question put by the king. ויּאמר (and he said) is often repeated, where the same person continues speaking (see for example 2 Samuel 15:4, 2 Samuel 15:25, 2 Samuel 15:27). "Jehovah thy God accept thee graciously," i.e., fulfil the request thou presentest to Him with sacrifice and prayer.