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2 Samuel 21
Common English Bible

Avenging the Gibeonites

21 There was a famine for three years in a row during David’s rule. David asked the Lord about this, and the Lord said, “It is caused by Saul and his household, who are guilty of bloodshed because he killed the people of Gibeon.” 2 So the king called for the Gibeonites and spoke to them.

(Now the Gibeonites weren’t Israelites but were survivors of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn a solemn pledge to spare them, but Saul tried to eliminate them in his enthusiasm for the people of Israel and Judah.)

3 David said to the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you? How can I fix matters so you can benefit from the Lord’s inheritance?”

4 The Gibeonites said to him, “We don’t want any silver or gold from Saul or his family, and it isn’t our right to have anyone in Israel killed.”

“What do you want?”[a] David asked. “I’ll do it for you.”

5 “Okay then,” they said to the king. “That man who opposed and oppressed[b] us, who planned to destroy us, keeping us from having a place to live anywhere in Israel— 6 hand over seven of his sons to us, and we will hang them before the Lord at Gibeon[c] on the Lord’s mountain.”

“I will hand them over,” the king said.

7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson, because of the Lord’s solemn pledge that was between them—between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. 8 So the king took the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Armoni and Mephibosheth, whom she had birthed for Saul; and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab,[d] whom she birthed for Adriel, Barzillai’s son, who was from Meholah, 9 and he handed them over to the Gibeonites. They hanged them on the mountain before the Lord. The seven of them died at the same time. They were executed in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

10 Aiah’s daughter Rizpah took funeral clothing and spread it out by herself on a rock. She stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until the rains poured down on the bodies from the sky, and she wouldn’t let any birds of prey land on the bodies during the day or let wild animals come at nighttime. 11 When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s secondary wife, had done, 12 he went and retrieved the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen the bones from the public square in Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines killed Saul at Gilboa. 13 David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there and collected the bones of the men who had been hanged by the Gibeonites. 14 The bones of Saul and his son Jonathan were then buried in Zela, in Benjaminite territory, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. Once everything the king had commanded was done, God responded to prayers for the land.

War with the Philistines

15 Once again war broke out between the Philistines and Israel. David and the soldiers who were with him went down and fought the Philistines. When David grew tired, 16 Ishbi-benob, a descendant of the Raphah,[e] planned on killing David.[f] The weight of his spear was three hundred shekels of bronze, and he was wearing new armor. 17 But Zeruiah’s son Abishai came to David’s aid, striking the Philistine down and killing him. Then David’s men swore a solemn pledge to him: “You will never march out to battle with us again! You must not snuff out Israel’s lamp!”

18 Some time later, another battle with the Philistines took place at Gob. Then Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, a descendant of the Raphah. 19 There was yet another battle with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan, Jair’s son[g] from Bethlehem, killed Goliath from Gath, whose spear shaft was as strong as the bar on a weaver’s loom. 20 In another battle at Gath, there was a huge[h] man who had six fingers on his hands and six toes on his feet, twenty-four in all. He too was descended from the Raphah. 21 When he insulted Israel, Jonathan, who was the son of David’s brother Shimei, killed him. 22 These four Philistines were descended from the Raphah in Gath, and they fell by the hands of David and his servants.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:4 LXXL, OL; MT What are you saying?
  2. 2 Samuel 21:5 LXXB; MT annihilated us
  3. 2 Samuel 21:6 Correction; cf LXX and 21:9; MT at Gibeah of Saul, the Lord’s chosen one
  4. 2 Samuel 21:8 LXXLN; MT Michal (but cf 2 Sam 6:23)
  5. 2 Samuel 21:16 Or giants; also in 21:18, 20, 22
  6. 2 Samuel 21:16 LXX Joash’s son Dodo, a descendant of the Raphah (see previous note), captured David.
  7. 2 Samuel 21:19 See 1 Chron 20:5, LXXLMN (cf 2 Sam 23:24); Heb Jaare-oregim.
  8. 2 Samuel 21:20 See 1 Chron 20:6; MT a Midianite or a combative man.
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2 Samuel 21
Living Bible

21 There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted year after year for three years, and David spent much time in prayer about it. Then the Lord said, “The famine is because of the guilt of Saul and his family, for they murdered the Gibeonites.”

2 So King David summoned the Gibeonites. They were not part of Israel but were what was left of the nation of the Amorites. Israel had sworn not to kill them; but Saul, in his nationalistic zeal, had tried to wipe them out.

3 David asked them, “What can I do for you to rid ourselves of this guilt and to induce you to ask God to bless us?”

4 “Well, money won’t do it,” the Gibeonites replied, “and we don’t want to see Israelites executed in revenge.”

“What can I do, then?” David asked. “Just tell me and I will do it for you.”

5-6 “Well, then,” they replied, “give us seven of Saul’s sons—the sons of the man who did his best to destroy us. We will hang them before the Lord in Gibeon, the city of King Saul.”

“All right,” the king said, “I will do it.”

7 He spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who was Saul’s grandson, because of the oath between himself and Jonathan. 8 But he gave them Saul’s two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth, whose mother was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. He also gave them the five adopted sons of Michal that she brought up for Saul’s daughter Merab, the wife of Adriel. 9 The men of Gibeon impaled them in the mountain before the Lord. So all seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest.

10 Then Rizpah, the mother of two of the men,[a] spread sackcloth upon a rock and stayed there through the entire harvest season to prevent the vultures from tearing at their bodies during the day and the wild animals from eating them at night. 11 When David learned what she had done, 12-14 he arranged for the men’s bones to be buried in the grave of Saul’s father, Kish. At the same time he sent a request to the men of Jabesh-gilead, asking them to bring him the bones of Saul and Jonathan. They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth-shan where the Philistines had impaled them after they had died in battle on Mount Gilboa. So their bones were brought to him. Then at last God answered prayer and ended the famine.

15 Once when the Philistines were at war with Israel, and David and his men were in the thick of the battle, David became weak and exhausted. 16 Ishbi-benob, a giant whose speartip weighed more than twelve pounds and who was sporting a new suit of armor, closed in on David and was about to kill him. 17 But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, came to his rescue and killed the Philistine. After that David’s men declared, “You are not going out to battle again! Why should we risk snuffing out the light of Israel?”

18 Later, during a war with the Philistines at Gob, Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, another giant. 19 At still another time and at the same place, Elhanan killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite,[b] whose spear handle was as huge as a weaver’s beam! 20-21 And once when the Philistines and the Israelis were fighting at Gath, a giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot defied Israel, and David’s nephew Jonathan—the son of David’s brother Shimei—killed him. 22 These four were from the tribe of giants in Gath and were killed by David’s troops.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:10 the mother of two of the men, implied. the entire harvest season, which lasted six months, from April until October.
  2. 2 Samuel 21:19 the brother of Goliath the Gittite, literally, “slew Goliath of Gath.” See 1 Chronicles 20:5.
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2 Samuel 21
New King James Version

David Avenges the Gibeonites

21 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David (A)inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, “It is because of Saul and his [a]bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but (B)of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them (C)in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.

3 Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless (D)the inheritance of the Lord?”

4 And the Gibeonites said to him, “We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us.”

So he said, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”

5 Then they answered the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel, 6 let seven men of his descendants be delivered (E)to us, and we will hang them before the Lord (F)in Gibeah of Saul, (G)whom the Lord chose.”

And the king said, “I will give them.”

7 But the king spared (H)Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of (I)the Lord’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8 So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of (J)Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, and the five sons of [b]Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she [c]brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; 9 and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill (K)before the Lord. So they fell, all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

10 Now (L)Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, (M)from the beginning of harvest until the late rains poured on them from heaven. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.

11 And David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. 12 Then David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the men of (N)Jabesh Gilead who had stolen them from the street of [d]Beth Shan, where the (O)Philistines had hung them up, after the Philistines had struck down Saul in Gilboa. 13 So 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 hanged. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in (P)Zelah, in the tomb of Kish his father. So they performed all that the king commanded. And after that (Q)God heeded the prayer for the land.

Philistine Giants Destroyed(R)

15 When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint. 16 Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of [e]the (S)giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. 17 But (T)Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, (U)“You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the (V)lamp of Israel.”

18 (W)Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then (X)Sibbechai the Hushathite killed [f]Saph, who was one of the sons of [g]the giant. 19 Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where (Y)Elhanan the son of [h]Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed (Z)the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

20 Yet again (AA)there was 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 born to [i]the giant. 21 So when he (AB)defied Israel, Jonathan the son of [j]Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

22 (AC)These four were born to [k]the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:1 Lit. house of bloodshed
  2. 2 Samuel 21:8 Merab, 1 Sam. 18:19; 25:44; 2 Sam. 3:14; 6:23
  3. 2 Samuel 21:8 Lit. bore to Adriel
  4. 2 Samuel 21:12 Beth Shean, Josh. 17:11
  5. 2 Samuel 21:16 Or Rapha
  6. 2 Samuel 21:18 Sippai, 1 Chr. 20:4
  7. 2 Samuel 21:18 Or Rapha
  8. 2 Samuel 21:19 Jair, 1 Chr. 20:5
  9. 2 Samuel 21:20 Or Rapha
  10. 2 Samuel 21:21 Shammah, 1 Sam. 16:9 and elsewhere
  11. 2 Samuel 21:22 Or Rapha
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