Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Chronicles 21:20
And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
Verse 20. Ornan turned back, and saw the angel] The Septuagint say, And Orna turned, , and saw the KING. The Syriac and Arabic say, David saw the angel; and do not mention Ornan in this place. Houbigant translates the same reading hammalech, the king, for hammalach, the angel, and vindicates his version from the parallel place, 2Sa 24:20, where it is said, he saw David: but there is no word of his seeing the angel. But the seeing David is mentioned in 1Ch 21:21; though Houbigant supposes that the 20th verse refers to his seeing the king while he was at a distance; the 21st, to his seeing him when he came into the threshing-floor. In the first instance he and his sons were afraid when they saw the king coming, and this caused them to hide themselves; but when he came into the threshing-floor, they were obliged to appear before him. One of Kennicott’s MSS. has the king, instead of the angel. Some learned men contend for the former reading.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Or,
And Ornan turned back, ( i.e. turned his face from the angel,) for, or when, (for the Hebrew vau is frequently used both those ways,)
he saw the angel and (so did) his four sons with him hiding themselves; partly because of the glory and majesty in which the angel appeared, which mens weak and sinful natures are not able to bear; and partly from the fear of Gods vengeance, which was at this time riding circuit in the land, and now seemed to be coming to their family.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20, 21. Ornan was threshing wheatIfthe census was entered upon in autumn, the beginning of the civilyear, the nine and a half months it occupied would end at wheatharvest. The common way of threshing corn is by spreading it out on ahigh level area, and driving backwards and forwards upon it two oxenharnessed to a clumsy sledge with three rollers and some sharpspikes. The driver sits on his knees on the box, while another personis employed in drawing back the straw and separating it from thegrain underneath. By this operation the chaff is very much chopped,and the grain threshed out.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
See Gill “1Ch 21:1”.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
, “and Ornan turned him about,” is translated by Berth. incorrectly, “then Ornan turned back,” who then builds on this erroneous interpretation, which is contrary to the context, a whole nest of conjectures. is said to have arisen out of , the succeeding out of , out of (2Sa 24:20), “by mistake and further alteration.” In saying this, however, he himself has not perceived that 2Sa 24:20 (Sam.) does not correspond to the 1Ch 21:20 of the Chronicle at all, but to the 1Ch 21:21, where the words, “and Araunah looked out ( ) and saw the king,” as parallel to the words, “and Ornan looked ( ) and saw David.” The 1Ch 21:20 of the Chronicle contains a statement which is not found in Samuel, that Ornan (Araunah), while threshing with his four sons, turned and saw the angel, and being terrified at the sight, hid himself with his sons. After that, David with his train came from Zion to the threshing-floor in Mouth Moriah, and Araunah looking out saw the king, and came out of the threshing-floor to meet him, with deep obeisance. This narrative contains nothing improbable, nothing to justify us in having recourse to critical conjecture.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(20) And Ornan turned back (returned), and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves (were hiding). There can be little doubt that this is corrupt, and that the text of Samuel is right, And Araunah looked up, and saw the king and his servants passing by him. The LXX. here has Ornan turned, and saw the king; the Vulg., when Ornan had looked up The Hebrew words for returned and looked up, angel and king, are similar enough to be easily confused in an ill-written or failed MS.
Now Ornan was threshing wheat.This clause does not harmonise with the preceding statement, but its genuineness is made probable by the fact that Ornan was in his threshingfloor at the time. Moreover, the LXX. adds to 2Sa. 24:15, And David chose for himself the death; and it was the days of wheat harvest.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1Ch 21:20. And saw the angel And saw the king. Houbigant. See the LXX, and 2Sa 24:20.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Ch 21:20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
Ver. 20. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. ] Though he had sometime been a king, as some gather from 2Sa 24:23 . See Trapp on “ 2Sa 24:23 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
angel
(See Scofield “Heb 1:4”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
And Ornan: etc. or, When Ornan turned back and saw the angel, then he, and his four sons with him, hid themselves. Jdg 6:11
Reciprocal: 2Sa 24:20 – bowed 1Ch 21:27 – he put
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ch 21:20. His four sons with him hid themselves Because of the glory and majesty in which the angel appeared, which mens weak natures are not able to bear; and from the fear of Gods vengeance, which now seemed to be coming to their family.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
21:20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him {i} hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
(i) If man hides himself at the sight of an angel who is a creature, how much more as a sinner able to appear before the face of God?