Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options Listen to 2 Samuel 21
Close NASB

2 Samuel 21
New American Standard Bible

Gibeonite’s Revenge

21 Now there was (A)a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and (B)David sought the presence of the Lord. And the Lord said, “It is because of 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 had [a]made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to [b]kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). 3 David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make amends, so that you will bless (D)the inheritance of the Lord?” 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, “(E)For us it is not a matter of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put anyone to death in Israel.” Nevertheless David said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” 5 So they said to the king, “(F)The man who destroyed us and who planned [c]to eliminate us so that we would not exist within any border of Israel— 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will [d]hang them (G)before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, (H)the chosen of the Lord.” 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 the Lord 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 [e](L)Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the (M)Meholathite. 9 Then he handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they [f]hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, 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 out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until [g]it rained on them from the sky; and (P)she [h]allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the wild animals by night. 11 When it was reported to David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 then David went and took (Q)the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of (R)Beth-shan, (S)where the Philistines had hanged them on the day (T)the Philistines struck and killed Saul in Gilboa. 13 He brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan, and they gathered the bones of those who had been [i]hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the country of Benjamin in (U)Zela, in the grave of his father Kish; So they did everything that the king commanded, and after that (V)God responded to prayer for the land.

15 Now when (W)the Philistines were at war with Israel again, David went down, and his servants with him; and when they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was (X)among the descendants of the [j]giant, the weight of whose spear was [k]three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, [l]had strapped on a new sword, and he [m]intended to kill David. 17 But (Y)Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men 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 came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then (AC)Sibbecai the Hushathite struck and killed Saph, who was among the descendants of the [n]giant. 19 And there was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite [o]killed [p]Goliath the Gittite, (AD)the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 And there was war at Gath again, 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 had been born (AE)to the [q]giant. 21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck and killed him. 22 (AF)These four were born to the [r]giant at Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:2 Lit sworn to
  2. 2 Samuel 21:2 Lit strike
  3. 2 Samuel 21:5 Lit against us that we are eliminated from
  4. 2 Samuel 21:6 Or expose them
  5. 2 Samuel 21:8 As in some ancient versions and two Heb mss; MT Michal
  6. 2 Samuel 21:9 Or exposed them
  7. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit water gushed forth
  8. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit gave
  9. 2 Samuel 21:13 Or exposed
  10. 2 Samuel 21:16 Heb Raphah
  11. 2 Samuel 21:16 About 9 lb. or 4 kg
  12. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit and he had strapped
  13. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit said
  14. 2 Samuel 21:18 Heb Raphah
  15. 2 Samuel 21:19 Lit struck
  16. 2 Samuel 21:19 In 1 Chr 20:5, Lahmi, the brother of Goliath
  17. 2 Samuel 21:20 Heb Raphah
  18. 2 Samuel 21:22 Heb Raphah
Close EASY

2 Samuel 21
EasyEnglish Bible

The Gibeonites punish Saul's descendants

21 While David was king, there was a famine in Israel for three years. So David asked the Lord what had caused this trouble. The Lord said, ‘Saul's family is guilty of murder, because Saul killed many of the Gibeonites.’

2 The Gibeonites were not descendants of Israel. They were the only Amorite people who still lived. The Israelites had promised not to kill them.[a] But Saul thought that he should kill them. He thought that this would help Israel and Judah to rule their land.

Now King David told the Gibeonites to come to speak with him. 3 He asked them, ‘What can I do to help you? How can I make things right between us? I want you to bring the Lord's blessing to his people again.’

4 The Gibeonites answered David, ‘We do not want Saul's family to give us money or gold. And it would not be right for us to kill anyone in Israel.’

So David asked them, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’

5 They answered the king, ‘You know that Saul tried to destroy us. That man wanted to kill all of our family who were living in Israel. 6 So we want you to give us seven of his male descendants. Then we will kill them. We will hang their bodies at the place where people worship the Lord in Gibeah. That was Saul's town, the man that the Lord had chosen to be king.’

The king said, ‘I will give them to you.’

7 The king did not give Jonathan's son Mephibosheth to them. He was kind to Mephibosheth because of David's promise to Jonathan, Saul's son. David had made that promise in the Lord's name. 8 Instead, the king took Saul's two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth. Aiah's daughter Rizpah was their mother. He also took the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab. Adriel, the son of Barzillai from Meholath, was their father. 9 He gave them to the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites hanged them on a hill where people worshipped the Lord. All seven of them died together. That happened at the time when the barley harvest was beginning.

10 Aiah's daughter, Rizpah, put sackcloth on a rock and she sat on it. She stayed there to watch her sons' bodies, from the harvest time until the heavy rain came. During that time, she stopped the birds from eating the bodies in the daytime. At night, she kept the wild animals away.

11 They told David what Saul's slave wife, Rizpah, had done. 12 Then David went to fetch the bones of Saul and Saul's son Jonathan from the people at Jabesh Gilead. Their men had secretly taken their bodies from the open place in Beth Shan. The Philistines had killed Saul on Gilboa mountain and they had hung their bodies there.[b] 13 Now David brought the bones of Saul and Jonathan back from Jabesh Gilead. He also picked up the bones of the seven men that the Gibeonites had killed.

14 People buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan in the grave of Saul's father, Kish. The grave was in Zela, in land that belonged to Benjamin's tribe. The king had told them everything that they should do. After they had done all these things, God answered their prayers for their country.

Wars against the Philistines

15 Now the Philistines had started to attack the Israelites again. David went with his soldiers to fight against the Philistines. He became very tired. 16 A descendant of Rapha who was called Ishbi-Benob said that he would kill David. He had a bronze spear that weighed 3½ kilograms and he had a new sword. 17 But Zeruiah's son Abishai saved David. Abishai knocked down the Philistine and he killed him. So David's men said very strongly, ‘Our king, you must never again come out with us to fight a battle. You are like Israel's light. We do not want your life to finish.’[c]

18 Some time after that, the Israelites fought a battle against the Philistines at Gob. In that battle, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, a descendant of Rapha.

19 In another battle against the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan, the son of Jaare-Oregim from Bethlehem, killed Goliath from Gath. Goliath's spear was very thick and heavy, like a big tree.

20 There was another battle at Gath. Another descendant of Rapha fought against the Israelites there. He was a very large man. He had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. 21 He shouted to insult the Israelite soldiers. So Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shimeah, killed him.

22 Those four Philistines were descendants of Rapha and they lived in Gath. David and his soldiers killed all of them.[d]

Footnotes

  1. 21:2 See Joshua 9:3-27.
  2. 21:12 See 1 Samuel 31:8-13.
  3. 21:17 This was David's last battle as the leader of the army.
  4. 21:22 The descendants of Rapha were all very big men.
Close LSB

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
Listen to 2 Samuel 21
Close NIV

2 Samuel 21
New International Version

The Gibeonites Avenged

21 During the reign of David, there was a famine(A) for three successive years; so David sought(B) the face of the Lord. The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.”

2 The king summoned the Gibeonites(C) and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) 3 David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance?”(D)

4 The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.”(E)

“What do you want me to do for you?” David asked.

5 They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, 6 let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed(F) before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord’s chosen(G) one.”

So the king said, “I will give them to you.”

7 The king spared Mephibosheth(H) son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath(I) before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 8 But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah,(J) whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab,[a] whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.(K) 9 He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the Lord. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death(L) during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.(M)

10 Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night.(N) 11 When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, 12 he went and took the bones of Saul(O) and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead.(P) (They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan,(Q) where the Philistines had hung(R) them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.)(S) 13 David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.

14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela(T) in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that,(U) God answered prayer(V) in behalf of the land.(W)

Wars Against the Philistines(X)

15 Once again there was a battle between the Philistines(Y) and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. 16 And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels[b] and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David. 17 But Abishai(Z) son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp(AA) of Israel will not be extinguished.(AB)”

18 In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbekai(AC) the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.

19 In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair[c] the Bethlehemite killed the brother of[d] Goliath the Gittite,(AD) who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.(AE)

20 In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. 21 When he taunted(AF) Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah,(AG) David’s brother, killed him.

22 These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:8 Two Hebrew manuscripts, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 1 Samuel 18:19); most Hebrew and Septuagint manuscripts Michal
  2. 2 Samuel 21:16 That is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms
  3. 2 Samuel 21:19 See 1 Chron. 20:5; Hebrew Jaare-Oregim.
  4. 2 Samuel 21:19 See 1 Chron. 20:5; Hebrew does not have the brother of.
Next
2 Samuel 20
2 Samuel 22
Next
dropdown
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible is made available by The Lockman Foundation
EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

July Summer Surge

More on the NIV