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2 Samuel 21
1599 Geneva Bible

21 1 Three dear years. 9 The vengeance of the sins of Saul lighteth on his seven sons, which are hanged. 15 Four great battles, which David had against the Philistines.

1 Then there was a famine in the days of David, three years [a]together: and David [b]asked counsel of the Lord, and the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the [c]Gibeonites.

2 Then the King called the Gibeonites, and said unto them, (Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but a (A)remnant of the Amorites, unto whom the children of Israel had sworn: but Saul sought to slay them for his zeal toward the children of Israel and Judah)

3 And David said unto the Gibeonites, [d]What shall I do for you, and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord?

4 The Gibeonites then answered him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul nor of his house, neither for us shalt thou kill [e]any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say that will I do for you.

5 Then they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that imagined evil against us, so that we are destroyed from remaining in any coast of Israel,

6 Let seven men of his [f]sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up [g]unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, the Lord’s chosen, And the king said, I will give them.

7 But the king had compassion on Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the (B)Lord’s oath, that was between them, even 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, even Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of [h]Michal, the daughter of Saul, whom she bare to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

9 And he delivered them unto the hands of the Gibeonites, which hanged them in the mountain before the Lord: so they [i]died all seven together: and they were slain in the time of harvest: in the [j]first days, and in the beginning of barley harvest.

10 Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took [k]sackcloth and hanged it up for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest, until [l]water dropped upon them from the heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to [m]light on them by day, nor 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 citizens of Jabesh Gilead, which had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had (C)hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa.

13 So he brought 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 of Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the grave of Kish his father: and when they had performed all that the King had commanded, God was then [n]appeased with the land.

15 ¶ Again the Philistines hath war with Israel: and David went down, and his servants with him, and they fought against the Philistines, and David fainted.

16 Then Ishbi-Benob which was of the sons of [o]Haraphah (the head of whose spear weighed three hundred [p]shekels of brass) even he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.

17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succored him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, lest thou quench the [q]light of Israel.

18 ¶ And after this also there was a battle with the Philistines at [r]Gob, then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was one of the sons of Haraphah.

19 And there was yet another battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim, a Bethlehemite slew [s]Goliath the Gittite: the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

20 Afterward there was also a battle in Gath, where was a man of a great stature, and had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number: who was also the son of Haraphah.

21 And when he reviled Israel, Jonathan the son of (D)Shimea the brother of David slew him.

22 These four were born to Haraphah in Gath, and died by the hand of David, and by the hands of his servants.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:1 Hebrew, year after year.
  2. 2 Samuel 21:1 Hebrew, sought the face of the Lord.
  3. 2 Samuel 21:1 Thinking to gratify the people, because these were not of the seed of Abraham.
  4. 2 Samuel 21:3 Wherewith may your wrath be appeased, that you may pray to God to remove this plague from his people.
  5. 2 Samuel 21:4 Save only of Saul’s stock.
  6. 2 Samuel 21:6 Of Saul’s kinsmen.
  7. 2 Samuel 21:6 To pacify the Lord.
  8. 2 Samuel 21:8 Here Michal is named for Merab, Adriel’s wife, as appeareth, 1 Sam. 18:19, for Michal was the wife of Paltiel, 1 Sam. 25:44, and never had child, 2 Sam. 6:23.
  9. 2 Samuel 21:9 Hebrew, fell.
  10. 2 Samuel 21:9 Which was in the month Abib or Nisan, which contained part of March and part of April.
  11. 2 Samuel 21:10 To make her a tent wherein she prayed to God to turn away his wrath.
  12. 2 Samuel 21:10 Because drought was the cause of this famine, God by sending of rain showed that he was pacified.
  13. 2 Samuel 21:10 Or, rest.
  14. 2 Samuel 21:14 For where the magistrate suffereth faults unpunished, there the plague of God lieth upon the land.
  15. 2 Samuel 21:16 That is, of the race of giants.
  16. 2 Samuel 21:16 Which amount to nine pounds three quarters.
  17. 2 Samuel 21:17 For the glory and wealth of the country standeth in the preservation of the godly magistrate.
  18. 2 Samuel 21:18 Called Gezer, and Saph is called Sippai, 1 Chron. 20:4.
  19. 2 Samuel 21:19 That is, Lahmi the brother of Goliath, whom David slew, 1 Chron. 20:5.
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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.
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