Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 21:18
Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The angel of the LORD commands the prophet Gad to relay a directive to King David immediately following David’s prayer for mercy during the plague. Gad is instructed to summon David to the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite to construct an altar.
The words — The Hebrew אָמַר (’a.Mar) records the angel’s authoritative speech act, while יְהוָה (Yah.weh) identifies the divine source of the command. These terms anchor the prophetic chain of communication in Yahweh’s direct intervention.
The thread — The text records this same command in 2 Samuel 24:18 and notes the site’s future role in 2 Chronicles 3:1. The narrative moves from a temporary plague-stopping altar to the designated location for the temple structure.
Why it lands — The text states that divine mercy requires specific, localized obedience rather than general repentance. It asks the reader to act immediately at a designated place instead of pursuing abstract devotion.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
- 2 Samuel 24:18 And that day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
- 1 Chronicles 21:11 So Gad went and said to David, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You must choose
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
- Acts 8:26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”