2 Samuel 24:21Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" David said, "To buy your threshing floor, to build an altar to Yahweh, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people."
The setting
Mount Moriah, Jerusalem, ~1000 BC. A devastating plague has killed 70,000 Israelites because of David's pride in counting his army. David desperately seeks a place to offer sacrifice...
The emotion here: desperate urgency carrying the weight of 70,000 deaths
The original word
goren (גֹּרֶן) — threshing floor, a flat hilltop where grain is separated from chaff
Why it matters
This threshing floor would become the site of Solomon's Temple
Read with care
What most readers miss in 2 Samuel 24:21
David could have taken the free gift but chose to pay full price — true worship costs something
Common misconceptionPeople think this is about David being generous to buy land. Actually, Araunah offered everything free, but David insisted on paying because worship without cost isn't worship.
The thread continues
Verses that echo 2 Samuel 24:21
Bible Genome reading
2 Samuel 24:21 — Bible Genome reading
Emotional genome
2 Samuel 24:21 comes from the book of 2 Samuel, written during the United Kingdom period. These words are attributed to Araunah. The dominant emotion in this verse is seeking, with a comfort power of 30% and a tone that is conversational. It belongs to the dialogue genre of biblical literature. Key themes include worship, intercession. Notable phrases: build an altar to Yahweh; that the plague.
Emotionally similar
Verses that meet the same seeking
“Pray without ceasing.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:17
“But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
— Amos 5:24
“Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that …”
— Genesis 18:25
“Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you don't know.”
— Jeremiah 33:3
“Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evi…”
— Luke 11:4
Your reflection
What does 2 Samuel 24:21 mean to you, today?
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