2 Samuel21

A three-year famine prompts David to inquire of the Lord, who reveals it is due to Saul's slaughter of the Gibeonites. To atone, seven of Saul's descendants are hanged by the Gibeonites, after which David ensures their proper burial alongside Saul and Jonathan. Following this, the chapter recounts four separate instances where David's men defeat Philistine giants in battle, including one where David himself is nearly slain but saved.

The Famine and Saul's Bloodguilt

In David's time there was a famine that lasted three years, and David consulted ADONAI. ADONAI said, "It is because of Sha'ul and his bloodstained house, because he put to death the people of Giv'on."

The king summoned the Giv'onim and said to them - these Giv'onim were not part of the people of Isra'el but from the remnant of the Emori; and the people of Isra'el had sworn to them; but Sha'ul, in his zeal for the people of Isra'el and Y'hudah, had sought to exterminate them -

David said to the Giv'onim, "What should I do for you? With what should I make atonement, so that you will be able to bless ADONAI's heritage?"

The Giv'onim said to him, "Our dispute with Sha'ul can't be resolved with silver or gold; and we don't have the right to put anyone in Isra'el to death." He said, "So, what do you say that I should do for you?"

They answered the king, "The man who ruined us, who schemed against us so that we would cease to exist anywhere in Isra'el's territory -

have seven of his male descendants handed over to us, and we will put them to death by hanging before ADONAI in Giv'ah of Sha'ul, whom ADONAI chose."The king said, "I will hand them over."

But the king spared M'fivoshet, the son of Y'honatan the son of Sha'ul, because of the oath before ADONAI between David and Y'honatan the son of Sha'ul.

The king took the two sons of Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah, whom she bore to Sha'ul, Armoni and M'fivoshet; and the five sons of Mikhal the daughter of Sha'ul, whom she bore to Adri'el the son of Barzillai the Mecholati;

and handed them over to the Giv'onim, who hanged them on the hill before ADONAI. All seven died; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest season, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Rizpah’s Vigil and Honorable Burial

Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah took sackcloth, spread it out toward a cliff for herself and stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until water was poured out on the bodies from the sky, not letting the birds land on them during the day or the wild animals at night.

David was told what Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah, the concubine of Sha'ul, had done.

So David went and took the bones of Sha'ul and the bones of Y'honatan his son from the men of Yavesh-Gil'ad, who had stolen them from the open square of Beit-Sh'an, where the P'lishtim had hanged them at the time the P'lishtim had killed Sha'ul at Gilboa;

and he brought up from there the bones of Sha'ul and the bones of Y'honatan his son. They also gathered the bones of those who had been hanged.

Then they buried the bones of Sha'ul and Y'honatan his son in the territory of Binyamin in Tzela, in the tomb of Kish his father; they did everything the king ordered. Only after that was God prevailed on to show mercy to the land.

Battles Against Philistine Giants

Once again the P'lishtim made war on Isra'el. David went down with his servants and fought against the P'lishtim, but David began to get tired.

Yishbi-B'nov, one of the sons of the giant, said that he would kill David; his spear weighed seven pounds, and he was wearing new armor.

But Avishai the son of Tz'ruyah came to David's rescue by striking the P'lishti and killing him. Then David's men swore to him, "You must no longer go out with us to battle, in order not to quench the lamp of Isra'el."

A while after this there was again war with the P'lishtim, at Gov. Sibkhai the Hushati killed Saf, one of the sons of the giant.

There was more war with the P'lishtim at Gov; and Elchanan the son of Ya'arei-Orgim, the Beit-Lachmi, killed Golyat the Gitti, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver's beam.

There was again war at Gat, where there was a belligerent man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot - twenty-four in all - and he too was a son of the giant.

When he mocked Isra'el, Y'honatan the son of Shim'ah David's brother killed him.

These four were sons of the giant in Gat; they fell at the hands of David and his servants.

Study Notes for 2 Samuel 21

Verse 1

A three-year famine indicated divine judgment against Israel. David’s inquiry reveals that Saul had violated the sacred covenant made centuries earlier between Joshua and the Gibeonites (Joshua 9), incurring national bloodguilt.

Verse 2

The Gibeonites were Amorites protected by an oath the Israelites swore to them. Saul’s attempt to destroy them, motivated by misguided nationalistic zeal, constituted a severe breach of covenant law, which God held the nation accountable for.

Verse 6

The Gibeonites demand seven descendants of Saul be executed by hanging. This public execution, performed at Saul’s hometown (Gibeah), served as a necessary act of atonement to purify the land from the bloodguilt incurred by Saul’s violation (cf. Num 35:33).

Verse 7

David upheld his personal covenant with Jonathan (1 Sam 20:15-17), demonstrating that personal integrity and oath-keeping were paramount, even amidst the painful necessity of national retribution.

Verse 8

The Hebrew text mentions five sons of 'Michal,' though 2 Samuel 6:23 states Michal had no children. Scholars suggest this is either a scribal error for Merab (Saul’s eldest daughter who married Adriel, 1 Sam 18:19) or that Michal adopted and raised Merab’s children.

Verse 10

Rizpah’s intense loyalty and grief led her to protect the bodies from scavengers for months, highlighting the shame of the exposed corpses. This act of devotion eventually moved David to ensure a proper burial for Saul’s family.

Verse 12

David retrieves the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh-gilead, whose people had risked their lives years earlier to recover the bodies from the Philistines (1 Sam 31:11-13).

Verse 14

The burial of Saul and his family in the ancestral tomb of Kish finally completes the atonement process. Only after this act of restorative justice and honor was God 'intreated for the land,' signaling the end of the famine.

Verse 15

This section serves as a historical appendix, documenting the security of David’s reign through the defeat of the final, massive Philistine giants. David’s participation in battle is still expected, though he is clearly aging.

Verse 17

Abishai saves David, confirming that the king is too old for front-line fighting. David is called 'the light of Israel,' a royal title emphasizing his indispensable role as the spiritual and political head of the nation.

Verse 19

This account appears to conflict with 1 Samuel 17. The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 20:5 clarifies that Elhanan slew Lahmi, the *brother* of Goliath. It is likely that the name 'Goliath' became a generic designation for a giant or that the text preserves a variant tradition.

Verse 22

These four giants were descendants of the Rephaim, an ancient race of formidable stature. Their defeat by David’s men marks the complete subjugation of the Philistine threat during David's reign.

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2 Samuel21

The Famine and Saul's Bloodguilt

Rizpah’s Vigil and Honorable Burial

Battles Against Philistine Giants

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