אֲרַוְנָה
Aravnah (or Arnijah or Ornah), a Jebusite
Definition
אֲרַוְנָה (Aravnah) is the proper name of a Jebusite man who owned a threshing floor on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. In the biblical narrative, he is identified as a king (2 Samuel 24:23), suggesting he was a local Jebusite ruler before David's conquest of the city. The name appears in two primary variant spellings in the Hebrew text: Aravnah (in 2 Samuel) and Ornan (אָרְנָן, H771, in 1 Chronicles 21). He is most significant for willingly offering his threshing floor, oxen, and wood to King David as a site for sacrifice to halt a plague (2 Samuel 24:21-24). David insists on purchasing the property, which later becomes the site of Solomon's Temple.
Biblical Usage
This proper noun is used exclusively in the context of David's census and the subsequent plague in 2 Samuel 24. All seven occurrences are in this single chapter (2 Samuel 24:16, 18, 20-24). The narrative details David's encounter with Aravnah, his offer of his property for sacrifice, and David's purchase of the threshing floor and oxen. The parallel account in 1 Chronicles 21 uses the variant name Ornan (H771) for the same person and event.
Etymology
The etymology of אֲרַוְנָה is uncertain, as it is a personal name of likely non-Hebrew, Jebusite origin. The Masoretic text notes it as an orthographical variation of אָרְנָן (Ornan, H771), used in Chronicles. The variations (Aravnah, Arnijah, Ornah) likely represent different scribal traditions or attempts to transliterate the original Canaanite name into Hebrew.
Semantic Range
Aravnah's threshing floor is a site of profound theological significance. David's purchase of it (2 Samuel 24:24) establishes it as the legitimate, paid-for location for Israel's altar, halting God's judgment. This act of atonement consecrates the ground, which Jewish and Christian tradition identifies as Mount Moriah—the location of Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:2) and the future Temple of Solomon (2 Chronicles 3:1). The narrative highlights themes of divine mercy following repentance, rightful worship, and the foundation of Jerusalem's central sanctuary.
As a Jebusite, Aravnah was part of the pre-Israelite Canaanite population of Jerusalem. His title 'king' (2 Samuel 24:23) indicates he retained status and property rights after David's conquest, a practice not uncommon in ancient Near Eastern treaties. His threshing floor was a large, open, elevated area used for agriculture, which made it a suitable, clean space for a large public sacrifice. David's insistence on paying full price (2 Samuel 24:24) reflects ancient Near Eastern legal customs for securing permanent and uncontested ownership of land, especially for sacred purposes.
אָרְנָן (Ornan, H771) — The variant name for the same Jebusite individual used in the parallel account in 1 Chronicles 21.
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
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