2 Samuel · chapter 21 of 24
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2 Samuel 21 tells how a three-year famine leads David to ask the Lord, who answers that it is due to the blood Saul shed against the Gibeonites. Seven descendants of Saul are handed to the Gibeonites, Rizpah watches over their bodies and David buries the bones of Saul and Jonathan. The chapter closes with battles against Philistine giants.
Chapters 21 to 24 of 2 Samuel form an appendix that does not follow chronological order and shows different facets of David's reign: justice, war, worship, heroes and failure. 2 Samuel 21 raises hard questions about guilt, justice and mercy, and should be read carefully and without evasions.
There is a famine in the days of David for three years in a row, and David seeks the Lord. The Lord answers that it is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he put the Gibeonites to death. The Gibeonites were not of Israel but a remnant of the Amorites, to whom Israel had sworn protection, but Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, had sought to wipe them out. David calls the Gibeonites and asks what he can do to make amends so that they will bless the inheritance of the Lord.
The Gibeonites say it is not a matter of silver or gold or of putting anyone in Israel to death, and ask that seven men of Saul's descendants be handed over to them to be hanged before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul. David agrees and spares Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, because of the oath between them. He hands over the two sons of Rizpah and five grandsons of Saul, and the Gibeonites hang them on the mountain before the Lord at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, spreads sackcloth on the rock and watches over the bodies from the beginning of the harvest until rain falls from the sky, letting neither birds nor beasts touch them. When David hears, he gathers the bones of Saul and Jonathan, which were at Jabesh-gilead, and those of the hanged men, and buries them in the tomb of Kish at Zela in Benjamin. After that God was moved by the plea for the land.
There are new wars with the Philistines. David, weary, is threatened by a giant, Ishbi-benob, but Abishai comes to his aid and kills him. David's men swear that he will no longer go out to battle, so as not to quench the lamp of Israel. Other giants fall to Sibbecai, Elhanan and Jonathan, David's nephew, and it is said that these four were descended from the giants of Gath.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
David seeks the Lord, who answers that the famine is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house for having put the Gibeonites to death. Saul's offense against a people under oath weighs on the nation years later.
David spares Mephibosheth because of the oath he had made with Jonathan in the Lord's name. His faithfulness to a covenant leads him to protect a descendant of Saul even in the midst of a hard decision.
Rizpah spreads sackcloth on the rock and watches the bodies from the beginning of the harvest until water falls from the sky, letting neither birds nor beasts touch them. Her silent and painful loyalty moves David and leads him to act.
The bones of Saul and Jonathan are buried in the tomb of Kish, and God was moved by the plea for the land. The text suggests that reparation and a dignified burial of the dead carry weight before God.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Three years in a row. — 2 Samuel 21:1
Answer: Because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, for he put the Gibeonites to death. — 2 Samuel 21:1
Answer: Seven men of Saul's descendants to hang before the Lord. — 2 Samuel 21:5-6
Answer: Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan. — 2 Samuel 21:7
Answer: She watched them from the harvest until the rain, letting neither birds nor beasts touch them. — 2 Samuel 21:10
Answer: Abishai, son of Zeruiah, who killed the Philistine. — 2 Samuel 21:16-17
This passage is difficult, and it should not be read to justify violence. It shows that God takes oaths and unjustly shed blood seriously, even generations later. In a class or group you can discuss how the injustices of the past in a family, church or nation affect the present and how they can be repaired.
Rizpah teaches us to keep faithful watch over those who suffer, even when the world has forgotten them. Her silent vigil was a form of love and of protest. Ask whom your group is called to accompany in their grief, without expecting recognition.
2 Samuel 21 closes with King David's weariness, no longer going out to battle, and with a nation that still needs God's mercy. In 2 Samuel 22, David responds with a great song of thanksgiving for the Lord's salvation.
The text narrates what happened without giving an explicit moral verdict. Israel's law said children were not to die for their fathers' sins, so many scholars see here an exceptional and difficult case. The passage should be read with caution, without turning it into a rule.
They were a remnant of the Amorites who, in Joshua's time, tricked Israel into making a peace treaty. Israel swore to protect them, and that oath was still in force. Saul violated it, which explains the gravity of his guilt.
The Hebrew text of 2 Samuel 21:19 is difficult, and tradition has understood it in several ways. Some think it refers to another giant or a brother of Goliath, others that there is a copying error. Translations often clarify it, and it does not contradict David's defeat of Goliath in 1 Samuel 17.