2 Samuel 21
21
David Avenges the Gibeonites
1Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David #[Num. 27:21]sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but #See Josh. 9:3-17of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. 3And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless #See 1 Sam. 26:19the heritage of the Lord?” 4The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?” 5They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel, 6let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at #1 Sam. 10:26; 11:4 Gibeah of Saul, #1 Sam. 10:24the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
7But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of #1 Sam. 20:8, 42; 23:18the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8The king took the two sons of #ch. 3:7 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab#21:8 Two Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts Michal the daughter of Saul, whom #[Gen. 50:23] she bore to #[1 Sam. 18:19]Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; 9and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, #Ruth 1:22at the beginning of barley harvest.
10 # [Deut. 21:23] Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night. 11When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, #1 Sam. 31:10-13; [ch. 2:4] who had stolen them from the public square of #Josh. 17:11Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa. 13And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged. 14And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in #Josh. 18:28 Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that #ch. 24:25God responded to the plea for the land.
War with the Philistines
15There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary. 16And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants #ver. 18, 20, 22of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels#21:16 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. 17But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, #[ch. 18:3] “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench #ch. 22:29; 1 Kgs. 11:36; 15:4; 2 Kgs. 8:19; 2 Chr. 21:7; Ps. 132:17the lamp of Israel.”
18 # For ver. 18-22, see 1 Chr. 20:4-8 After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then #1 Chr. 11:29; 27:11 Sibbecai #ch. 23:27 the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants #ver. 16, 20, 22of the giants. 19And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and #[ch. 23:24] Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, #1 Sam. 17:7; 1 Chr. 20:5the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.#21:19 Contrast 1 Chronicles 20:5, which may preserve the original reading 20And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended #ver. 16, 18from the giants. 21And when #1 Sam. 17:10, 25, 26, 36, 45he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. 22These four were descended #[See ver. 20 above]from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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2 Samuel 21
21
Saul’s Family Punished
1While David was king, there was a famine that continued for three years. So David prayed to the Lord. And the Lord answered, “Saul and his family of murderers#21:1 family of murderers Literally, “house of blood.” are the reason for the famine, because he killed the Gibeonites.” 2(The Gibeonites were not Israelites. They were a group of Amorites. The Israelites had promised not to hurt them,#21:2 The Israelites … them This happened in Joshua’s time when the Gibeonites tricked the Israelites. Read Josh. 9:3-15. but Saul tried to kill the Gibeonites. He did this because of his strong feelings for the people of Israel and Judah.)
King David called the Gibeonites together and talked to them. 3David said to the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you? What can I do to take away Israel’s sin, so that you can bless the Lord’s people?”
4The Gibeonites said to David, “There isn’t enough gold and silver for Saul’s family to pay for what they did. But we don’t have the right to kill anyone else in Israel.”
David said, “Well, what can I do for you?”
5The Gibeonites said to King David, “The person who plotted against us was Saul. He is the one who tried to destroy all our people living in the land of Israel. 6Give us seven of Saul’s sons. Saul was the Lord’s chosen king,#21:6 chosen king Literally, “anointed one.” so we will hang his sons in front of the Lord on Mount Gibeah of Saul.”
King David said, “All right, I will give them to you.” 7But the king protected Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth. Jonathan was Saul’s son, and David had made a promise in the Lord’s name to Jonathan.#21:7 David had made … to Jonathan David and Jonathan promised each other they would not harm each other’s families. Read 1 Sam. 20:12-23, 42. So the king did not let them hurt Mephibosheth. 8David gave them Armoni and Mephibosheth.#21:8 Mephibosheth This is another man named Mephibosheth, not Jonathan’s son. These were the sons of Saul and Rizpah. Saul also had a daughter named Merab who was married to Adriel son of Barzillai, from Meholah. David took the five sons of Merab and Adriel. 9David gave these seven men to the Gibeonites who then brought them to Mount Gibeah and hanged them in front of the Lord. Those seven men died together in the spring, during the first days of the barley harvest.
David and Rizpah
10Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took a mourning cloth and put it on the rock.#21:10 rock This might be the Big Rock at Gibeon (read 2 Sam. 20:8), the rock that the bodies were lying on, or a rock that marked the place where her sons were buried. That cloth stayed on the rock from the time the harvest began until the rains came. Rizpah watched the bodies day and night. She protected them from the wild birds during the day and the wild animals at night.
11People told David what Saul’s slave woman Rizpah was doing. 12Then David took the bones of Saul and Jonathan from the men of Jabesh Gilead. (The men of Jabesh Gilead got these bones after Saul and Jonathan were killed at Gilboa. The Philistines had hanged the bodies of Saul and Jonathan on a wall in Beth Shan.#21:12 Beth Shan Or possibly, “Beth Shean.” But the men of Jabesh Gilead went there and stole the bodies from that public area.) 13David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from Jabesh Gilead and buried them with the bodies of the seven men who were hanged. 14They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the area of Benjamin, in one of the tunnels in the grave of Saul’s father Kish, as the king commanded. After that God again listened to the prayers of the people in that land.
War With the Philistines
15The Philistines started another war with Israel. David and his men went out to fight the Philistines, but David became very tired and weak. 16Ishbi-Benob was one of the giants.#21:16 one of the giants Or “a son of Rapha (Rephaim).” Also in verses 18, 20, 22. His spear weighed over 7 pounds.#21:16 over 7 pounds Literally, “300 shekels of bronze” (3.45 kg). He put on new armor and thought he would be able to kill David. 17But Abishai son of Zeruiah killed this giant Philistine and saved David’s life.
Then David’s men made him promise that he would not go out to battle anymore. They said, “If you do, Israel might lose its brightest leader.”
18Later, there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob. Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, another one of the giants.
19Later, there was another battle at Gob against the Philistines. Elhanan the son of Jaare Oregim from Bethlehem killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath from Gath.#21:19 Lahmi … Gath See 1 Chron. 20:5. His spear was as big as a post.#21:19 post Literally, “a weaver’s rod,” the large beam across a loom.
20There was another battle at Gath. There was a very large man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He had 24 fingers and toes in all. This man was also one of the giants. 21This man challenged Israel and made fun of them, but Jonathan killed this man. (This was Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimei.)
22All four of these men were giants from Gath. They were killed by David and his men.
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