ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 Chronicles 21.29

Book: 1 Chronicles · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

27. And Jehovah commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof. 28. At that time, when David saw that Jehovah had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

29. For the tabernacle of Jehovah, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt-offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.

  1. But David could not go before it to inquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of Jehovah. (1 Chronicles 21:27-30, ASV)
WEB

27. Then Yahweh commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. 28. At that time, when David saw that Yahweh had answered him in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

29. For Yahweh’s tabernacle, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.

  1. But David couldn’t go before it to inquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of Yahweh’s angel. (1 Chronicles 21:27-30, WEB)
KJV

27. And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof. 28. At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

29. For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon.

  1. But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD. (1 Chronicles 21:27-30, KJV)
YLT

27. And Jehovah saith to the messenger, and he turneth back his sword unto its sheath. 28. At that time when David seeth that Jehovah hath answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificeth there;

29. and the tabernacle of Jehovah that Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt-offering, [are] at that time in a high place, in Gibeon;

  1. and David is not able to go before it to seek God, for he hath been afraid because of the sword of the messenger of Jehovah. (1 Chronicles 21:27-30, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: narrator (the Chronicler), in an explanatory aside
  • Audience: the restored community in the Persian province of Yehud, rebuilding around temple and priesthood with no king of their own
  • Location: the high place at Gibeon, contrasted with the threshing floor at Jerusalem
  • Time period: events of David's reign, c. 1010-970 BC, narrated by a writer working after the return from Babylon, commonly placed c. 400 BC

Theological reading

An editorial note answering an obvious question: if the Mosaic tabernacle and the bronze altar were still standing at Gibeon, why did David sacrifice here? Verse 30 gives the reason, that he could not go before the altar at Gibeon because he was afraid of the angel's sword.

The aside marks a transition in the history of Israel's worship. Two legitimate sites existed for a period, the tabernacle at Gibeon and the ark in the tent David pitched at Jerusalem, and 16:37-42 describes the divided arrangement with Zadok left at Gibeon. This verse records the moment the Jerusalem site receives its warrant by divine answer of fire, and 22:1 draws the conclusion. For the post-exilic reader the passage explains why there is one temple, on that hill, and not several._

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

  • TBD
  • TBD
  • TBD
  • TBD

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.