2 Samuel 21

Chapter context

What is happening in 2 Samuel 21?

Davidic covenantsin and judgmentmercykingship

2 Samuel 21 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as Absalom, revolt, and the book’s closing appendix. Second Samuel narrates David’s consolidation of rule, the covenant promise to his house, his sin with Bathsheba, and the convulsions that follow within his family and kingdom. Read this chapter with the wider themes of Davidic covenant, sin and judgment, and mercy in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. ² And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.) ³ Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD? ⁴ And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. ⁵ And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, ⁶ Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them. ⁷ But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. ⁸ But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she 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 in the hill before the LORD: and 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 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. ¹¹ And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. ¹² And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa: ¹³ And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged. ¹⁴ And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land. ¹⁵ Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint. ¹⁶ And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. ¹⁷ But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel. ¹⁸ And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant. ¹⁹ And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. ²⁰ And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant. ²¹ And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the brother of David slew him. ²² These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

Study helps

Glossary

David Person v. 1, 3, 7, 11-12, 15-17, 21-22: Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam. 17:25 .
Saul Person v. 1-2, 4, 6-8, 11-14: Asked for. (1. ) A king of Edom ( Gen. 36:37 , 38); called Shaul in 1 Chr. 1:48 .
Amorites People v. 2: Highlanders, or hillmen, the name given to the descendants of one of the sons of Canaan ( Gen. 14:7 ), called Amurra or Amurri in the Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions.
Gibeah Place v. 6: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tel el Ful.
Jonathan Person v. 7, 12-14, 21: Whom Jehovah gave, the name of fifteen or more persons that are mentioned in Scripture. The chief of these are, (1. ) A Levite descended from Gershom ( Judg. 18:30 ). His history is recorded in 17:7-13 and 18:30.
Mephibosheth Person v. 7-8: Exterminator of shame; i. e., of idols. (1. ) The name of Saul’s son by the concubine Rizpah (q. v. ), the daughter of Aiah.
Adriel Person v. 8: Flock of God, the son of Barzillai, the Meholathite, to whom Saul gave in marriage his daughter Merab ( 1 Sam. 18:19 ). The five sons that sprang from this union were put to death by the Gibeonites.
Barzillai Person v. 8: Of iron. (1. ) A Meholathite, the father of Adriel ( 2 Sam. 21:8 ). (2. ) A Gileadite of Rogelim who was distinguished for his loyalty to David. He liberally provided for the king’s followers ( 2 Sam. 17:27 ).
Rizpah Person v. 8, 10-11: Coal; hot stone, the daughter of Aiah, and one of Saul’s concubines. She was the mother of Armoni and Mephibosheth ( 2 Sam. 3:7 ; 21:8 , 10, 11).
Gibeon Place v. 9: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: El Jib.
Sackcloth People v. 10: Cloth made of black goats’ hair, coarse, rough, and thick, used for sacks, and also worn by mourners ( Gen. 37:34 ; 42:25 ; 2 Sam. 3:31 ; Esther 4:1 , 2; Ps. 30:11 , etc. ), and as a sign of repentance ( Matt. 11:21 ).
Beth-shan Place v. 12: House of security or rest, a city which belonged to Manasseh ( 1 Chr. 7:29 ), on the west of Jordan. The bodies of Saul and his sons were fastened to its walls. Modern identification: Tel Bet Shean.
Jabesh-gilead Place v. 12: A town on the east of Jordan, on the top of one of the green hills of Gilead, within the limits of the half tribe of Manasseh, and in full view of Beth-shan. Modern identification: Tell el Maqlub.
Mount Gilboa Place v. 12: Boiling spring, a mountain range, now Jebel Fukua’, memorable as the scene of Saul’s disastrous defeat by the Philistines. Here also his three sons were slain, and he himself died by his own hand. Modern identification: Mount Gilboa.
Benjamin Person v. 14: Son of my right hand. (1. ) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel ( Gen. 35:18 ). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place.
Kish Person v. 14: A bow. (1. ) A Levite of the family of Merari ( 1 Chr. 23:21 ; 24:29 ). (2. ) A Benjamite of Jerusalem ( 1 Chr. 8:30 ; 9:36 ). (3. ) A Levite in the time of Hezekiah ( 2 Chr. 29:12 ).
Zela Place v. 14: Slope; side, a town in Benjamin, where Saul and his son Jonathan were buried ( 2 Sam. 21:14 ). It was probably Saul’s birthplace. Modern identification: Khirbet Salah.
Nob Place v. 16: High place, a city of the priests, first mentioned in the history of David’s wanderings ( 1 Sam. 21:1 ). Here the tabernacle was then standing, and here Ahimelech the priest resided. (See AHIMELECH. ) From Isa. Modern identification: Ras el Mesharif.
Abishai Person v. 17: Father of (i. e., “desirous of”) a gift, the eldest son of Zeruiah, David’s sister. He was the brother of Joab and Asahel ( 2 Sam. 2:18 ; 1 Chr. 2:16 ).
Zeruiah Person v. 17: Stricken of the Lord, David’s sister, and the mother of Abishai, Joab, and Asahel.
Gob Place v. 18-19: A pit, a place mentioned in 2 Sam. 21:18 , 19; called also Gezer, in 1 Chr. 20:4 . Modern identification: Tel Gezer.
Hushah Place v. 18: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Husan.
Saph Person v. 18: Extension, the son of the giant whom Sibbechai slew ( 2 Sam. 21:18 ); called also Sippai ( 1 Chr. 20:4 ).
Bethlehem Place v. 19: House of bread. (1. ) A city in the “hill country” of Judah. It was originally called Ephrath ( Gen. 35:16 , 19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11 ). It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah ( Micah 5:2 ), Beth-lehem-judah. Modern identification: Bethlehem.
Elhanan Person v. 19: Whom God has graciously bestowed. (1. ) A warrior of the time of David famed for his exploits. In the Authorized Version.
Gath Place v. 19-20, 22: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell es Safi.
Shimeah Person v. 21: (1. ) One of David’s brothers ( 2 Sam. 13:3 ); same as Shimea (4). (2. ) A Benjamite, a descendant of Gibeon ( 1 Chr. 8:32 ); called also Shimeam (9:38).