2 Samuel 21

1Then 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.footnote a

2And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)

3Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD?

4And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.footnote b

5And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,footnote c

6Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them.footnote d

7But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

8But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:footnote efootnote f

9And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

10And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

11And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.

12And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:

13And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.

14And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.

15Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.

16And Ishbi-benob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.footnote gfootnote h

17But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.footnote i

18And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant.footnote jfootnote k

19And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Beth-lehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.footnote l

20And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.footnote m

21And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the brother of David slew him.footnote nfootnote o

22These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

David Avenges the Gibeonites

1During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD.
And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”

2At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal for Israel and Judah, Saul had sought to kill them.)

3So David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How can I make amends so that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?”

4The Gibeonites said to him, “We need no silver or gold from Saul or his house, nor should you put to death anyone in Israel for us.”
“Whatever you ask, I will do for you,” he replied.

5And they answered the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us to exterminate us from existing within any border of Israel, 6let seven of his male descendants be delivered to us so that we may hang themfootnote a before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.”
“I will give them to you,” said the king.

7Now the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 8But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, as well as the five sons whom Merabfootnote b daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the LORD. So all seven of them fell together; they were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

10And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain from heaven poured down on the bodies, she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

11When David was told what Saul’s concubine Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, had done, 12he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies after they had struck down Saul at Gilboa.

13So David had the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan brought from there, and they also gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. 14And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish.
After they had done everything the king had commanded, God answered their prayers for the land.

Four Battles against the Philistines

15Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines. But David became exhausted.

16Then Ishbi-benob, a descendant of Rapha,footnote c whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekelsfootnote d and who was bearing a new sword, resolved to kill David. 17But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him.
Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished.”

18Some time later at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph,footnote e a descendant of Rapha.

19Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jairfootnote f the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliathfootnote g the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

20And there was also a battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha, 21and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimeifootnote h killed him.

22So these four descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.