פירוש על שמואל ב 24:23

Aravnoh the prince. He was the chief officer of the Yevusi [fortress].²⁴See Rashi earlier on verse 16.

Aravnah the king – He was the king of the Jebusites who dwelled in Jerusalem. Even in the days of David the Jebusites remained in Jerusalem, just as they had remained there after the conquest by Yehudah, as it is written “…but the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.” (Yehoshua 15:63) They lived as a subject people, paying a tax of servitude to Yehudah and Benyamin in order to keep their homes, vineyards and fields. This field and threshing floor belonged to Aravnah the Jebusite and he wanted to give them to David, but he did not want to accept them except as a full purchase. Even after David conquered the stronghold, he allowed the Jebusites who had been there originally under tax and servitude to stay in the city of Jerusalem until Shlomo built the Holy Temple. These Jebusites were not one of the seven nations, but rather Phillistines descended from Avimelech as I explained in the book of Yehoshua. Therefore it was permissible to leave them settled in the land on the condition that they not cause others to sin, as it says “They shall not dwell in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me…” (Shemot 23:33) So long as they are not sinning, meaning that they have accepted upon themselves the seven Noachide laws, it is permissible to leave them in the land. In some versions the Targum translated ‘All this Aravnah the king gave to the king’ as ‘Aravnah gave to the king that which the king asked of him.’