ABSTRACT
An important event in the consolidation of David’s control over the newlyconquered city of Jerusalem was his acquisition of the threshing-floor of ‘Araunah the Jebusite’, which was already a sacred place of some importance, and was to become the site of the temple which so powerfully symbolized the cohesive power of the cult of Yahweh in the empire which David then proceeded to build. The divine choice of the site was indicated by the avenging angel of Yahweh halting his pestilential visitation of the people, following David’s impious census, at the very spot (2 Samuel 24:15-17). In the passage which immediately follows this account (2 Samuel 24:18-25) we have the extraordinary spectacle of the conquering David negotiating the purchase of the threshing-floor from its owner, when we might reasonably expect him to seize it by right of conquest. It seems that behind the seemingly straightforward veneer of the narrative a number of very complex issues lie concealed.
