2 Samuel chapter 21
Justice for the Gibeonites. Burying Saul’s family. Battling giants from Philistia.
JUSTICE FOR THE GIBEONITES
VERSE 1. There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, “It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
a famine in the days of David. This probably happened toward the end of David’s life.
David sought the face of the LORD. David inquired of the LORD God as to the cause of the drought.
It is for Saul. The famine was a punishment for Saul’s violation of the covenant, made with the Gibeonites back during the days of Joshua.
and for his bloody house. Saul killed a lot of people. But so did David.
he put the Gibeonites to death. The Bible does not provide us the details of this killing.
VERSE 2. The king called the Gibeonites and said to 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 to them; and Saul sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah);
The king called the Gibeonites. David wants to correct the wrongs of his predecessor king Saul. So he contacts the Gibeonites.
VERSE 3. and David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And with what should I make atonement, that you may bless the LORD’s inheritance?”
David said to the Gibeonites. He asks them what he should do for them.
VERSE 4. The Gibeonites said to him, “It is no matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” He said, “I will do for you whatever you say.”
It is no matter of silver or gold. They do not want money.
VERSE 5. They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and who plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders of Israel,
The man who consumed us and who plotted against us. That is, king Saul.
VERSE 6. let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them up to the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” The king said, “I will give them.”
let seven men of his sons be delivered to us. They ask for seven male descendants of Saul.
we will hang them. They will publicly execute the seven male descendants of Saul.
VERSE 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.
VERSE 8. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
VERSE 9. He delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites; and they hanged them on the mountain before the LORD, and all seven of them fell together. They were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of barley harvest.
BURYING SAUL’S FAMILY
VERSE 10. Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water poured on them from the sky. She allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day, nor the animals of the field by night.
VERSE 11. David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.
VERSE 12. So David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged them in the day that the Philistines killed Saul in Gilboa;
VERSE 13. and he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son. They also gathered the bones of those who were hanged.
VERSE 14. They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father; and they performed all that the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer for the land.
After that, God answered prayer for the land. Before the LORD God would answer their prayers, they first needed to take steps of faith. They needed to make things right.
This reminds us of True Fasting.
Most of us think fasting is about food. But the prophet Isaiah calls for TRUE fasting. It is to undo injustice and oppression. It is to feed and clothe poor people. Read more »
BATTLING GIANTS FROM PHILISTIA
VERSE 15. The Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. David grew faint;
David grew faint. This is unexpected.
Previously, David had always had great strength and did great violence.
VERSE 16. and Ishbibenob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, he being armed with a new sword, thought he would kill David.
the sons of the giant. Some Philistines who had descended from giants. Perhaps they were an ancient guild of warriors.
Here are the giants mentioned in this chapter:
Ishbibenob was killed by Abishai the son of Zeruiah (see verse 16)
Saph was killed by Sibbecai the Hushathite (see verse 18)
Goliath the Gittite’s brother was killed by Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim (see verse 19)
a man of great stature, who had six fingers on every hand and six toes on every foot, was killed by Jonathan the son of Shimei (see verse 20)
VERSE 17. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “Don’t go out with us to battle any more, so that you don’t quench the lamp of Israel.”
Don’t go out with us to battle any more. David’s warriors realize that David has become weak. He is a liability on the battlefield.
VERSE 18. After this, there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was of the sons of the giant.
Saph, who was of the sons of the giant. Some Philistines who had descended from giants. Perhaps they were an ancient guild of warriors.
Here are the giants mentioned in this chapter:
Ishbibenob was killed by Abishai the son of Zeruiah (see verse 16)
Saph was killed by Sibbecai the Hushathite (see verse 18)
Goliath the Gittite’s brother was killed by Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim (see verse 19)
a man of great stature, who had six fingers on every hand and six toes on every foot, was killed by Jonathan the son of Shimei (see verse 20)
VERSE 19. There was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite’s brother, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
Goliath the Gittite’s brother. Some Philistines who had descended from giants. Perhaps they were an ancient guild of warriors.
Here are the giants mentioned in this chapter:
Ishbibenob was killed by Abishai the son of Zeruiah (see verse 16)
Saph was killed by Sibbecai the Hushathite (see verse 18)
Goliath the Gittite’s brother was killed by Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim (see verse 19)
a man of great stature, who had six fingers on every hand and six toes on every foot, was killed by Jonathan the son of Shimei (see verse 20)
VERSE 20. There was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on every hand and six toes on every foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was born to the giant.
a man of great stature, who had six fingers on every hand and six toes on every foot. Some Philistines who had descended from giants. Perhaps they were an ancient guild of warriors.
Here are the giants mentioned in this chapter:
Ishbibenob was killed by Abishai the son of Zeruiah (see verse 16)
Saph was killed by Sibbecai the Hushathite (see verse 18)
Goliath the Gittite’s brother was killed by Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim (see verse 19)
a man of great stature, who had six fingers on every hand and six toes on every foot, was killed by Jonathan the son of Shimei (see verse 20)
VERSE 21. When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, killed him.
VERSE 22. These four were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
2 SAMUEL
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, David and Jonathan
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