2 Samuel 21
21
Other events from David's rule
The Gibeonites hang Saul's descendants
1While David was king, there were three years in a row when the nation of Israel could not grow enough food. So David asked the LORD for help, and the LORD answered, “Saul and his family are guilty of murder, because he had the Gibeonites killed.”
2The Gibeonites were not Israelites; they were descendants of the Amorites. The people of Israel had promised not to kill them,#21.2 promised…them: See Joshua 9.3-27. but Saul had tried to kill them because he wanted Israel and Judah to control all the land.#Js 9.3-15.
David called the Gibeonites to him, and he talked with them. 3He said, “What can I do to make up for what Saul did, so that you'll ask the LORD to be kind to his people again?”#21.3 ask…again: Saul's guilt had become a curse on Israel that had resulted in famine. For the effects of this curse to be removed, the Gibeonites would have to ask the LORD to be kind to Israel.
4The Gibeonites answered, “Silver and gold from Saul and his family are not enough. On the other hand, we don't have the right to put any Israelite to death.”
David said, “I'll do whatever you ask.”#21.4 I'll…ask: Or “What are you asking me to do for you?”
5They replied, “Saul tried to kill all our people so that none of us would be left in the land of Israel. 6Give us seven of his descendants. We will hang#21.6 hang: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. these men near the place where the LORD is worshipped in Gibeah, the home town of Saul, the LORD's chosen king.”
“I'll give them to you,” David said.
7David had made a promise to Jonathan with the LORD as his witness, so he spared Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul.#1 S 20.15-17; 2 S 9.1-7. 8But Saul and Rizpah the daughter of Aiah had two sons named Armoni and Mephibosheth. Saul's daughter Merab#21.8 Merab: Some Hebrew manuscripts and some manuscripts of one ancient translation. Most other manuscripts have “Michal”, Saul's daughter who was one of David's wives, but she never had any children (see 2 Samuel 6.23). According to 1 Samuel 18.19, Merab was Saul's daughter, and she married Adriel from Meholah. had five sons whose father was Adriel the son of Barzillai from Meholah.#21.8 Meholah: Also known as Abel-Meholah. David took Rizpah's two sons and Merab's five sons and#1 S 18.19. 9turned them over to the Gibeonites, who hanged#21.9 hanged: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. all seven of them on the mountain near the place where the LORD was worshipped. This happened right at the beginning of the barley harvest.#21.9 This…harvest: This would have been late in April.
Rizpah takes care of the bodies
10Rizpah spread out some sackcloth#21.10 sackcloth: See the note at 3.31. on a nearby rock. She wouldn't let the birds land on the bodies during the day, and she kept the wild animals away at night. She stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until it started to rain.#21.10 started to rain: This may have been the beginning of the rainy season in September or October. It usually didn't rain from May to September. Or, it may have been a sign that now there would be enough rain again.
The burial of Saul and his descendants
11-12Earlier the Philistines had killed Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa and had hung their bodies in the town square at Beth-Shan. The people of Jabesh in Gilead had secretly taken the bodies away, but David found out what Saul's wife#21.11,12 wife: See the note at 3.7. Rizpah had done, and he went to the leaders of Jabesh to get the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan.#1 S 31.8-13. 13-14David had their bones taken to the land of Benjamin and buried in a side room in Saul's family burial place. Then he gave orders for the bones of the men who had been hanged#21.13,14 hanged: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. to be buried there. It was done, and God answered prayers to bless the land.
The descendants of the Rephaim
(1 Chronicles 20.4-8)
15One time David got very tired when he and his soldiers were fighting the Philistines. 16One of the Philistine warriors was Ishbibenob, who was a descendant of the Rephaim,#21.16 Rephaim: This may refer to a group of people that lived in Palestine before the Israelites and who were famous for their large size. and he tried to kill David. Ishbibenob was armed with a new sword,#21.16 new sword: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. and his bronze spearhead#21.16 spearhead: Or “helmet”. alone weighed about three and a half kilogrammes. 17But Abishai#21.17 Abishai: David's nephew, the brother of Joab. came to the rescue and killed the Philistine.#1 K 11.36; Ps 132.17.
David's soldiers told him, “We can't let you risk your life in battle any more! You give light to our nation, and we want that flame to keep burning.”
18There was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, where Sibbecai from Hushah killed a descendant of the Rephaim named Saph.
19There was still another battle with the Philistines at Gob. A soldier named Elhanan killed Goliath#21.19 Goliath: According to 1 Chronicles 20.5, Elhanan killed the brother of Goliath. from Gath, whose spear shaft was like a weaver's beam.#21.19 weaver's beam: A large wooden rod used by a weaver when making cloth. Elhanan's father was Jari#21.19 Jari: Or “Jaare”. from Bethlehem.
20There was another war, this time in Gath. One of the enemy soldiers was a descendant of the Rephaim. He was as big as a giant and had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. 21But when he made fun of Israel, David's nephew Jonathan killed him. Jonathan was the son of David's brother Shimei.
22David and his soldiers killed these four men who were descendants of the Rephaim from Gath.
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2 Samuel 21: CEVUK
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
2 Samuel 21
21
Saul's Descendants are Put to Death
1During David's reign there was a severe famine which lasted for three full years. So David consulted the LORD about it, and the LORD said, “Saul and his family are guilty of murder; he put the people of Gibeon to death.” 2#Josh 9.3–15(The people of Gibeon were not Israelites; they were a small group of Amorites whom the Israelites had promised to protect, but Saul had tried to destroy them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.) 3So David summoned the people of Gibeon and said to them, “What can I do for you? I want to make up for the wrong that was done to you, so that you will bless the LORD's people.”
4They answered, “Our quarrel with Saul and his family can't be settled with silver or gold, nor do we want to kill any Israelite.”
“What, then, do you think I should do for you?” David asked.
5They answered, “Saul wanted to destroy us and leave none of us alive anywhere in Israel. 6So hand over seven of his male descendants, and we will hang them before the LORD at Gibeah, the town of Saul, the LORD's chosen king.”
“I will hand them over,” the king answered.
7 #
1 Sam 20.15–17; 2 Sam 9.1–7 But because of the sacred promise that he and Jonathan had made to each other, David spared Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul. 8#1 Sam 18.19However, he took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons that Rizpah the daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul; he also took the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab, whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai, who was from Meholah. 9David handed them over to the people of Gibeon, who hanged them on the mountain before the LORD — and all seven of them died together. It was late in the spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest, when they were put to death.
10Then Saul's concubine Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, used sackcloth to make a shelter for herself on the rock where the corpses were, and she stayed there from the beginning of harvest until the autumn rains came. During the day she would keep the birds away from the corpses, and at night she would protect them from wild animals.
11When David heard what Rizpah had done, 12#1 Sam 31.8–13he went and got the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from the people of Jabesh in Gilead. (They had stolen them from the public square in Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged the bodies on the day they killed Saul on Mount Gilboa.) 13David took the bones of Saul and Jonathan and also gathered up the bones of the seven men who had been hanged. 14Then they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan in the grave of Saul's father Kish, in Zela in the territory of Benjamin, doing all that the king had commanded. And after that, God answered their prayers for the country.
Battles against Philistine Giants
(1 Chr 20.4–8)
15There was another war between the Philistines and Israel, and David and his men went and fought the Philistines. During one of the battles David grew tired. 16A giant named Ishbibenob, who was carrying a bronze spear that weighed about 3.5 kilogrammes and who was wearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. 17#1 Kgs 11.36; Ps 132.17But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David's help, attacked the giant, and killed him. Then David's men made David promise that he would never again go out with them to battle. “You are the hope of Israel, and we don't want to lose you,” they said.
18After this there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, during which Sibbecai from Hushah killed a giant named Saph.
19There was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair#21.19 Probable text (see 1 Chr 20.5) Jair; Hebrew Jaareoregim. from Bethlehem killed Goliath from Gath, whose spear had a shaft as thick as the bar on a weaver's loom.
20Then there was another battle at Gath, where there was a giant who loved to fight. He had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. 21He defied the Israelites, and Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shammah, killed him.
22These four were descendants of the giants of Gath, and they were killed by David and his men.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.