1 Chronicles 21 Study Notes

21:9-13 Gad and Nathan were the two prophets associated with David. Both of them had the unpleasant duty of announcing divine punishment on the king they served (2Sm 12:7). Gad presented David with three options for punishment: (1) three years of famine, (2) three months of devastation by his enemies, or (3) three days of . . . plague on the land. David chose the plague, reasoning that it most directly involved the hand of God and therefore had the most potential for mercy.

21:14 David had wanted to know how many men he had at his disposal. By divine retribution he wound up with seventy-thousand fewer than he had before the census was taken.

21:15-17 The spread of the plague is attributed to an angel from God (2Ch 32:21). The angel was about to inflict the plague on Jerusalem. He was fully visible, hovering above the threshing floor of Ornan. David and the elders of Israel saw the angel floating in a menacing posture with his sword . . . stretched out. David pleaded with God to spare the innocent people and let him suffer God’s punishment. Ornan is a variant for “Araunah” (2Sm 24:18).

21:18-24 Ornan and his four sons received two shocks: they saw the hovering angel, and the king himself showed up on their property. David asked Ornan to sell him this location at its full price—without receiving a king’s discount—because he was afraid the Lord might not stop the plague if he did not pay the full amount.

21:25 The price for the plot of land mentioned here is fifteen pounds of gold, while in 2Sm 24:24 it is said to have been twenty ounces of silver. This difference can be explained if David purchased the properties in simultaneous but distinct transactions. Perhaps the silver was the price for the threshing floor while the gold purchased the surrounding property. Ornan may very naturally have priced these items apart from one another.

21:26-27 While the setting for the sacrifice was being prepared, the angel apparently continued to hover over the scene. God signaled his acceptance of the sacrifice by sending fire from heaven. The angel stopped threatening Jerusalem.

21:28-30 At the end of this episode, the basic arrangement of sacred locations changed. The ark was still in Jerusalem, and the tabernacle continued in Gibeon, but from here on, David no longer used the tabernacle. He performed his sacrifices on this threshing floor. Perhaps he was afraid the angel might come back if he left this site.