Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 21:25
So David paid Ornan six hundred shekels of gold for the site.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David pays Ornan six hundred shekels of gold for the site immediately after declaring he will not offer burnt offerings that cost him nothing. This purchase directly precedes his construction of an altar and the subsequent descent of fire from heaven.
The words — The text records David giving (וַיִּתֵּן, va-yitten) six hundred shekels of gold (שִקְלֵי זָהָב, shiklei zahav) measured by weight (מִשְקָל, mishqal) to Ornan for the place (מָקוֹם, maqom).
The thread — This transaction mirrors the parallel account in 2 Samuel 24:24, where David similarly refuses to offer burnt offerings to the LORD that cost him nothing.
Why it lands — The verse establishes that genuine worship requires personal cost rather than appropriating what belongs to another.
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
So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 24:24 “No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.