14 And the bones H6106 of Saul H7586 and Jonathan H3083 his son H1121 buried H6912 they in the country H776 of Benjamin H1144 in Zelah, H6762 in the sepulchre H6913 of Kish H7027 his father: H1 and they performed H6213 all that the king H4428 commanded. H6680 And after H310 that God H430 was intreated H6279 for the land. H776
And he said H559 unto them, Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel, H3478 Put H7760 every man H376 his sword H2719 by his side, H3409 and go H5674 in and out H7725 from gate H8179 to gate H8179 throughout the camp, H4264 and slay H2026 every man H376 his brother, H251 and every man H376 his companion, H7453 and every man H376 his neighbour. H7138 And the children H1121 of Levi H3878 did H6213 according to the word H1697 of Moses: H4872 and there fell H5307 of the people H5971 that day H3117 about three H7969 thousand H505 men. H376 For Moses H4872 had said, H559 Consecrate yourselves H4390 H3027 to day H3117 to the LORD, H3068 even H3588 every man H376 upon his son, H1121 and upon his brother; H251 that he may bestow H5414 upon you a blessing H1293 this day. H3117
And Elijah H452 said H559 unto them, Take H8610 the prophets H5030 of Baal; H1168 let not one H376 of them escape. H4422 And they took H8610 them: and Elijah H452 brought them down H3381 to the brook H5158 Kishon, H7028 and slew H7819 them there. And Elijah H452 said H559 unto Ahab, H256 Get thee up, H5927 eat H398 and drink; H8354 for there is a sound H6963 of abundance H1995 of rain. H1653
The word H1697 of the LORD H3068 that came to Jeremiah H3414 concerning H1697 the dearth. H1226 Judah H3063 mourneth, H56 and the gates H8179 thereof languish; H535 they are black H6937 unto the ground; H776 and the cry H6682 of Jerusalem H3389 is gone up. H5927 And their nobles H117 have sent H7971 their little ones H6810 to the waters: H4325 they came H935 to the pits, H1356 H1360 and found H4672 no water; H4325 they returned H7725 with their vessels H3627 empty; H7387 they were ashamed H954 and confounded, H3637 and covered H2645 their heads. H7218 Because the ground H127 is chapt, H2865 for there was no rain H1653 in the earth, H776 the plowmen H406 were ashamed, H954 they covered H2645 their heads. H7218 Yea, the hind H365 also calved H3205 in the field, H7704 and forsook H5800 it, because there was no grass. H1877 And the wild asses H6501 did stand H5975 in the high places, H8205 they snuffed up H7602 the wind H7307 like dragons; H8577 their eyes H5869 did fail, H3615 because there was no grass. H6212 O LORD, H3068 though our iniquities H5771 testify H6030 against us, do H6213 thou it for thy name's H8034 sake: for our backslidings H4878 are many; H7231 we have sinned H2398 against thee.
Then will the LORD H3068 be jealous H7065 for his land, H776 and pity H2550 his people. H5971 Yea, the LORD H3068 will answer H6030 and say H559 unto his people, H5971 Behold, I will send H7971 you corn, H1715 and wine, H8492 and oil, H3323 and ye shall be satisfied H7646 therewith: and I will no more make H5414 you a reproach H2781 among the heathen: H1471
Thus hath the Lord H136 GOD H3069 shewed H7200 unto me; and, behold, he formed H3335 grasshoppers H1462 in the beginning H8462 of the shooting up H5927 of the latter growth; H3954 and, lo, it was the latter growth H3954 after H310 the king's H4428 mowings. H1488 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end H3615 of eating H398 the grass H6212 of the land, H776 then I said, H559 O Lord H136 GOD, H3069 forgive, H5545 I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob H3290 arise? H6965 for he is small. H6996 The LORD H3068 repented H5162 for this: It shall not be, saith H559 the LORD. H3068 Thus hath the Lord H136 GOD H3069 shewed H7200 unto me: and, behold, the Lord H136 GOD H3069 called H7121 to contend H7378 by fire, H784 and it devoured H398 the great H7227 deep, H8415 and did eat up H398 a part. H2506 Then said H559 I, O Lord H136 GOD, H3069 cease, H2308 I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob H3290 arise? H6965 for he is small. H6996 The LORD H3068 repented H5162 for this: This also shall not be, saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD. H3069
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Samuel 21
Commentary on 2 Samuel 21 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 21
2Sa 21:1-9. The Three Years' Famine for the Gibeonites Cease by Hanging Seven of Saul's Sons.
1. the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites—The sacred history has not recorded either the time or the reason of this massacre. Some think that they were sufferers in the atrocity perpetrated by Saul at Nob (1Sa 22:19), where many of them may have resided as attendants of the priests; while others suppose it more probable that the attempt was made afterwards, with a view to regain the popularity he had lost throughout the nation by that execrable outrage.
2. in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah—Under pretense of a rigorous and faithful execution of the divine law regarding the extermination of the Canaanites, he set himself to expel or destroy those whom Joshua had been deceived into sparing. His real object seems to have been, that the possessions of the Gibeonites, being forfeited to the crown, might be divided among his own people (compare 1Sa 22:7). At all events, his proceeding against this people was in violation of a solemn oath, and involving national guilt. The famine was, in the wise and just retribution of Providence, made a national punishment, since the Hebrews either assisted in the massacre, or did not interpose to prevent it; since they neither endeavored to repair the wrong, nor expressed any horror of it; and since a general protracted chastisement might have been indispensable to inspire a proper respect and protection to the Gibeonite remnant that survived.
6. Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul—The practice of the Hebrews, as of most Oriental nations, was to slay first, and afterwards to suspend on a gibbet, the body not being left hanging after sunset. The king could not refuse this demand of the Gibeonites, who, in making it, were only exercising their right as blood-avengers; and, although through fear and a sense of weakness they had not hitherto claimed satisfaction, yet now that David had been apprised by the oracle of the cause of the long-prevailing calamity, he felt it his duty to give the Gibeonites full satisfaction—hence their specifying the number seven, which was reckoned full and complete. And if it should seem unjust to make the descendants suffer for a crime which, in all probability, originated with Saul himself, yet his sons and grandsons might be the instruments of his cruelty, the willing and zealous executors of this bloody raid.
the king said, I will give them—David cannot be charged with doing this as an indirect way or ridding himself of rival competitors for the throne, for those delivered up were only collateral branches of Saul's family, and never set up any claim to the sovereignty. Moreover, David was only granting the request of the Gibeonites as God had bidden him do.
8. the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel—Merab, Michal's sister, was the wife of Adriel; but Michal adopted and brought up the boys under her care.
9. they hanged them in the hill before the Lord—Deeming themselves not bound by the criminal law of Israel (De 21:22, 23), their intention was to let the bodies hang until God, propitiated by this offering, should send rain upon the land, for the want of it had occasioned the famine. It was a heathen practice to gibbet men with a view of appeasing the anger of the gods in seasons of famine, and the Gibeonites, who were a remnant of the Amorites (2Sa 21:2), though brought to the knowledge of the true God, were not, it seems, free from this superstition. God, in His providence, suffered the Gibeonites to ask and inflict so barbarous a retaliation, in order that the oppressed Gibeonites might obtain justice and some reparation of their wrongs, especially that the scandal brought on the name of the true religion by the violation of a solemn national compact might be wiped away from Israel, and that a memorable lesson should be given to respect treaties and oaths.
2Sa 21:10, 11. Rizpah's Kindness unto the Dead.
10. Rizpah … took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock—She erected a tent near the spot, in which she and her servants kept watch, as the relatives of executed persons were wont to do, day and night, to scare the birds and beasts of prey away from the remains exposed on the low-standing gibbets.
2Sa 21:12-22. David Buries the Bones of Saul and Jonathan in Their Father's Sepulcher.
12. David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son, &c.—Before long, the descent of copious showers, or perhaps an order of the king, gave Rizpah the satisfaction of releasing the corpses from their ignominious exposure; and, incited by her pious example, David ordered the remains of Saul and his sons to be transferred from their obscure grave in Jabesh-gilead to an honorable interment in the family vault at Zelah or Zelzah (1Sa 10:2), now Beit-jala.
15-22. Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel—Although the Philistines had completely succumbed to the army of David, yet the appearance of any gigantic champions among them revived their courage and stirred them up to renewed inroads on the Hebrew territory. Four successive contests they provoked during the latter period of David's reign, in the first of which the king ran so imminent a risk of his life that he was no longer allowed to encounter the perils of the battlefield.