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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) Gad came.—As appears from 1Chronicles 21:18, by direction of the angel. Daniel was still in Jerusalem proper, i.e., the hill of Zion, and it was looking out from thence that he had seen the angel “by the threshing-floor of Araunah,” i.e., on the lower hill of Mount Moriah, which afterwards became the site of the Temple, and was included within the city. It was doubtless this event that determined the Temple-site.

Benson Commentary

2 Samuel 24:18. Gad came that day to David — By the express command of God, (2 Samuel 24:19; 1 Chronicles 21:18-19,) and said unto him, Go up — To mount Moriah; rear an altar in the thrashing-floor of Araunah — Which place God appointed for this work, in gracious condescension to, and compliance with, David’s fear of going to Gibeon, which is expressed 1 Chronicles 21:29-30; because this was the place where God, by his angel, appeared in a threatening posture, where therefore it was meet he should be appeased; and because God would hereby signify the translation of the tabernacle from Gibeon hither, and the erection of the temple here, 2 Chronicles 3:1.

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

Compare the passage in Chronicles. The account here is abridged; and 2 Samuel 24:18 has the appearance of being the original statement.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18. Araunah—or Ornan (1Ch 21:18), the Jebusite, one of the ancient inhabitants, who, having become a convert to the true religion, retained his house and possessions. He resided on Mount Moriah, the spot on which the temple was afterwards built (2Ch 3:1); but that mount was not then enclosed in the town.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Gad came that day to David, by command from God, 2 Samuel 24:19 1 Chronicles 21:18.

Go up to Mount Moriah.

In the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite; which place God appointed for this work, partly, in gracious condescension to and compliance with David’s fear of going to Gibeon, which is expressed 1 Chronicles 21:29,30; partly, because this was the place where God by his angel appeared in a threatening posture, where therefore it was meet he should be appeased; and partly, because God would hereby signify the translation of the tabernacle from Gibeon hither, and the erection of the temple here, 2 Chronicles 3:1.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Gad came that day to David,.... Ordered and directed by the angel of the Lord, 1 Chronicles 21:18,

and said unto him, go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite: it was too far to go to Gibeon, where the tabernacle was, at such a time of extremity, when the sword of the angel was stretched out over Jerusalem, 1 Chronicles 21:29; and this was the most proper place, as it was the very spot over and nearest to which the angel was; and was on Mount Moriah, where the Jews say Abraham offered up Isaac; and where the temple was afterwards built, as Kimchi and Ben Gersom observe; and Eupolemus, an Heathen writer (g), says, that when David desired to build a temple for God, and that he would show him the place of the altar, an angel appeared to him, standing over the place where the altar at Jerusalem was to be built.

(g) Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 30. p. 447.

Geneva Study Bible

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.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18–25. Purchase of Araunah’s threshingfloor and erection of an altar there

18. Gad came] By direction of the angel, according to 1 Chronicles 21:18. Gad’s message was the answer to David’s prayer, the announcement to him of the purpose of mercy described in 2 Samuel 24:16. David was still in Jerusalem, praying perhaps at the tent in which the Ark was, when he saw the appearance of the angel hovering above the neighbouring hill, and apparently about to strike the city.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - Go up. David probably, on receiving God's message, had gone to the tent which he had pitched for the ark in Zion (2 Samuel 6:17), in order that he might pray there; and while on his way he saw the dark plague cloud coming as the messenger of God's wrath to smite Jerusalem. In an agony of grief, he poured out his prayer that Jerusalem might be spared, and God heard him, and sent Gad a second time to bid him offer sacrifice, that, by making an atonement, he might stand between the dead and the living, as Aaron had done in the wilderness (Numbers 16:46-48) He is therefore to leave the tabernacle, and mount up to the summit on which Araunah's threshing floor was situated. We read in 1 Chronicles 21:28-30 that David wished to go to Gibeon, where the Mosaic tabernacle and altar of burnt offering were, to inquire of God, but that he was afraid, as the angel of the pestilence was smiting outside the walls. This is mentioned as an excuse for his offering at an unconsecrated spot. But it also suggests that David's choice was a submission to a chastisement already at work. 2 Samuel 24:18

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

David's prayer was heard. The prophet Gad came and said to him by command of Jehovah, "Go up, and erect an altar to the Lord upon the floor of Aravnah the Jebusite." This is all that is communicated here of the word of Jehovah which Gad was to convey to the king; the rest is given afterwards, as is frequently the case, in the course of the subsequent account of the fulfilment of the divine command (2 Samuel 24:21). David was to build the altar and offer burnt-offerings and supplicatory-offerings upon it, to appease the wrath of Jehovah. The plague would then be averted from Israel.