And the king said unto Araunah, nay, but I will surely buy [it] of thee at a price,.... And a full price too, 1Ch 21:24; that is, give him as much for it as it was worth:neither will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing; which shows an ingenuous spirit, and contrary to the temper of many, who like to serve the Lord in the cheapest manner, or with little cost to themselves:so David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver; which, reckoning a shekel at two shillings and sixpence, made but just six pounds five shillings of our money; though its value is but about two shillings and four pence farthing, which reduces the sum; in 1Ch 21:25, David is said to give six hundred shekels of gold by weight; two ways are proposed by the Jews for the reconciling of the difficulty; the one is, that fifty shekels were collected out of every tribe, and twelve times fifty make six hundred shekels, and these were of the value or weight of gold; but this seems not likely, that it should be collected out of all the tribes, and since it appears plainly to be the king's purchase, and with his money: the other is, that there were two purchases, the first was of the threshingfloor, oxen, and instruments, which were bought for fifty shekels of silver, as here, and the other was a purchase of the place, as it is called in the book of Chronicles; that large space of ground on which afterwards the temple, and all the courts adjoining to it, were built, and which was now Araunah's farm, and on which were his dwelling house, and other buildings; and for all this David gave him six hundred shekels of gold, which made three hundred ounces and reckoning gold as twelve times the value of silver, according to Brerewood , it amounted to four hundred fifty pounds of our money; and learned men have not been able to give a better solution of this difficulty; and with this Montanus agrees.
Bochart and Noldius have taken another way, but not so clear and satisfactory; the Septuagint of 1Ch 21:25 has fifty shekels, as here. T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 116. 2. Vid. Gronov. de Pecunia Vet. l. 3.
c. 7. p. 369. De Ponder. & Pretiis, c. 5. Tubal-Cain, p. 15. So Hieron. Trad. Heb. fol. 80.