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Selected Verse: 2 Samuel 21:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
2Sa 21:1	Strong Concordance	Then there was a famine [07458] in the days [03117] of David [01732] three [07969] years [08141], year [08141] after [0310] year [08141]; and David [01732] enquired [01245] of [06440] the LORD [03068]. And the LORD [03068] answered [0559], It is for Saul [07586], and for his bloody [01818] house [01004], because he slew [04191] the Gibeonites [01393].
	King James	Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
THE THREE YEARS' FAMINE FOR THE GIBEONITES CEASE BY HANGING SEVEN OF SAUL'S SONS. (Sa2 21:1-9) 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 (Sa1 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.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

THE THREE YEARS' FAMINE FOR THE GIBEONITES CEASE BY HANGING SEVEN OF SAUL'S SONS. (Sa2 21:1-9)

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 (Sa1 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.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
There is no note of time whatever, nor any clue as to what part of David's reign the events of this chapter ought to be assigned. Enquired of the Lord - Hebrew "sought the face of the Lord," quite a different phrase from that so often used in Judges (e. g. Jdg 1:1) and the Books of Samuel, and probably indicating that this chapter is from a different source; an inference agreeing with the indefinite "in the days of David," and with the allusion to the slaughter of the Gibeonites, which has not anywhere been narrated. And for his bloody house - literally, "the house of blood," i. e., the house or family upon which rests the guilt of shedding innocent blood.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Three Years' Famine. - A three years' famine in the land, the occasion of which, as Jehovah declared to the king, was Saul's crime with regard to the Gibeonites, was expiated by David's delivering up to the Gibeonites, at their own request, seven of Saul's descendants, who were then hung by them upon a mountain before Jehovah. This occurrence certainly did not take place in the closing years of David's reign; on the other hand, it is evident from the remark in Sa2 21:7, to the effect that Mephibosheth was spared, that it happened after David had received tidings of Mephibosheth, and had taken him to his own table (Sa2 9:1-13). This is mentioned here as a practical illustration, on the one hand of the manner in which Jehovah visited upon the house of Saul, even after the death of Saul himself, a crime which had been committed by him; and, on the other hand, of the way in which, even in such a case as this, when David had been obliged to sacrifice the descendants of Saul to expiate the guilt of their father, he showed his tenderness towards him by the honourable burial of their bones. Sa2 21:1-6 A famine, which lasted for three successive years, induced David to seek the face of Jehovah, i.e., to approach God in prayer and ask the cause of this judgment which had fallen upon the land. The Lord replied, "Because of Saul, and because of the house of blood-guiltiness, because he hath slain the Gibeonites." The expression "because of the house of blood-guiltiness" is in apposition to "Saul," and determines the meaning more precisely: "because of Saul, and indeed because of the blood-guiltiness which rests upon his house." הדּמים בּית signifies the house upon which blood that had been shed still rested as guilt, like הדּמים עיר in Eze 22:2; Eze 24:6, Eze 24:9, and דּמים אישׁ in Psa 5:7; Psa 27:9, etc. Nothing further is known about the fact itself. It is simply evident from the words of the Gibeonites in Sa2 21:5, that Saul, in his pretended zeal for the children of Israel, had smitten the Gibeonites, i.e., had put them to death. Probably some dissatisfaction with them had furnished Saul with a pretext for exterminating these Amoritish heathen from the midst of the people of God. Sa2 21:2-3 In consequence of this answer from God, which merely indicated in a general manner the cause of the visitation that had come upon the land, David sent for the Gibeonites to ask them concerning the wrong that had been done them by Saul. But before the historian communicates their answer, he introduces an explanation respecting the Gibeonites, to the effect that they were not Israelites, but remnants of the Amorites, to whom Joshua had promised on oath that their lives should be preserved (vid., Jos 9:3.). They are called Hivites in the book of Joshua (Jos 9:7); whereas here they are designated Amorites, according to the more general name which is frequently used as comprehending all the tribes of Canaan (see at Gen 10:16 and Gen 15:16). David said to the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you, and wherewith shall I expiate" (sc., the wrong done you), "that ye may bless the inheritance (i.e., the nation) of Jehovah?" On the use of the imperative וּברכוּ to denote the certain consequences, see Ewald, 347. Sa2 21:4-5 The Gibeonites answered, "I have not to do with silver and gold concerning Saul and his house" (lit. it is not, does not stand, to me at silver and gold with Saul and his house), i.e., I have no money to demand of Saul, require no pecuniary payment as compensation for the blood which he shed among us (vid., Num 35:31). The Chethib לי is not to be touched, notwithstanding the לנוּ which follows. The use of the singular may be explained on the simple ground that the speaker thought of the Gibeonites as a corporation. "And it does not pertain to us to put any one to death in Israel" (sc., of our own accord). When David inquired still further, "What do you mean, then, that I should do to you?" they replied, "(As for) the man who consumed us, and who thought against us, that we should be destroyed (נשׁמדנוּ without כּי, subordinately to דּמּה, like אעשׂה in the previous verse), so as not to continue in the whole of the territory of Israel, let seven men of his sons be given us, that we may crucify them to Jehovah at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of Jehovah." וגו אשׁר אישׁ is placed at the head absolutely (cf. Gesenius, 145, 2). On crucifixion as a capital punishment, see at Num 25:4, where it has already been observed that criminals were not impaled or fastened to the cross alive, but were first of all put to death. Consequently the Gibeonites desired that the massacre, which had taken place among them by the command of Saul, should be expiated by the execution of a number of his sons - blood for blood, according to Num 35:31. They asked for the crucifixion for Jehovah, i.e., that the persons executed might be impaled, as a public exhibition of the punishment inflicted, before the face of the Lord (vid., Sa2 21:9), as the satisfaction required to expiate His wrath. Seven was a sacred number, denoting the performance of a work of God. This was to take place in Gibeah, the home and capital of Saul, who had brought the wrath of God upon the land through his crime. There is a sacred irony in the epithet applied to Saul, "chosen of the Lord." If Saul was the chosen of Jehovah, his actions ought to have been in accordance with his divine election. Sa2 21:6-10 David granted the request, because, according to the law in Num 35:33, blood-guiltiness when resting upon the land could only be expiated by the blood of the criminal; but in delivering up the members of Saul's house for whom they asked, he spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul, for the sake of the bond of friendship which he had formed with Jonathan on oath (Sa1 18:3; Sa1 20:8, Sa1 20:16), and gave up to the Gibeonites two sons of Rizpah, a concubine of Saul (vid., Sa2 21:11 and Sa2 3:7), and five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel of Meholah. The name of Michal, which stands in the text, is founded upon an error of memory or a copyist's mistake; for it was not Michal, but Merab, Saul's eldest daughter, who was given to Adriel the Meholathite as his wife (Sa1 18:19). The Gibeonites crucified those who were delivered up to them upon the mountain at Gibeah before Jehovah (see the remarks on Sa2 21:6). "Thus fell seven at once." The Chethib שׁבעתים, at which the Masoretes took such offence that they wanted to change it into שׁבעתּם, is defended by Bttcher very properly, on the ground that the dual of the numeral denotes what is uniformly repeated as if by pairing; so that here it expresses what was extraordinary in the even tin a more pictorial manner than the Keri: "They fell sevenfold at once," i.e., seven in the same way. The further remark, "they were slain in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest," belongs to what follows, for which it prepares the way. The two Keris, והמּה for והם, and בּתחלּת for תּחלּת, are needless emendations. תּחלּת is an adverbial accusative (vid., Ges. 118, 2). The harvest began with the barley harvest, about the middle of Nisan, our April. Sa2 21:10 And Rizpah took sackcloth, i.e., the coarse hairy cloth that was worn as mourning, and spread it out for herself by the rock - not as a tent, as Clericus supposes, still less as a covering over the corpses of those who had been executed, according to the exegetical handbook, but for a bed - "from the beginning of the harvest till water was poured out upon them (the crucified) from heaven," i.e., till rain came as a sign that the plague of drought that had rested upon the land was appeased; after which the corpses could be openly taken down from the stakes and buried, - a fact which is passed over in the account before us, where only the principal points are given. This is the explanation which Josephus has correctly adopted; but his assumption that the rain fell at once, and before the ordinary early rain, has no foundation in the text of the Bible. "And suffered not the birds of heaven to settle upon the corpses by day, or the wild beasts by night." Leaving corpses without burial, to be consumed by birds of prey and wild beasts, was regarded as the greatest ignominy that could befal the dead (see at Sa1 17:44). According to Deu 21:22-23, persons executed were not to remain hanging through the night upon the stake, but to be buried before evening. This law, however, had no application whatever to the case before us, where the expiation of guilt that rested upon the whole land was concerned. In this instance the expiatory sacrifices were to remain exposed before Jehovah, till the cessation of the plague showed that His wrath had been appeased. Sa2 21:11-14 When this touching care of Rizpah for the dead was told to David, he took care that the bones of the whole of the fallen royal house should be buried in the burial-place of Saul's family. He therefore sent for the bones of Saul and Jonathan, which the men of Jabesh had taken away secretly from the wall of Beisan, where the Philistines had fastened the bodies, and which had been buried in Jabesh (Sa1 31:10.), and had the bones of the sons and grandsons of Saul who had been crucified at Gibeah collected together, and interred all these bones at Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the family grave of Kish the father of Saul. גּנּב, to take away secretly. בּית־שׁן מּרחב, from the market-place of Bethshan, does not present any contradiction to the statement in Sa1 31:10, that the Philistines fastened the body to the wall of Bethshan, as the rechob or market-place in eastern towns is not in the middle of the town, but is an open place against or in front of the gate (cf. Ch2 32:6; Neh 8:1, Neh 8:3,Neh 8:16). This place, as the common meeting-place of the citizens, was the most suitable spot that the Philistines could find for fastening the bodies to the wall. The Chethib תּלוּם is the true Hebrew form from תּלה, whereas the Keri תּלאוּם is a formation resembling the Aramaean (cf. Ewald, 252, a.). The Keri פלשׁתּים שׁמּה is correct, however, as פלשׁתּים, being a proper name, does not take any article. In הכּות בּיום the literal meaning of יום (day) must not be strictly pressed, but the expression is to be taken in the sense of "at the time of the smiting;" for the hanging up of the bodies did not take place till the day after the battle (Sa1 31:8.). - In Sa2 21:14 the account is abridged, and the bones of the crucified persons are not mentioned again. The situation of Zela is unknown (see at Jos 18:28). After this had been carried out in accordance with the king's command, God suffered himself to be entreated for the land, so that the famine ceased.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Three Years' Famine. - A three years' famine in the land, the occasion of which, as Jehovah declared to the king, was Saul's crime with regard to the Gibeonites, was expiated by David's delivering up to the Gibeonites, at their own request, seven of Saul's descendants, who were then hung by them upon a mountain before Jehovah. This occurrence certainly did not take place in the closing years of David's reign; on the other hand, it is evident from the remark in Sa2 21:7, to the effect that Mephibosheth was spared, that it happened after David had received tidings of Mephibosheth, and had taken him to his own table (Sa2 9:1-13). This is mentioned here as a practical illustration, on the one hand of the manner in which Jehovah visited upon the house of Saul, even after the death of Saul himself, a crime which had been committed by him; and, on the other hand, of the way in which, even in such a case as this, when David had been obliged to sacrifice the descendants of Saul to expiate the guilt of their father, he showed his tenderness towards him by the honourable burial of their bones.

Sa2 21:1-6

A famine, which lasted for three successive years, induced David to seek the face of Jehovah, i.e., to approach God in prayer and ask the cause of this judgment which had fallen upon the land. The Lord replied, "Because of Saul, and because of the house of blood-guiltiness, because he hath slain the Gibeonites." The expression "because of the house of blood-guiltiness" is in apposition to "Saul," and determines the meaning more precisely: "because of Saul, and indeed because of the blood-guiltiness which rests upon his house." הדּמים בּית signifies the house upon which blood that had been shed still rested as guilt, like הדּמים עיר in Eze 22:2; Eze 24:6, Eze 24:9, and דּמים אישׁ in Psa 5:7; Psa 27:9, etc. Nothing further is known about the fact itself. It is simply evident from the words of the Gibeonites in Sa2 21:5, that Saul, in his pretended zeal for the children of Israel, had smitten the Gibeonites, i.e., had put them to death. Probably some dissatisfaction with them had furnished Saul with a pretext for exterminating these Amoritish heathen from the midst of the people of God.

Sa2 21:2-3

In consequence of this answer from God, which merely indicated in a general manner the cause of the visitation that had come upon the land, David sent for the Gibeonites to ask them concerning the wrong that had been done them by Saul. But before the historian communicates their answer, he introduces an explanation respecting the Gibeonites, to the effect that they were not Israelites, but remnants of the Amorites, to whom Joshua had promised on oath that their lives should be preserved (vid., Jos 9:3.). They are called Hivites in the book of Joshua (Jos 9:7); whereas here they are designated Amorites, according to the more general name which is frequently used as comprehending all the tribes of Canaan (see at Gen 10:16 and Gen 15:16). David said to the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you, and wherewith shall I expiate" (sc., the wrong done you), "that ye may bless the inheritance (i.e., the nation) of Jehovah?" On the use of the imperative וּברכוּ to denote the certain consequences, see Ewald, 347.

Sa2 21:4-5

The Gibeonites answered, "I have not to do with silver and gold concerning Saul and his house" (lit. it is not, does not stand, to me at silver and gold with Saul and his house), i.e., I have no money to demand of Saul, require no pecuniary payment as compensation for the blood which he shed among us (vid., Num 35:31). The Chethib לי is not to be touched, notwithstanding the לנוּ which follows. The use of the singular may be explained on the simple ground that the speaker thought of the Gibeonites as a corporation. "And it does not pertain to us to put any one to death in Israel" (sc., of our own accord). When David inquired still further, "What do you mean, then, that I should do to you?" they replied, "(As for) the man who consumed us, and who thought against us, that we should be destroyed (נשׁמדנוּ without כּי, subordinately to דּמּה, like אעשׂה in the previous verse), so as not to continue in the whole of the territory of Israel, let seven men of his sons be given us, that we may crucify them to Jehovah at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of Jehovah." וגו אשׁר אישׁ is placed at the head absolutely (cf. Gesenius, 145, 2). On crucifixion as a capital punishment, see at Num 25:4, where it has already been observed that criminals were not impaled or fastened to the cross alive, but were first of all put to death. Consequently the Gibeonites desired that the massacre, which had taken place among them by the command of Saul, should be expiated by the execution of a number of his sons - blood for blood, according to Num 35:31. They asked for the crucifixion for Jehovah, i.e., that the persons executed might be impaled, as a public exhibition of the punishment inflicted, before the face of the Lord (vid., Sa2 21:9), as the satisfaction required to expiate His wrath. Seven was a sacred number, denoting the performance of a work of God. This was to take place in Gibeah, the home and capital of Saul, who had brought the wrath of God upon the land through his crime. There is a sacred irony in the epithet applied to Saul, "chosen of the Lord." If Saul was the chosen of Jehovah, his actions ought to have been in accordance with his divine election.

Sa2 21:6-10

David granted the request, because, according to the law in Num 35:33, blood-guiltiness when resting upon the land could only be expiated by the blood of the criminal; but in delivering up the members of Saul's house for whom they asked, he spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul, for the sake of the bond of friendship which he had formed with Jonathan on oath (Sa1 18:3; Sa1 20:8, Sa1 20:16), and gave up to the Gibeonites two sons of Rizpah, a concubine of Saul (vid., Sa2 21:11 and Sa2 3:7), and five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel of Meholah. The name of Michal, which stands in the text, is founded upon an error of memory or a copyist's mistake; for it was not Michal, but Merab, Saul's eldest daughter, who was given to Adriel the Meholathite as his wife (Sa1 18:19). The Gibeonites crucified those who were delivered up to them upon the mountain at Gibeah before Jehovah (see the remarks on Sa2 21:6). "Thus fell seven at once." The Chethib שׁבעתים, at which the Masoretes took such offence that they wanted to change it into שׁבעתּם, is defended by Bttcher very properly, on the ground that the dual of the numeral denotes what is uniformly repeated as if by pairing; so that here it expresses what was extraordinary in the even tin a more pictorial manner than the Keri: "They fell sevenfold at once," i.e., seven in the same way. The further remark, "they were slain in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest," belongs to what follows, for which it prepares the way. The two Keris, והמּה for והם, and בּתחלּת for תּחלּת, are needless emendations. תּחלּת is an adverbial accusative (vid., Ges. 118, 2). The harvest began with the barley harvest, about the middle of Nisan, our April.

Sa2 21:10

And Rizpah took sackcloth, i.e., the coarse hairy cloth that was worn as mourning, and spread it out for herself by the rock - not as a tent, as Clericus supposes, still less as a covering over the corpses of those who had been executed, according to the exegetical handbook, but for a bed - "from the beginning of the harvest till water was poured out upon them (the crucified) from heaven," i.e., till rain came as a sign that the plague of drought that had rested upon the land was appeased; after which the corpses could be openly taken down from the stakes and buried, - a fact which is passed over in the account before us, where only the principal points are given. This is the explanation which Josephus has correctly adopted; but his assumption that the rain fell at once, and before the ordinary early rain, has no foundation in the text of the Bible. "And suffered not the birds of heaven to settle upon the corpses by day, or the wild beasts by night." Leaving corpses without burial, to be consumed by birds of prey and wild beasts, was regarded as the greatest ignominy that could befal the dead (see at Sa1 17:44). According to Deu 21:22-23, persons executed were not to remain hanging through the night upon the stake, but to be buried before evening. This law, however, had no application whatever to the case before us, where the expiation of guilt that rested upon the whole land was concerned. In this instance the expiatory sacrifices were to remain exposed before Jehovah, till the cessation of the plague showed that His wrath had been appeased.

Sa2 21:11-14

When this touching care of Rizpah for the dead was told to David, he took care that the bones of the whole of the fallen royal house should be buried in the burial-place of Saul's family. He therefore sent for the bones of Saul and Jonathan, which the men of Jabesh had taken away secretly from the wall of Beisan, where the Philistines had fastened the bodies, and which had been buried in Jabesh (Sa1 31:10.), and had the bones of the sons and grandsons of Saul who had been crucified at Gibeah collected together, and interred all these bones at Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the family grave of Kish the father of Saul. גּנּב, to take away secretly. בּית־שׁן מּרחב, from the market-place of Bethshan, does not present any contradiction to the statement in Sa1 31:10, that the Philistines fastened the body to the wall of Bethshan, as the rechob or market-place in eastern towns is not in the middle of the town, but is an open place against or in front of the gate (cf. Ch2 32:6; Neh 8:1, Neh 8:3,Neh 8:16). This place, as the common meeting-place of the citizens, was the most suitable spot that the Philistines could find for fastening the bodies to the wall. The Chethib תּלוּם is the true Hebrew form from תּלה, whereas the Keri תּלאוּם is a formation resembling the Aramaean (cf. Ewald, 252, a.). The Keri פלשׁתּים שׁמּה is correct, however, as פלשׁתּים, being a proper name, does not take any article. In הכּות בּיום the literal meaning of יום (day) must not be strictly pressed, but the expression is to be taken in the sense of "at the time of the smiting;" for the hanging up of the bodies did not take place till the day after the battle (Sa1 31:8.). - In Sa2 21:14 the account is abridged, and the bones of the crucified persons are not mentioned again. The situation of Zela is unknown (see at Jos 18:28). After this had been carried out in accordance with the king's command, God suffered himself to be entreated for the land, so that the famine ceased.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Then - The things related here and 2Sa. 24:1-25, are by the best interpreters conceived to have been done long before Absalom's rebellion. And this opinion is not without sufficient grounds: first, this particle, then, is here explained, in the days, that is, during the reign of David: which general words seem to be added as an intimation that these things were not done after the next foregoing passages, for then the sacred writer would rather have added, after these things, as it is in many other places. Secondly, here are divers passages which it seems improbable to ascribe to the last years of David's reign: such as first, that Saul's sin against the Gibeonites should so long remain unpunished. And indeed that this was done, and Saul's seven sons hanged by David's order before that time, seems to be intimated by that passage, Sa2 16:8, where he is charged with the blood of the house of Saul: for which there was not the least colour 'till this time. Secondly, that David should not remove the bones of Saul and Jonathan to their proper place, 'till that time. Thirdly, that the Philistines should wage war with David again and again, Sa2 21:15, &c. so long after he had fully subdued them, Sa2 8:1, and that David in his old age should attempt to fight with a Philistine giant, or that his people should suffer him to do so. Fourthly, that David should then have so vehement a desire to number his people, Sa2 24:1, which being an act of youthful vanity, seems not at all to agree with his old age, nor with that state of deep humiliation in which he then was. And the reason why these matters are put here out of their proper order, is plainly this, because David's sin being once related, it was very convenient that David's punishments should immediately succeed: this being very frequent in scripture - story, to put those things together which belong to one matter, though they happened at several times. He flew - Which was not only an act of cruelty, but also of perfidiousness, because it was a public violation of that solemn oath given to them by Joshua and the princes, in the name of all the Israelites, of that and succeeding generations. "But why did not God punish Saul whilst he was alive for this, but his children, and the Israelites of this age?" First, God did severely punish Saul for this and his other sins. Secondly, as God may justly inflict temporal punishments upon any offender, either in his person, or in his posterity, when he pleaseth; so it is meet he should take his own time for it; and it is folly in us to quarrel with God for so doing. Thirdly, the Israelites might sundry ways make themselves guilty of Saul's sin, tho' it be not particularly mentioned, advising or encouraging him to it; or, assisting him in the execution of it. And whereas many of the people were probably innocent of that crime, yet they also were guilty of many other sins, for which God might punish them, though he took this occasion for it.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Then there was a famine - Of this famine we know nothing; it is not mentioned in any part of the history of David. Because he slew the Gibeonites - No such fact is mentioned in the life and transactions of Saul; nor is there any reference to it in any other part of Scripture.

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¹⁹ And Nob [05011], the city [05892] of the priests [03548], smote [05221] he with the edge [06310] of the sword [02719], both men [0376] and women [0802], children [05768] and sucklings [03243], and oxen [07794], and asses [02543], and sheep [07716], with the edge [06310] of the sword [02719].

¹ Then there was a famine [07458] in the days [03117] of David [01732] three [07969] years [08141], year [08141] after [0310] year [08141]; and David [01732] enquired [01245] of [06440] the LORD [03068]. And the LORD [03068] answered [0559], It is for Saul [07586], and for his bloody [01818] house [01004], because he slew [04191] the Gibeonites [01393].
² And the king [04428] called [07121] the Gibeonites [01393], and said [0559] unto them; (now the Gibeonites [01393] were not of the children [01121] of Israel [03478], but of the remnant [03499] of the Amorites [0567]; and the children [01121] of Israel [03478] had sworn [07650] unto them: and Saul [07586] sought [01245] to slay [05221] them in his zeal [07065] to the children [01121] of Israel [03478] and Judah [03063].)
³ Wherefore David [01732] said [0559] unto the Gibeonites [01393], What shall I do [06213] for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement [03722], that ye may bless [01288] the inheritance [05159] of the LORD [03068]?
⁴ And the Gibeonites [01393] said [0559] unto him, We will have no silver [03701] nor gold [02091] of [05973] Saul [07586], nor of his house [01004]; neither for us shalt thou kill [04191] any man [0376] in Israel [03478]. And he said [0559], What ye shall say [0559], that will I do [06213] for you.
⁵ And they answered [0559] the king [04428], The man [0376] that consumed [03615] us, and that devised [01819] against us that we should be destroyed [08045] from remaining [03320] in any of the coasts [01366] of Israel [03478],
⁶ Let seven [07651] men [0582] of his sons [01121] be delivered [05414] unto us, and we will hang them up [03363] unto the LORD [03068] in Gibeah [01390] of Saul [07586], whom the LORD [03068] did choose [0972]. And the king [04428] said [0559], I will give [05414] them.
⁷ But the king [04428] spared [02550] Mephibosheth [04648], the son [01121] of Jonathan [03083] the son [01121] of Saul [07586], because of the LORD'S [03068] oath [07621] that was between them, between David [01732] and Jonathan [03083] the son [01121] of Saul [07586].
⁸ But the king [04428] took [03947] the two [08147] sons [01121] of Rizpah [07532] the daughter [01323] of Aiah [0345], whom she bare [03205] unto Saul [07586], Armoni [0764] and Mephibosheth [04648]; and the five [02568] sons [01121] of Michal [04324] the daughter [01323] of Saul [07586], whom she brought up [03205] for Adriel [05741] the son [01121] of Barzillai [01271] the Meholathite [04259]:
⁹ And he delivered [05414] them into the hands [03027] of the Gibeonites [01393], and they hanged [03363] them in the hill [02022] before [06440] the LORD [03068]: and they fell [05307] all seven [07651] [07659] together [03162], and were put to death [04191] in the days [03117] of harvest [07105], in the first [07223] days, in the beginning [08462] of barley [08184] harvest [07105].

¹ Now after [0310] the death [04194] of Joshua [03091] it came to pass, that the children [01121] of Israel [03478] asked [07592] the LORD [03068], saying [0559], Who shall go up [05927] for us against the Canaanites [03669] first [08462], to fight [03898] against them?

²⁸ And Zelah [06762], Eleph [0507], and Jebusi [02983], which is Jerusalem [03389], Gibeath [01394], and Kirjath [07157]; fourteen [0702] [06240] cities [05892] with their villages [02691]. This is the inheritance [05159] of the children [01121] of Benjamin [01144] according to their families [04940].

¹⁴ And the bones [06106] of Saul [07586] and Jonathan [03083] his son [01121] buried [06912] they in the country [0776] of Benjamin [01144] in Zelah [06762], in the sepulchre [06913] of Kish [07027] his father [01]: and they performed [06213] all that the king [04428] commanded [06680]. And after [0310] that God [0430] was intreated [06279] for the land [0776].

⁸ And it came to pass on the morrow [04283], when the Philistines [06430] came [0935] to strip [06584] the slain [02491], that they found [04672] Saul [07586] and his three [07969] sons [01121] fallen [05307] in mount [02022] Gilboa [01533].

¹⁶ So the people [05971] went forth [03318], and brought [0935] them, and made [06213] themselves booths [05521], every one [0376] upon the roof of his house [01406], and in their courts [02691], and in the courts [02691] of the house [01004] of God [0430], and in the street [07339] of the water [04325] gate [08179], and in the street [07339] of the gate [08179] of Ephraim [0669].

³ And he read [07121] therein before [06440] the street [07339] that was before [06440] the water [04325] gate [08179] from the morning [0216] until midday [04276] [03117], before the men [0582] and the women [0802], and those that could understand [0995]; and the ears [0241] of all the people [05971] were attentive unto the book [05612] of the law [08451].

¹ And all the people [05971] gathered themselves together [0622] as one [0259] man [0376] into the street [07339] that was before [06440] the water [04325] gate [08179]; and they spake [0559] unto Ezra [05830] the scribe [05608] to bring [0935] the book [05612] of the law [08451] of Moses [04872], which the LORD [03068] had commanded [06680] to Israel [03478].

⁶ And he set [05414] captains [08269] of war [04421] over the people [05971], and gathered them together [06908] to him in the street [07339] of the gate [08179] of the city [05892], and spake [01696] comfortably [03824] to them, saying [0559],

¹⁰ And they put [07760] his armour [03627] in the house [01004] of Ashtaroth [06252] [01045]: and they fastened [08628] his body [01472] to the wall [02346] of Bethshan [01052].

¹¹ And it was told [05046] David [01732] what Rizpah [07532] the daughter [01323] of Aiah [0345], the concubine [06370] of Saul [07586], had done [06213].
¹² And David [01732] went [03212] and took [03947] the bones [06106] of Saul [07586] and the bones [06106] of Jonathan [03083] his son [01121] from the men [01167] of Jabeshgilead [03003] [01568], which had stolen [01589] them from the street [07339] of Bethshan [01052], where the Philistines [06430] had hanged [08511] [08518] them, when [03117] the Philistines [06430] had slain [05221] Saul [07586] in Gilboa [01533]:
¹³ And he brought up [05927] from thence the bones [06106] of Saul [07586] and the bones [06106] of Jonathan [03083] his son [01121]; and they gathered [0622] the bones [06106] of them that were hanged [03363].
¹⁴ And the bones [06106] of Saul [07586] and Jonathan [03083] his son [01121] buried [06912] they in the country [0776] of Benjamin [01144] in Zelah [06762], in the sepulchre [06913] of Kish [07027] his father [01]: and they performed [06213] all that the king [04428] commanded [06680]. And after [0310] that God [0430] was intreated [06279] for the land [0776].

²² And if a man [0376] have committed a sin [02399] worthy of [04941] death [04194], and he be to be put to death [04191], and thou hang [08518] him on a tree [06086]:
²³ His body [05038] shall not remain all night [03885] upon the tree [06086], but thou shalt in any wise [06912] bury [06912] him that day [03117]; (for he that is hanged [08518] is accursed [07045] of God [0430];) that thy land [0127] be not defiled [02930], which the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] giveth [05414] thee for an inheritance [05159].

⁴⁴ And the Philistine [06430] said [0559] to David [01732], Come [03212] to me, and I will give [05414] thy flesh [01320] unto the fowls [05775] of the air [08064], and to the beasts [0929] of the field [07704].

¹⁰ And Rizpah [07532] the daughter [01323] of Aiah [0345] took [03947] sackcloth [08242], and spread [05186] it for her upon the rock [06697], from the beginning [08462] of harvest [07105] until water [04325] dropped [05413] upon them out of heaven [08064], and suffered [05414] neither the birds [05775] of the air [08064] to rest [05117] on them by day [03119], nor the beasts [02416] of the field [07704] by night [03915].

¹⁹ But it came to pass at the time [06256] when Merab [04764] Saul's [07586] daughter [01323] should have been given [05414] to David [01732], that she was given [05414] unto Adriel [05741] the Meholathite [04259] to wife [0802].

⁷ And Saul [07586] had a concubine [06370], whose name [08034] was Rizpah [07532], the daughter [01323] of Aiah [0345]: and Ishbosheth said [0559] to Abner [074], Wherefore hast thou gone in [0935] unto my father's [01] concubine [06370]?

¹¹ And it was told [05046] David [01732] what Rizpah [07532] the daughter [01323] of Aiah [0345], the concubine [06370] of Saul [07586], had done [06213].

¹⁶ So Jonathan [03083] made [03772] a covenant with the house [01004] of David [01732], saying, Let the LORD [03068] even require [01245] it at the hand [03027] of David's [01732] enemies [0341].

⁸ Therefore thou shalt deal [06213] kindly [02617] with thy servant [05650]; for thou hast brought [0935] thy servant [05650] into a covenant [01285] of the LORD [03068] with thee: notwithstanding, if there be [03426] in me iniquity [05771], slay [04191] me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring [0935] me to thy father [01]?

³ Then Jonathan [03083] and David [01732] made [03772] a covenant [01285], because he loved [0160] him as his own soul [05315].

³³ So ye shall not pollute [02610] the land [0776] wherein ye are: for blood [01818] it defileth [02610] the land [0776]: and the land [0776] cannot be cleansed [03722] of the blood [01818] that is shed [08210] therein, but by the blood [01818] of him that shed [08210] it.

⁶ Let seven [07651] men [0582] of his sons [01121] be delivered [05414] unto us, and we will hang them up [03363] unto the LORD [03068] in Gibeah [01390] of Saul [07586], whom the LORD [03068] did choose [0972]. And the king [04428] said [0559], I will give [05414] them.
⁷ But the king [04428] spared [02550] Mephibosheth [04648], the son [01121] of Jonathan [03083] the son [01121] of Saul [07586], because of the LORD'S [03068] oath [07621] that was between them, between David [01732] and Jonathan [03083] the son [01121] of Saul [07586].
⁸ But the king [04428] took [03947] the two [08147] sons [01121] of Rizpah [07532] the daughter [01323] of Aiah [0345], whom she bare [03205] unto Saul [07586], Armoni [0764] and Mephibosheth [04648]; and the five [02568] sons [01121] of Michal [04324] the daughter [01323] of Saul [07586], whom she brought up [03205] for Adriel [05741] the son [01121] of Barzillai [01271] the Meholathite [04259]:
⁹ And he delivered [05414] them into the hands [03027] of the Gibeonites [01393], and they hanged [03363] them in the hill [02022] before [06440] the LORD [03068]: and they fell [05307] all seven [07651] [07659] together [03162], and were put to death [04191] in the days [03117] of harvest [07105], in the first [07223] days, in the beginning [08462] of barley [08184] harvest [07105].
¹⁰ And Rizpah [07532] the daughter [01323] of Aiah [0345] took [03947] sackcloth [08242], and spread [05186] it for her upon the rock [06697], from the beginning [08462] of harvest [07105] until water [04325] dropped [05413] upon them out of heaven [08064], and suffered [05414] neither the birds [05775] of the air [08064] to rest [05117] on them by day [03119], nor the beasts [02416] of the field [07704] by night [03915].

⁹ And he delivered [05414] them into the hands [03027] of the Gibeonites [01393], and they hanged [03363] them in the hill [02022] before [06440] the LORD [03068]: and they fell [05307] all seven [07651] [07659] together [03162], and were put to death [04191] in the days [03117] of harvest [07105], in the first [07223] days, in the beginning [08462] of barley [08184] harvest [07105].

³¹ Moreover ye shall take [03947] no satisfaction [03724] for the life [05315] of a murderer [07523], which is guilty [07563] of death [04191]: but he shall be surely [04191] put to death [04191].

⁴ And the LORD [03068] said [0559] unto Moses [04872], Take [03947] all the heads [07218] of the people [05971], and hang them up [03363] before [05048] the LORD [03068] against the sun [08121], that the fierce [02740] anger [0639] of the LORD [03068] may be turned away [07725] from Israel [03478].

³¹ Moreover ye shall take [03947] no satisfaction [03724] for the life [05315] of a murderer [07523], which is guilty [07563] of death [04191]: but he shall be surely [04191] put to death [04191].

⁴ And the Gibeonites [01393] said [0559] unto him, We will have no silver [03701] nor gold [02091] of [05973] Saul [07586], nor of his house [01004]; neither for us shalt thou kill [04191] any man [0376] in Israel [03478]. And he said [0559], What ye shall say [0559], that will I do [06213] for you.
⁵ And they answered [0559] the king [04428], The man [0376] that consumed [03615] us, and that devised [01819] against us that we should be destroyed [08045] from remaining [03320] in any of the coasts [01366] of Israel [03478],

¹⁶ But in the fourth [07243] generation [01755] they shall come hither [02008] again [07725]: for the iniquity [05771] of the Amorites [0567] is not yet [02008] full [08003].

¹⁶ And the Jebusite [02983], and the Amorite [0567], and the Girgasite [01622],

⁷ And the men [0376] of Israel [03478] said [0559] unto the Hivites [02340], Peradventure [0194] ye dwell [03427] among [07130] us; and how shall we make [03772] a league [01285] with you?

³ And when the inhabitants [03427] of Gibeon [01391] heard [08085] what Joshua [03091] had done [06213] unto Jericho [03405] and to Ai [05857],

² And the king [04428] called [07121] the Gibeonites [01393], and said [0559] unto them; (now the Gibeonites [01393] were not of the children [01121] of Israel [03478], but of the remnant [03499] of the Amorites [0567]; and the children [01121] of Israel [03478] had sworn [07650] unto them: and Saul [07586] sought [01245] to slay [05221] them in his zeal [07065] to the children [01121] of Israel [03478] and Judah [03063].)
³ Wherefore David [01732] said [0559] unto the Gibeonites [01393], What shall I do [06213] for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement [03722], that ye may bless [01288] the inheritance [05159] of the LORD [03068]?

⁵ And they answered [0559] the king [04428], The man [0376] that consumed [03615] us, and that devised [01819] against us that we should be destroyed [08045] from remaining [03320] in any of the coasts [01366] of Israel [03478],

⁹ Hide [05641] not thy face [06440] far from me; put [05186] not thy servant [05650] away [05186] in anger [0639]: thou hast been my help [05833]; leave [05203] me not, neither forsake [05800] me, O God [0430] of my salvation [03468].

⁷ But as for me, I will come [0935] into thy house [01004] in the multitude [07230] of thy mercy [02617]: and in thy fear [03374] will I worship [07812] toward thy holy [06944] temple [01964].

⁹ Therefore thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Woe [0188] to the bloody [01818] city [05892]! I will even make the pile [04071] for fire great [01431].

⁶ Wherefore thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Woe [0188] to the bloody [01818] city [05892], to the pot [05518] whose scum [02457] is therein, and whose scum [02457] is not gone out [03318] of it! bring it out [03318] piece [05409] by piece [05409]; let no lot [01486] fall [05307] upon it.

² Now, thou son [01121] of man [0120], wilt thou judge [08199], wilt thou judge [08199] the bloody [01818] city [05892]? yea, thou shalt shew [03045] her all her abominations [08441].

¹ And David [01732] said [0559], Is there yet [03426] any that is left [03498] of the house [01004] of Saul [07586], that I may shew [06213] him kindness [02617] for Jonathan's [03083] sake?
² And there was of the house [01004] of Saul [07586] a servant [05650] whose name [08034] was Ziba [06717]. And when they had called [07121] him unto David [01732], the king [04428] said [0559] unto him, Art thou Ziba [06717]? And he said [0559], Thy servant [05650] is he.
³ And the king [04428] said [0559], Is there not [0657] yet any [0376] of the house [01004] of Saul [07586], that I may shew [06213] the kindness [02617] of God [0430] unto him? And Ziba [06717] said [0559] unto the king [04428], Jonathan [03083] hath yet a son [01121], which is lame [05223] on his feet [07272].
⁴ And the king [04428] said [0559] unto him, Where [0375] is he? And Ziba [06717] said [0559] unto the king [04428], Behold, he is in the house [01004] of Machir [04353], the son [01121] of Ammiel [05988], in Lodebar [03810].
⁵ Then king [04428] David [01732] sent [07971], and fetched [03947] him out of the house [01004] of Machir [04353], the son [01121] of Ammiel [05988], from Lodebar [03810].
⁶ Now when Mephibosheth [04648], the son [01121] of Jonathan [03083], the son [01121] of Saul [07586], was come [0935] unto David [01732], he fell [05307] on his face [06440], and did reverence [07812]. And David [01732] said [0559], Mephibosheth [04648]. And he answered [0559], Behold thy servant [05650]!
⁷ And David [01732] said [0559] unto him, Fear [03372] not: for I will surely [06213] shew [06213] thee kindness [02617] for Jonathan [03083] thy father's [01] sake, and will restore [07725] thee all the land [07704] of Saul [07586] thy father [01]; and thou shalt eat [0398] bread [03899] at my table [07979] continually [08548].
⁸ And he bowed [07812] himself, and said [0559], What is thy servant [05650], that thou shouldest look [06437] upon such a dead [04191] dog [03611] as I am?
⁹ Then the king [04428] called [07121] to Ziba [06717], Saul's [07586] servant [05288], and said [0559] unto him, I have given [05414] unto thy master's [0113] son [01121] all that pertained [01961] to Saul [07586] and to all his house [01004].
¹⁰ Thou therefore, and thy sons [01121], and thy servants [05650], shall till [05647] the land [0127] for him, and thou shalt bring [0935] in the fruits, that thy master's [0113] son [01121] may have food [03899] to eat [0398]: but Mephibosheth [04648] thy master's [0113] son [01121] shall eat [0398] bread [03899] alway [08548] at my table [07979]. Now Ziba [06717] had fifteen [02568] [06240] sons [01121] and twenty [06242] servants [05650].
¹¹ Then said [0559] Ziba [06717] unto the king [04428], According to all that my lord [0113] the king [04428] hath commanded [06680] his servant [05650], so shall thy servant [05650] do [06213]. As for Mephibosheth [04648], said the king, he shall eat [0398] at my table [07979], as one [0259] of the king's [04428] sons [01121].
¹² And Mephibosheth [04648] had a young [06996] son [01121], whose name [08034] was Micha [04316]. And all that dwelt [04186] in the house [01004] of Ziba [06717] were servants [05650] unto Mephibosheth [04648].
¹³ So Mephibosheth [04648] dwelt [03427] in Jerusalem [03389]: for he did eat [0398] continually [08548] at the king's [04428] table [07979]; and was lame [06455] on both [08147] his feet [07272].

⁷ But the king [04428] spared [02550] Mephibosheth [04648], the son [01121] of Jonathan [03083] the son [01121] of Saul [07586], because of the LORD'S [03068] oath [07621] that was between them, between David [01732] and Jonathan [03083] the son [01121] of Saul [07586].

¹ And again [03254] the anger [0639] of the LORD [03068] was kindled [02734] against Israel [03478], and he moved [05496] David [01732] against them to say [0559], Go [03212], number [04487] Israel [03478] and Judah [03063].

¹ And after [0310] this it came to pass, that David [01732] smote [05221] the Philistines [06430], and subdued [03665] them: and David [01732] took [03947] Methegammah [04965] out of the hand [03027] of the Philistines [06430].

¹⁵ Moreover the Philistines [06430] had yet war [04421] again with Israel [03478]; and David [01732] went down [03381], and his servants [05650] with him, and fought [03898] against the Philistines [06430]: and David [01732] waxed faint [05774].

⁸ The LORD [03068] hath returned [07725] upon thee all the blood [01818] of the house [01004] of Saul [07586], in whose stead thou hast reigned [04427]; and the LORD [03068] hath delivered [05414] the kingdom [04410] into the hand [03027] of Absalom [053] thy son [01121]: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief [07451], because thou art a bloody [01818] man [0376].