1 Chronicles 21:24

“No,” replied King David, “I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the LORD what belongs to you, nor will I offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — King David speaks to Ornan after the Jebusite offers the threshing floor and sacrificial materials as a free gift. David refuses the donation and insists on purchasing the land before building an altar.

The words — The Hebrew uses אֶקְנֶה ('ek.Neh) = I will acquire [it] and קָנֹה (ka.Noh) = certainly <to acquire> to emphasize David’s deliberate purchase rather than passive receipt.

The thread — This insistence on paid ownership echoes Abraham’s refusal of free goods in Genesis 14:23 and his payment of Ephron in Genesis 23:13, while David’s commitment to costly worship anticipates the pattern of appearing before the LORD in Deuteronomy 16:16.

Why it lands — The text states that David will not give God offerings that cost him nothing, demanding that worship require personal sacrifice. A reader must decide whether their devotion is a transaction of convenience or a deliberate payment of cost.

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

וַיֹּ֨אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he said הַמֶּ֤לֶךְha./Me.lekhthe/ king דָּוִיד֙da.VidDavid לְאָרְנָ֔ןle./'a.re.Nanto/ Ornan לֹ֕אlo'In-כִּֽי־ki-deed קָנֹ֥הka.Nohcertainly <to acquire>אֶקְנֶ֖ה'ek.NehI will acquire [it]בְּכֶ֣סֶףbe./Khe.seffor/ money מָלֵ֑אma.Le'full כִּ֠יkifor לֹא־lo'-not אֶשָּׂ֤א'e.Sa'I will take אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-[that] whichלְךָ֙le./Kha[belongs] to/ youלַיהוָ֔הla./Yah.wehfor/ Yahweh וְהַעֲל֥וֹתve./ha.'a.Lotand/ to offer up עוֹלָ֖הo.Laha burnt offering חִנָּֽם׃chi.Namfor nothing

King James Version

And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.
Genesis 14:23 that I will not accept even a thread, or a strap of a sandal, or anything that belongs to you, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’
Genesis 23:13 and said to Ephron in their presence, “If you will please listen to me, I will pay you the price of the field. Accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.”
Malachi 1:12 “But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’
Romans 12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.

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