2 Samuel 21
Famine and revenge killings in Israel
David prays to stop famine
1Israel suffered through a blistering famine for three long years. David asked the LORD why he was doing this to them. The LORD said, “Saul’s family is guilty of murdering the people in the town of Gibeon.” [1] 2David called on Gibeon’s leaders. They weren’t true Israelites—not from the northern tribes known as Israel or from the southern tribe, Judah. They were Amorites who made a peace treaty with the Israelites. Gibeon tricked them into promising never to kill them. [2] But Saul ignored that treaty, in his eagerness to secure the territory for Israel and Judah.3David asked Gibeon’s leaders, “What can I do to help you find justice for what you’ve suffered? I want our people to be on good terms with each other again. How can we settle this?”
4Gibeon’s leaders said, “We don’t have any right to ask for justice. We’re not allowed to take silver and gold from Saul’s family in reparation. And we certainly can’t kill anyone in Israel.” David said, “What do you want? Tell me and I’ll do it?”
Gibeon’s request: Kill seven from Saul’s family
5They told the king, “Saul tried to exterminate us. He wanted all of us dead. There was no safe place in this land for any of us. 6Give us seven of his descendants. We will execute them near the LORD’s worship center on the hilltop in Gibeon.” The king said, “I will give them to you.”David arrests seven from Saul’s family
7But he protected one grandson of Saul: Mephibosheth. He was the son of Jonathan, who was David’s close friend. David had promised Jonathan he would look after his family. 8Instead, David gave them two of Saul’s sons and five grandsons. Saul and his concubine [3] Rizpah, who was the daughter of Aiah, had two sons: Armoni and Mephibosheth. Saul’s daughter Merab had five sons with her husband Adriel. He was the son of Barzillai, from the city of Abel-meholah. [4]Gibeon executes Saul’s relatives
9David handed the seven men over to the town of Gibeon. The people there executed [5] the men together on the hill close to the worship center. They did this early in the spring, at the beginning of barley harvest. [6]10Rizpah mourned for her sons. She took the rough fabric of sackcloth and laid it as a blanket on a rock. She stayed there from the beginning of the barley harvest until the day it started to rain. Day and night, she drove the birds and wild animals away from the bodies. [7]
David gives Saul and relatives proper burial
11David found out what Rizpah did. 12It moved him so much that he retrieved the buried bones of Saul and Jonathan from Israelites in the town of Jabesh in Gilead. Those Israelites stole the bodies of Saul and Jonathan from Philistines who hung them on display in the town center of Beth-shan. Philistines did that the same day they killed the men in battle.13David also collected the bodies of the seven men Gibeon executed. 14He ordered all the bodies buried in their own tribal land of Benjamin. He had them buried in the family tomb of Saul’s father, Kish, in the town of Zela. [8]
Philistines rise to fight again
1 Chronicles 20:4-8 15Philistines declared war on Israel again. David marched to the battlefield with his men, but the fighting wore him out. 16One of the Philistine warriors came from a family of giants. His name was Ishbibenob. He was armored up with the latest military-grade weaponry. That included an over-sized spear. Its bronze spearhead alone weighed about seven pounds. [9] This huge man vowed to kill David. 17But Abishai son of Zeruiah attacked the Philistine and killed him. After that, David’s men told him, “No more. You’re not coming to fight these battles with us anymore. You are the light of Israel, and we don’t want to risk someone putting it out.”
18Israel fought the Philistines again, this time at Gob. [10] Israel’s warrior, Sibbecai from the town of Hushah, [11] killed Saph. Saph was a Philistine descended from the Rephaim family of giants. Elhanan kills Goliath the giant
19Once again, Israel engaged the Philistines at Gob. During that battle, Elhanan, [12] son of Jair from Bethlehem, killed Goliath from the town of Gath. Goliath owned a spear with a shaft thick as a weaver’s beam. [13]
20Israel fought the Philistines again, this time at the town of Gath. One of the Philistine warriors was a giant of a man, from a family of giants. He had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. 21When he stepped out to hurl insults at Israel, David’s nephew killed him—Jonathan, son of David’s brother, Shimei.
22All four of these Philistine men who died in the battles were descended from giants in Gath. David and his soldiers killed each one of them. Footnotes
121:1It’s unknown what Saul did to the people of Gibeon, or when. No other Bible writer mentions his apparent attempted genocide of the Gibeonites.
221:2Joshua 9:1-15.
321:8As far as the Bible reports, Saul had just one wife, Ahinoam (1 Samuel 14:50) and one concubine, a wife with much less status and privilege, generally.
421:8Location of Abel-meholah is uncertain. Current best guess is a ruin called Tel Abu Sus, about 25 miles (44 km) south of the Sea of Galilee. It’s on the west side of the Jordan River, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory of the West Bank.
521:9The original Hebrew text doesn’t say how Gibeon executed the men. Some Bible versions guess impalement. Others guess hanging.
621:9Barley harvest started around the first of April.
721:10Gibeon people apparently left the bodies of these executed men unburied and exposed to the weather and the critters. It was another way of shaming them and their families.
821:14Zela was one of 14 cities close to Jerusalem (Joshua 18:28). Exact location is uncertain.
921:16That’s 3.4 kilograms, about the weight of a gallon of milk (almost four liters), a watermelon, a cordless drill, three bags of sugar, or a small sledgehammer.
1021:18This is the only time Gob shows up in the Bible. Location unknown.
1121:18Hushah was a town about four miles southwest of Bethlehem.
1221:19What to do? This verse seems to clash with 1 Samuel 17:49-50, which says David son of Jesse from Bethlehem killed Goliath from Gath. Scholars offer an array of explanations. Maybe Elhanan was David’s name before he became king. This tracks with ancient Jewish tradition. “Son of Jair” may refer to the city of Jair, possibly his home before moving to Bethlehem. Maybe Elhanan’s defeat of Goliath was donated to David as an honorary tribute. Perhaps it worked a little like a university giving away an honorary doctorate to someone who didn’t do the academic work. But it was someone the college wanted to honor—perhaps to get a reward of something in return. Like a big donation for a building with their name on it. Elhanan might have wanted a donation of some sort from David. But these are wild theories. One more theory: some ancient scribe along the timeline of recopying worn out scrolls either messed up or got creative.
1321:19A weaver’s beam may have been about two inches thick (five cm).
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David's kingdom
Death of King Saul
Gibeon
Philistine citiesMap of Sea Peoples invasion
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18Israel fought the Philistines again, this time at Gob. [10] Israel’s warrior, Sibbecai from the town of Hushah, [11] killed Saph. Saph was a Philistine descended from the Rephaim family of giants.
Elhanan kills Goliath the giant
19Once again, Israel engaged the Philistines at Gob. During that battle, Elhanan, [12] son of Jair from Bethlehem, killed Goliath from the town of Gath. Goliath owned a spear with a shaft thick as a weaver’s beam. [13]20Israel fought the Philistines again, this time at the town of Gath. One of the Philistine warriors was a giant of a man, from a family of giants. He had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. 21When he stepped out to hurl insults at Israel, David’s nephew killed him—Jonathan, son of David’s brother, Shimei.
22All four of these Philistine men who died in the battles were descended from giants in Gath. David and his soldiers killed each one of them.
Footnotes
It’s unknown what Saul did to the people of Gibeon, or when. No other Bible writer mentions his apparent attempted genocide of the Gibeonites.
Joshua 9:1-15.
As far as the Bible reports, Saul had just one wife, Ahinoam (1 Samuel 14:50) and one concubine, a wife with much less status and privilege, generally.
Location of Abel-meholah is uncertain. Current best guess is a ruin called Tel Abu Sus, about 25 miles (44 km) south of the Sea of Galilee. It’s on the west side of the Jordan River, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory of the West Bank.
The original Hebrew text doesn’t say how Gibeon executed the men. Some Bible versions guess impalement. Others guess hanging.
Barley harvest started around the first of April.
Gibeon people apparently left the bodies of these executed men unburied and exposed to the weather and the critters. It was another way of shaming them and their families.
Zela was one of 14 cities close to Jerusalem (Joshua 18:28). Exact location is uncertain.
That’s 3.4 kilograms, about the weight of a gallon of milk (almost four liters), a watermelon, a cordless drill, three bags of sugar, or a small sledgehammer.
This is the only time Gob shows up in the Bible. Location unknown.
Hushah was a town about four miles southwest of Bethlehem.
What to do? This verse seems to clash with 1 Samuel 17:49-50, which says David son of Jesse from Bethlehem killed Goliath from Gath. Scholars offer an array of explanations. Maybe Elhanan was David’s name before he became king. This tracks with ancient Jewish tradition. “Son of Jair” may refer to the city of Jair, possibly his home before moving to Bethlehem. Maybe Elhanan’s defeat of Goliath was donated to David as an honorary tribute. Perhaps it worked a little like a university giving away an honorary doctorate to someone who didn’t do the academic work. But it was someone the college wanted to honor—perhaps to get a reward of something in return. Like a big donation for a building with their name on it. Elhanan might have wanted a donation of some sort from David. But these are wild theories. One more theory: some ancient scribe along the timeline of recopying worn out scrolls either messed up or got creative.
A weaver’s beam may have been about two inches thick (five cm).
Discussion Questions
- Sorry, there are currently no questions for this chapter.
Maps/Guides
