Person Old Testament
Ornan
Also known as Ornan =ESV, KJV; Araunah =NIV, Araunah
Ornan (Araunah) was a Jebusite who sold his threshing floor to King David, which later became the site of Solomon's temple. Mentioned in 15 verses across 3 books, first at 2 Samuel 24:20.
Why it matters. Jebusite, sold threshing floor to David
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Ornan
Ornan, also known as Araunah, was a Jebusite who owned a threshing floor in Jerusalem during the reign of King David (2Sa.24.16; 1Ch.21.15). After David sinned by taking a census of Israel, God sent a plague that killed 70,000 people (2Sa.24.15; 1Ch.21.14). When the angel of the Lord was about to destroy Jerusalem, God commanded the angel to stop at Ornan's threshing floor (2Sa.24.16; 1Ch.21.15). David was instructed by the prophet Gad to build an altar to the Lord on Ornan's threshing floor (2Sa.24.18; 1Ch.21.18). Ornan offered to give David the threshing floor and the oxen for the sacrifice, but David insisted on paying the full price (2Sa.24.21-24; 1Ch.21.22-25). David purchased the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver (2Sa.24.24) or 600 shekels of gold (1Ch.21.25). The threshing floor became the site where David built an altar and offered sacrifices to the Lord (2Sa.24.25; 1Ch.21.26). This location later became the site of Solomon's temple (2Ch.3.1).
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
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Appears in Scripture
Named in 15 verses across 3 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.