What does 2 Samuel 24:21 mean?
"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
The Bible verse 2 Samuel 24:21 in the King James Version reads, "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."
This verse comes from a passage in the book of 2 Samuel where King David is faced with a devastating plague that is afflicting the people of Israel. David, in his distress, seeks to atone for his wrongdoing and find a way to stop the plague. As he seeks to build an altar to the Lord, he approaches Araunah, a Jebusite who owns a threshing floor, in order to purchase it as a location for the altar.
The context of this verse is important to understand in order to fully grasp its significance. At this point in the story, David has committed a grave sin by taking a census of the people, which results in a divine judgment in the form of a plague. This plague causes great suffering and loss among the people, and David is desperate to find a way to stop it. He turns to God for guidance and is instructed to build an altar and make a sacrifice to atone for his transgression.
Araunah's question, "Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant?" reveals his confusion as to why the king would seek him out. David's response, "To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people," underscores the urgency and seriousness of the situation. The building of the altar and the offering of sacrifices on it were seen as powerful acts of atonement and supplication to God in the ancient Israelite tradition.
The symbolism in this verse is rich and multifaceted. First, the threshing floor itself holds symbolic significance as a place of separation, purification, and preparation. It was where grain was separated from chaff, a process that echoes the purification and separation of the righteous from the unrighteous. In seeking to build an altar on this site, David seeks to not only halt the physical plague but also to symbolically separate the people from their sin and impurity.
Additionally, David's actions and words convey the importance of taking responsibility for one's sins and seeking forgiveness and reconciliation with God. Through his willingness to humble himself before God and make a sacrificial offering, David demonstrates the principle of repentance and the desire for restoration of his relationship with God.
Furthermore, the verse highlights the mercy and grace of God in the face of human failure. Despite David's sin, God provides a way for forgiveness and restoration through the act of sacrifice and atonement. This points to the overarching theme of redemption and grace that runs throughout the biblical narrative.
In conclusion, 2 Samuel 24:21 is a powerful and poignant verse that speaks to the themes of atonement, repentance, and the mercy of God. It serves as a reminder of the consequences of sin, the need for reconciliation with God, and the hope of redemption through sacrificial atonement. The context, symbolism, and themes within this verse provide deep insight into the nature of God and the human experience, making it a significant and thought-provoking passage within the biblical text.
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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."
"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
2 Samuel 24:22
2 Samuel 24:22
2 Samuel 24:22
2 Samuel 19:24
2 Samuel 21:21 - "And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the brother of David slew him."
2 samuel 23:8-21
2 Samuel 20:24 - "And Adoram was over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder:"
2 Samuel 24:19 - "And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded."
2 Samuel 5:21 - "And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them."
1 Samuel 2:21 - "And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD."
2 Samuel 24:6 - "Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon,"
2 Samuel 23:24 - "Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem,"
2 Samuel 21:11 - "And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done."
2 Samuel 13:21 - "¶ But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth."
2 Samuel 22:24 - "I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity."
1 Samuel 24:21 - "Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house."
2 Chronicles 24:21 - "And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD."
2 Samuel 17:24 - "Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him."
1 Samuel 2:24 - "Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD'S people to transgress."
2 Samuel 21:22 - "These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants."
2 Samuel 24:11 - "For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,"
2 Samuel 24:5 - "¶ And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer:"
2 Samuel 24:8 - "So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days."
2 Samuel 2:24 - "Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon."
2 Samuel 24:7 - "And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beer-sheba."
2 Samuel 7:24 - "For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God."
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."
2 Samuel 22:21 - "The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me."