Chapter Twenty-One

The End of the Dispute between the Gibeonites and the House of Saul. Wars of the Hebrews with the Philistines.

2 Samuel 21:1. There was a famine in the land in the days of David, year after year for three years. And David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord said: It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites. “Because he killed the (Amorite) Gibeonites,” to whom the Hebrews had sworn on oath to provide safe existence (Josh 9:3-20).

2 Samuel 21:2. Then the king called the Gibeonites and spoke with them. The Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the Israelites had sworn an oath to them, but Saul sought to destroy them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah. “In his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah,” that is, zealous for the honor and safety of the Hebrews.

2 Samuel 21:3. And David said to the Gibeonites: What shall I do for you? And how can I atone, so that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord? “So that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord” and so that through this the descendants of those who gave the oath would cease to experience the punishment of oath-breakers.

2 Samuel 21:4. And the Gibeonites said to him: We need neither silver nor gold from Saul or from his house, and we do not need that anyone in Israel be killed. He said: What do you want? I will do it for you. “We do not need that anyone in Israel be killed”—anyone outside the house of Saul.

2 Samuel 21:7. But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. See (1 Sam 20:14-17).

2 Samuel 21:8. And the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai from Meholah, On Rizpah see (2 Sam 3:7). “Five sons” of Merab, sister of Michal (1 Sam 18:19).

2 Samuel 21:9. And he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them [in the sun] on the mountain before the Lord. And all seven died together; they were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest. “In the first days of harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest,” that is, in mid-April.

2 Samuel 21:10. Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock and sat there from the beginning of harvest until the waters of God were poured down upon them from heaven, and she did not allow the birds of the sky to touch them by day or the beasts of the field by night. “Until the waters of God were poured down upon them from heaven.” In Palestine there is a period of early rains and a period of late rains. The period of early (in accordance with the Hebrew civil year reckoning from September) rains falls on the autumn months—October and November; the period of late rains falls on the spring months—from the end of February to the beginning of April.

2 Samuel 21:12. And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who had secretly taken them from the square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them when the Philistines killed Saul on Mount Gilboa. See (1 Sam 31).

2 Samuel 21:15. And war broke out again between the Philistines and the Israelites. And David went out and his servants with him, and they made war against the Philistines; and David grew weary. It is evident that the Philistines who were under the dominion of the Hebrews wished to take advantage of the disturbances in the kingdom of the Hebrews to recover their lost dominance over them.

2 Samuel 21:16. Then Ishbi, one of the descendants of the Rephaim, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze and who was girded with a new sword, sought to kill David. The Rephaim are understood to be the ancient first inhabitants of Canaan, who were distinguished by great height and extraordinary strength (Deut 2:10-11; Num 13:34). Their dwelling places were Bashan (Deut 3:11), the land of the Ammonites (Deut 2:20-21), the land of the Moabites (Deut 2:10-11), the southern borders of the western Transjordan—the region around Hebron and Jerusalem (Josh 15:8), and others. Sacred Scripture often connects with the Rephaim, and sometimes even groups together with them: the Anakim (Josh 11:21-22), the Zuzim, the Emim (Gen 14:5), the Zamzummim (Deut 2:20-21). On the shekel see the note to (2 Sam 14:26).

2 Samuel 21:18. Then there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of the Rephaim. “At Gob.” In (1 Chr 20:4) and in Josephus is given “at Gezer.” Gezer is a city to the northwest of Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 21:20. And there was another battle at Gath; and there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each of his hands and six toes on each of his feet, twenty-four in total, also from the descendants of the Rephaim, It is evident that Goliath, whom David struck down (1 Sam 17:4-51), was not the only Philistine giant at Gath. See the note to verse 16.