As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground.
An angel of judgment stood over Jerusalem, and David came to an ordinary threshing floor. Its owner, Ornan, left his wheat and bowed before the king — on the spot where God would stop the plague.
Terror, then relief
Ornan bows just after a moment of terror. One writer traces who saw the angel, and what changed when the king arrived.
H. L. RossierThe Lord, we have said, had seen the angel; then David saw him; now Ornan in turn sees him (v. 20). At this sight he and his sons hide in terror. But Ornan takes heart when he sees David (v. 21), sent by God to build an altar on Ornan's threshing floor. What could be more reassuring than to see the Lord's Anointed, the one God sent to make expiation and put an end to the judgment?
Why this floor, of all places
Ornan is a Jebusite — a Canaanite, not an Israelite. One writer asks why God stopped the judgment on his land, of all places.
William KellyThis happened at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, for the Jebusite was in the land. The Canaanites still lived in the land. It will be so until Jesus comes and reigns, and then the Canaanite will be in the land no longer. And what is more, God marks out His grace, for everything here is grace. That is where He stopped — the last place anyone would have expected — at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Why there? Because there God meant to mark sovereign grace.
Wheat, not destruction
David meets Ornan at a threshing floor, where a farmer beats the grain out of the chaff. One writer — who calls the man Araunah — finds meaning in that place.
Leslie M. GrantThere is wonderful teaching for us, though, in God stopping the plague at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. The judgment of God only goes as far as the threshing floor. In other words, when God judges, His aim is to bring the grain out of the chaff. The process may be very painful, but the blessing it brings to real believers is more precious than words can say. The Jebusites had been true to their name, "treaders down" of the city God had declared to be His own centre, that is, Jerusalem. But the grace of God has changed Araunah's character. He is a prodigal of the Gentiles, spared while the judgment hung over his head. He is a picture of all Gentiles whom the grace of God saves.
Hiding and standing
Ornan and his sons had hidden. David walks straight onto the same ground. The difference is not courage but knowing what God had provided.
J. G. BellettNotice two things here. No one can stand before the Lord stripped bare, with nothing but his own resources. Yet sinners may come right up to His heavenly presence, through the power of simply believing in His grace. Ornan and David show this. The Lord had not revealed His grace to Ornan. He knew nothing of the altar that would soon stand on his threshing floor. So, as a bare creature in the sight of God — like Adam before him in the same situation — he hid himself. But David knew the remedy that mercy, triumphing over judgment, had provided. So he dares to stand, though shamed and humbled.
Two accounts, one purpose
Samuel tells the same meeting a little differently. One writer answers the question those differences raise:
F. A. HughesAs always, where Scripture seems at first sight to differ from itself, careful thought over the Word will uncover hidden truths and glories. Broadly speaking, the account in Samuel deals with the side of man's need, while Chronicles gives us the side of God's purpose.
In this verse the difference is in who Ornan sees coming toward him:
F. A. HughesSamuel speaks of the King and his servants, but in Chronicles David alone fills Ornan's sight. Chronicles mentions only Ornan and his sons. That too points to purpose, above all when we link it with the thought behind 1 Chronicles 22:1.
Summary
- Sword. An angel of judgment stood over the city. David came as the one God sent to build the altar and put an end to the judgment.
- Floor. Judgment goes as far as the threshing floor and no further. God is sorting grain from chaff, not destroying everything.
- Jebusite. God stopped the plague on Canaanite ground — the last place anyone would expect. That marks the whole scene as grace.
- Faith. Ornan hid because he did not know the remedy. David stood on the same ground because he did. Knowing what God has provided is what lets a guilty person come near.
- Purpose. Samuel records man's need; Chronicles records God's purpose. Here David alone fills Ornan's sight.