# 2 Samuel 21 📖: Justice for the Gibeonites [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-2 Samuel Overview]] | [[2 Samuel 20]] | [[2 Samuel 22]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### The Gibeonites Demand Revenge [[#Verse 01.]] During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, because he murdered the Gibeonites.” [[#Verse 02.]] So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke with them. (Now the Gibeonites were not descendants of Israel; they were a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had made a promise to them, but Saul tried to kill them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)  [[#Verse 03.]] David said to the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you, and how can I make amends so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance?” [[#Verse 04.]] The Gibeonites said to him, “We have no claim to silver or gold from Saul or from his family, nor would we be justified in putting to death anyone in Israel.” David asked, “What then are you asking me to do for you?”  [[#Verse 05.]] They replied to the king, “As for this man who exterminated us and who schemed against us so that we were destroyed and left without status throughout all the borders of Israel—  [[#Verse 06.]] let seven of his male descendants be turned over to us, and we will execute them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was the Lord’s chosen one.” The king replied, “I will turn them over.” [[#Verse 07.]] The king had mercy on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, in light of the Lord’s oath that had been taken between David and Jonathan son of Saul. [[#Verse 08.]] So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah whom she had born to Saul, and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab whom she had born to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.  [[#Verse 09.]] He turned them over to the Gibeonites, and they executed them on a hill before the Lord. The seven of them died together; they were put to death during harvest time—during the first days of the beginning of the barley harvest. [[#Verse 10.]] Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on them, she did not allow the birds of the air to feed on them by day, nor the wild animals by night.  [[#Verse 11.]] When David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, Saul’s concubine, had done, [[#Verse 12.]] he went and took the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from the leaders of Jabesh Gilead. (They had secretly taken them from the plaza at Beth Shan. It was there that Philistines publicly exposed their corpses after they had killed Saul at Gilboa.)  [[#Verse 13.]] David brought the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son from there; they also gathered up the bones of those who had been executed. [[#Verse 14.]] They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin at Zela in the grave of his father Kish. After they had done everything that the king had commanded, God responded to their prayers for the land. ### Israel Engages in Various Battles with the Philistines [[#Verse 15.]] Another battle was fought between the Philistines and Israel. So David went down with his soldiers and fought the Philistines. David became exhausted.  [[#Verse 16.]] Now Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, had a spear that weighed 300 bronze shekels, and he was armed with a new weapon. He had said that he would kill David.  [[#Verse 17.]] But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid, striking the Philistine down and killing him. Then David’s men took an oath saying, “You will not go out to battle with us again! You must not extinguish the lamp of Israel!” [[#Verse 18.]] Later there was another battle with the Philistines, this time in Gob. On that occasion Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the descendants of Rapha.  [[#Verse 19.]] Yet another battle occurred with the Philistines in Gob. On that occasion Elhanan the son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.  [[#Verse 20.]] Yet another battle occurred in Gath. On that occasion there was a large man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all! He too was a descendant of Rapha. [[#Verse 21.]] When he taunted Israel, Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, killed him.  [[#Verse 22.]] These four were the descendants of Rapha who lived in Gath; they were killed by David and his soldiers. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Israel's oath to the Gibeonites goes back to Joshua 9:15-20. 2. Saul's attack on the Gibeonites is not recorded anywhere else in Scripture (21:2). 3. David spared Mephibosheth because of his oath to Jonathan (21:7). 4. Rizpah was Saul's concubine and the mother of two of the men who were executed (21:8). She is the same woman mentioned in 3:7. 5. Rizpah kept watch from the beginning of the barley harvest until the rain fell (21:10), possibly several months. 6. The men of Jabesh Gilead had rescued the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Beth Shan (21:12; 1 Samuel 31:11-13). 7. David buried Saul and Jonathan in the tomb of Kish, Saul's father, in Zela of Benjamin (21:14). 8. Abishai rescued David from the giant Ishbi-Benob, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels (21:16-17). 9. One giant had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot (21:20). 10. 1 Chronicles 20:5 says Elhanan killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath, which helps explain the wording of 21:19. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the faithful keeper of God's promises. Saul broke Israel's oath to the Gibeonites (21:1-2; Joshua 9:15), but Jesus keeps every promise and bore the curse of hanging on a tree for us (Galatians 3:13). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. David asked the Lord why the famine had come (21:1). How does seeking God in hardship change our response to it? 2. Rizpah kept watch over her sons' bodies for months (21:10). What does her faithfulness teach about grief and dignity? 3. David's men would not let him go to battle again so the lamp of Israel would not be put out (21:17). How do we recognize when it is time to pass responsibilities to others? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 1: David seeks the Lord about the famine. - 📖 verse 10: Rizpah protects the bodies from birds and wild animals. - 📖 verse 14: After the burial, God answers prayer for the land. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Joshua 09#Verse 15.|Joshua 9:15-20]] - Israel's oath to the Gibeonites. - 🔗 [[Numbers 35#Verse 33.|Numbers 35:33]] - Bloodshed pollutes the land. - 🔗 [[1 Chronicles 20#Verse 04.|1 Chronicles 20:4-8]] - The battles with the giants retold. - 🔗 [[1 Samuel 31#Verse 11.|1 Samuel 31:11-13]] - The men of Jabesh Gilead honor Saul. - 🔗 [[Galatians 03#Verse 13.|Galatians 3:13]] - Christ became a curse for us. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[2 Samuel 21 - SOAP|You Don’t Choose Your Legacy]] ## 📂 Internal Notes