These two references are a good example of what SEEMS like a contradiction yet there is a simple explanation which will show that there is NO CONTRADICTION in God’s Word. God cannot lie and God never contradicts Himself. Here are the two verses:

2 Samuel 24:24 says, “Then the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will surely buy it from you for A PRICE, nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing.’ So, David bought the THRESHING FLOOR AND THE OXEN FOR FIFTY SHEKELS OF SILVER.”

1 Chronicles 21:24-25 reads, “Then King David said to Ornan, ‘No, but I will surely buy it for the FULL PRICE, for I will not take what is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing. So David gave Ornan SIX HUNDRED SHEKELS OF GOLD by weight for THE PLACE.”

If you read whole the context that these two verses are found in (2 Samuel 24:18-25 and 1 Chronicles 21:18-26), you see that David was commanded to buy the threshing floor from Ornan the Jebusite (Ornan is called Araunah in 2 Samuel) so he could build an altar to offer animal sacrifices to the Lord. Ornan offered to give David the threshing floor and give him oxen for burnt offerings (2 Samuel 24:18-23 and 1 Chronicles 21:18-23). But as we saw from 2 Samuel 24:24 and 1 Chronicles 21:24, David did not want to offer sacrifices to God “with that which cost him nothing.” As one has said, “That would be a denial of the very meaning of sacrifice.” We see in these two accounts that the FULL PRICE was made by David in TWO PAYMENTS; “fifty shekels of silver for the THRESHING FLOOR AND THE OXEN” and “six hundred shekels of gold for THE PLACE.” The 50 shekels of silver paid for the small site where he would build the altar and the 600 shekels of gold (a much larger amount…approximately 15 lbs. compared to 1 lb.) paid for the whole parcel of ground surrounding the threshing floor.

I have known the Lord Jesus as my Savior now for nearly 50 years and in studying the Bible I have seen quite a few passages in Scripture which SEEM to contradict one another at first sight, but after carefully examining the context of these passages the Holy Spirit has graciously revealed to me the true meaning where there is NO CONTRADICTION. I’m not suggesting that your question implied a contradiction, but others have seized upon these verses to question the accuracy and infallibility of Scripture. Jesus said to His Father in John 17:17, “Your word is TRUTH” and it is precious to know that we can believe EVERY WORD that God has inspired men to write (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21 and 1 Corinthians 2:9-13). There are no errors or contradictions whatsoever from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21.  (DO)  (710.1)