2 Samuel 21

A three-year famine leads David to seek God and learn that Saul had broken Israel’s old oath to the Gibeonites. David seeks to make it right, Rizpah keeps faithful watch over her sons’ bodies, and Saul’s bones are given an honored burial. The chapter closes with battles against Philistine giants, showing God’s help for David and his men.

2 Samuel 21:1

A famine lasted three years before David asked God the reason. The answer was that blood guilt still lay on the land because Saul had killed the Gibeonites. God takes wrongs seriously, even old ones that people have forgotten.

BSA: sought (“to search, to inquire of”): David did not just endure the hunger; he went looking for God’s answer.

Hebrew: דָּמִים (damim, H1818) — “bloods, bloodshed.” The plural form speaks of blood spilled in violence, and such blood was thought to cry out for justice and defile the land.

See also: Numbers 35:33.

2 Samuel 21:2

The Gibeonites were not Israelites but survivors of the Amorites. In Joshua’s day Israel had sworn to let them live. Saul, in his zeal for Israel, tried to wipe them out, breaking that sworn promise.

BSA: zeal (“passion, enthusiasm”): Saul’s passion was sincere, yet it ran against a promise made before God.

See also: Joshua 9:15-19.

2 Samuel 21:3

David does not argue or excuse. He asks the wronged party what would put things right. His goal is that the Gibeonites would bless the LORD’s inheritance, meaning Israel, rather than curse it.

BSA: make amends (“atone or cover”): The word is about covering a wrong so that the relationship can be restored.

Hebrew: אֲכַפֵּר (akapper, H3722) — “I may atone, cover over.” This is the Old Testament word for atonement. Here it means making right a wrong that no money could simply cancel.

2 Samuel 21:4

The Gibeonites refuse money. They also do not ask for any random Israelite to be killed. The wrong was a matter of life, and only a life-for-life answer would settle it. David promises to do whatever they ask.

BSA: silver (“money, payment”): They refuse a payment, because the wrong cannot be bought off.

2 Samuel 21:5-6

The Gibeonites recall Saul’s plan to remove them from Israel completely. They ask for seven of his male descendants to be hanged at Gibeah, Saul’s hometown. This was a hard request. It reflects the harsh justice of that age, and David agrees.

BSA: exterminate (“to destroy, annihilate”): Saul’s aim was not mere harassment but their complete removal.

See also: Deuteronomy 24:16.

2 Samuel 21:7

David spares Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, because of the oath he and Jonathan had made before the LORD. His faithfulness to a promise made years before shows how seriously he takes sworn words, as Saul should have done.

BSA: spared (“had pity on, showed mercy to”): Mercy to Mephibosheth flowed from a covenant kept.

See also: 1 Samuel 20:14-17; 2 Samuel 9:1-7.

2 Samuel 21:8-9

David hands over two sons of Rizpah and five grandsons of Saul through Merab. They were put to death at the start of the barley harvest, in spring. It is a sorrowful scene, a price paid for an old wrong.

BSA: fell together (“in unity, as one”): All seven died at once, sharing one end.

2 Samuel 21:10

Rizpah spreads sackcloth on a rock and keeps guard over the bodies for months, driving off birds by day and wild animals by night. Leaving a body unburied was a deep shame. Her faithful love speaks without a word.

BSA: sackcloth (“a coarse cloth for mourning”): She chose rough cloth as a bed, showing grief that would not rest.

See also: Deuteronomy 21:22-23.

2 Samuel 21:11-12

When David hears of Rizpah’s vigil, he is moved to act. He retrieves the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh-gilead, whose men had rescued them from the Philistines’ display at Beth-shan. Rizpah’s devotion stirs the king to honor the dead.

BSA: stolen (“taken secretly”): The men of Jabesh-gilead took the bodies at risk to themselves, out of gratitude to Saul.

See also: 1 Samuel 31:11-13.

2 Samuel 21:13-14

David gathers the bones of Saul, Jonathan and the seven, and they are buried in the family tomb of Kish in Benjamin. Only after all the king commanded was done did God answer prayers for the land. Justice and honor came together.

BSA: answered (“was entreated, heard”): God let himself be moved by their prayers once the wrong was dealt with.

2 Samuel 21:15

War with the Philistines breaks out again. David goes down to fight, but he is worn out. The shepherd boy who once killed Goliath is now an aging king, and he feels his limits.

BSA: exhausted (“faint, weary, like flying away in weakness”): His strength was draining away, leaving him vulnerable.

2 Samuel 21:16-17

A giant with a heavy bronze spear aims to kill the weary David. Abishai steps in and saves him. David’s men then forbid him to fight in person, calling him the lamp of Israel. A leader’s life carries the hope of the whole nation.

BSA: lamp (“a candle, a light”): David was Israel’s guiding light; losing him would plunge the nation into darkness.

Hebrew: נֵר (ner, H5216) — “lamp.” A lamp in Israel stood for lasting life and guidance, and God promised that David’s lamp would never go out.

See also: 1 Kings 11:36.

2 Samuel 21:18-19

Two more battles at Gob bring victory. Sibbecai kills one descendant of Rapha, and Elhanan of Bethlehem kills a brother of Goliath. David’s loyal warriors share in the triumph, and God works through many people, not only the king.

BSA: weaver’s beam (“loom-beam, a strong and firm object”): The spear shaft was as thick and heavy as a loom’s beam, showing the size of the threat.

See also: 1 Chronicles 20:5.

2 Samuel 21:20-22

At Gath a huge man with six fingers and six toes taunts Israel and is struck down by David’s nephew Jonathan. Four of these giants fell to David and his servants. Those who defy God’s people do not prevail in the end.

BSA: taunted (“defied, reproached”): The giant mocked Israel, and in doing so mocked their God.

See also: 1 Samuel 17:45-47.