Here be oxen for burnt-sacrifice - He felt for the king; and showed his loyalty to him by this offer. He felt for the people; and was willing to make any sacrifice to get the plague stayed. He felt for his own personal safety; and therefore was willing to give up all to save his life. He felt for the honor of God; and therefore was glad that he had a sacrifice to offer, so that God might magnify both his justice and mercy.

All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king,.... The note of similitude as is not in the text; from whence some have thought he was king of the Jebusites before Jerusalem was taken out of their hands, or however was of the royal race, perhaps the son and heir of the then king at that time; or he has this title given him, because of his great liberality, having the spirit of a prince in him, even of a king; so Ulysses addressed Antinous, saying, thou art like a king, and therefore should give more largely than others (h):

and Araunah said unto the king, the Lord thy God accept thee; thine offering with a good will; with pleasure and delight, as the Targum; that so the plague might be removed, and which no doubt made him the more ready to part with the above things, and all that he had; so dreadful did the calamity appear to him, and especially after he saw the angel with his drawn sword just over him.

(h) Homer. Odyss. 17. ver. 335.

to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed--It is evident that the plague was not stayed till after the altar was built, and the sacrifice offered, so that what is related (Sa2 24:16) was by anticipation. Previous to the offering of this sacrifice, he had seen the destroying angel as well as offered the intercessory prayer (Sa2 24:17). This was a sacrifice of expiation; and the reason why he was allowed to offer it on Mount Moriah was partly in gracious consideration to his fear of repairing to Gibeon (Ch1 21:29-30), and partly in anticipation of the removal of the tabernacle and the erection of the temple there (Ch2 3:1).