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2 Samuel 21
Legacy Standard Bible

David Gives Saul’s Sons to the Gibeonites

21 And there was (A)a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and (B)David sought the presence of Yahweh. And Yahweh said, “It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and (C)the sons of Israel [a]made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). 3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless (D)the inheritance of Yahweh?” 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, “(E)We have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” 5 So they said to the king, “(F)The man who consumed us and who planned [b]to eradicate us from standing within any border of Israel, 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will [c]hang them (G)before Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, (H)the chosen of Yahweh.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

7 But the king spared (I)Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, (J)because of the oath of Yahweh which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. 8 So the king took the two sons of (K)Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of [d](L)Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the (M)Meholathite. 9 Then he gave them into the hand of the Gibeonites, and they [e]hanged them in the mountain before Yahweh, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at (N)the beginning of barley harvest.

10 (O)And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until [f]it rained on them from the sky; and (P)she [g]allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. 11 Then it was told to David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. 12 So David went and took (Q)the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of (R)Beth-shan, (S)where the Philistines had hanged them on the day (T)the Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa. 13 And he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been [h]hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin in (U)Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and afterwards (V)God was moved by the entreaty for the land.

War with the Philistines

15 And (W)the Philistines were at war again with Israel, so David went down and his servants with him; and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was (X)among those born to the [i]giants, the weight of whose spear was [j]three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, [k]was girded with a new sword, and he [l]intended to strike down David. 17 But (Y)Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and put him to death. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “(Z)You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish (AA)the lamp of Israel.”

18 (AB)Now it happened afterwards that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then (AC)Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among those born to the [m]giants. 19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite struck down [n]Goliath the Gittite, (AD)the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 Then there was war at Gath again, and 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 had been born (AE)to the [o]giants. 21 And he [p]reproached Israel, so Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. 22 (AF)These four were born to the [q]giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:2 Lit had sworn to
  2. 2 Samuel 21:5 Lit against us that we should be eradicated
  3. 2 Samuel 21:6 Lit expose them
  4. 2 Samuel 21:8 As in Gr and Heb mss; M.T. Michal
  5. 2 Samuel 21:9 Lit exposed them
  6. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit water was poured
  7. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit gave
  8. 2 Samuel 21:13 Lit exposed
  9. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit giant; Heb Raphah
  10. 2 Samuel 21:16 Approx. 7.5 lb. or 3.3 kg, a shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
  11. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit and he was
  12. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit said
  13. 2 Samuel 21:18 Lit giant; Heb Raphah
  14. 2 Samuel 21:19 In 1 Chr 20:5, Lahmi, the brother of Goliath
  15. 2 Samuel 21:20 Lit giant; Heb Raphah
  16. 2 Samuel 21:21 Or defied
  17. 2 Samuel 21:22 Lit giant; Heb Raphah
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2 Samuel 21
International Standard Version

Retribution for the Gibeonites

21 One time there was a famine during David’s reign that went on for three straight years. David sought the Lord, who[a] said, “Saul and his household are guilty because he executed the Gibeonites.”

2 So the king called together the Gibeonites and conferred with them. Now the Gibeonites weren’t part of the nation of Israel, but were the survivors from the Amorites. Although the Israelis had promised to spare them, Saul had started to execute them in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.

3 So David asked the Gibeonites, “What am I to do for you? How am I to make atonement so that you will bless the Lord’s heritage?”

4 “We’re not looking for mere silver or gold to be paid by Saul or his household to us,” the Gibeonites responded to him. “And it’s not for us to execute anyone in Israel.”

In reply, David[b] asked, “So what are you asking me to do for you?”

5 They told the king, “The man who consumed us, who planned our destruction—intending to leave us with nothing in the territory of Israel— 6 is to have[c] seven of his sons turned over to us. We will hang[d] them in the presence of the Lord at Gibeah, which belonged to Saul, whom the Lord chose.”

So the king answered, “I will give them.”[e] 7 The king exempted Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the promise to the Lord that existed between David and Saul’s son Jonathan.

8 Instead, the king arrested Aiah’s daughter Rizpah’s two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth, whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, whom she had borne to Barzillai the Meholathite’s son Adriel. 9 Then he turned them over to the custody of the Gibeonites, who hanged them on the mountain in the presence of the Lord. All seven of them died at the same time. They were executed during the first days of harvest, just as the barley began to be gathered in.

10 Then Aiah’s daughter Rizpah grabbed some sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock where her children had been hanged[f] from the beginning of harvest until the first rain fell from the sky. She would not allow any scavenger birds[g] to land on them during the day nor the beasts of the field to approach them[h] at night.

11 When David was informed what Rizpah, the daughter of Saul’s mistress[i] had done, 12 David had Saul’s bones and the bones of his son Jonathan removed from the custody of certain men from Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square in Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them—that is, back on the day when the Philistines had killed Saul on Mount[j] Gilboa. 13 He brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there along with the bones of those who had been hanged, 14 and they buried Saul’s bones and his son Jonathan’s bones in the territory of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Saul’s[k] father Kish. After they had done everything that the king commanded, God responded to prayers for the land.[l]

Israel Battles Four Giants from Gath(A)

15 Afterwards, war broke out between the Philistines and Israel, so David went down to fight the Philistines. David became weary, 16 and Ishbi-benob, who had been fathered by giants,[m] said he intended to kill David. (His bronze spearhead weighed 300 shekels,[n] and he carried state-of-the-art[o] weaponry.) 17 But Zeruiah’s son Abishai came to David’s aid, attacked the Philistine, and killed him. After this, David’s army told him, “You’re not going out anymore with us to battle, so Israel’s beacon won’t be extinguished!” 18 Sometime later after this incident, there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob. Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who had been fathered by giants. 19 In yet another battle at Gob, Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite’s son Elhanan killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear resembled that of a weaver’s beam. 20 Later on, there was another battle at Gath, where there was a very tall man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—24 in number—who had also been fathered by giants. 21 When he defied Israel, David’s brother Shimeah’s son Jonathan killed him. 22 These four giants, who had been fathered by a giant in Gath, were killed at the hands of David and his servants.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:1 Lit. sought the face of the Lord, and the Lord
  2. 2 Samuel 21:4 Lit. he
  3. 2 Samuel 21:6 Lit. Israel… 6 Let seven
  4. 2 Samuel 21:6 Or impale; i.e. they would execute them and then expose the bodies
  5. 2 Samuel 21:6 The Heb. lacks them
  6. 2 Samuel 21:10 The Heb. lacks where her children had been hanged
  7. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit. any birds of the sky
  8. 2 Samuel 21:10 The Heb. lacks to approach them
  9. 2 Samuel 21:11 Lit. concubine; a secondary wife
  10. 2 Samuel 21:12 The Heb. lacks Mount
  11. 2 Samuel 21:14 Lit. his
  12. 2 Samuel 21:14 Cf. 2Sam 24:25
  13. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit. by the Rapha; and so throughout the chapter
  14. 2 Samuel 21:16 I.e., about seven and a half pounds at 0.4 shekels per ounce
  15. 2 Samuel 21:16 Or newly-issued; lit. newly girded
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2 Samuel 20
2 Samuel 22
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