1 And there is a famine in the days of David [for] three years, year after year, and David seeks the face of YHWH, and YHWH says, “[This is] for Saul and for the bloody house, because that he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 And the king calls for the Gibeonites and says to them—as for the Gibeonites, they [are] not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorite, and the sons of Israel had sworn to them, and Saul seeks to strike them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah— 3 indeed, David says to the Gibeonites, “What do I do for you? And with what do I make atonement? And bless the inheritance of YHWH.” 4 And the Gibeonites say to him, “We have no silver and gold by Saul and by his house, and we have no man to put to death in Israel”; and he says, “What you are saying I do to you.” 5 And they say to the king, “The man who consumed us, and who devised against us—we have been destroyed from stationing ourselves in all the border of Israel— 6 let there be given to us seven men of his sons, and we have hanged them before YHWH, in the height of Saul, the chosen of YHWH.” And the king says, “I give”; 7 and the king has pity on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, son of Saul, because of the oath of YHWH that [is] between them, between David and Jonathan son of Saul; 8 and the king takes the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Michal daughter of Saul whom she bore to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite, 9 and gives them into the hand of the Gibeonites, and they hang them in the hill before YHWH; and the seven fall together, and they have been put to death in the days of harvest, in the first [days], the commencement of barley-harvest. 10 And Rizpah daughter of Aiah takes the sackcloth, and stretches it out for herself on the rock, from the commencement of harvest until water has been poured out on them from the heavens, and has not permitted a bird of the heavens to rest on them by day, or the beast of the field by night. 11 And it is declared to David that which Rizpah daughter of Aiah, concubine of Saul, has done, 12 and David goes and takes the bones of Saul, and the bones of his son Jonathan, from the possessors of Jabesh-Gilead, who had stolen them from the broad place of Beth-Shan, where the Philistines hanged them, in the day of the Philistines striking Saul in Gilboa; 13 and he brings up there the bones of Saul, and the bones of his son Jonathan, and they gather the bones of those hanged, 14 and bury the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin, in Zelah, in the burying-place of his father Kish, and do all that the king commanded, and God accepts the plea for the land afterward. 15 And again the Philistines have war with Israel, and David goes down, and his servants with him, and they fight with the Philistines; and David is weary, 16 and Ishbi-Benob, who [is] among the children of the giant—the weight of his spear [is] three hundred [shekels in] weight of bronze, and he is girded with a new one—speaks of striking David, 17 and Abishai son of Zeruiah gives help to him, and strikes the Philistine, and puts him to death; then the men of David swear to him, saying, “You do not go out with us to battle again, nor quench the lamp of Israel.” 18 And it comes to pass afterward that the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines. Then Sibbechai the Hushathite has struck Saph, who [is] among the children of the giant. 19 And the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim, the Beth-Lehemite, strikes [a brother of] Goliath the Gittite, and the wood of his spear [is] like a weavers’ beam. 20 And the battle is again in Gath, and there is a man of [great] stature, and the fingers of his hands [are] six, and the toes of his feet [are] six—twenty-four in number, and he has also been born to the giant, 21 and he reproaches Israel, and Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, strikes him; 22 these four have been born to the giant in Gath, and they fall by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
2 Samuel · Literal Standard Version
2 Samuel 21 Literal Standard Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Adriel
Adriel of Meholah, son of Barzillai the Meholathite, who received Saul's daughter Merab in marriage and fathered five sons who were handed over to the Gibeonites.
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 18:19; 2 Samuel 21:8
Aiah
Named as the father of Rizpah, Saul's concubine.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 3:7; 2 Samuel 21:8
Armoni
One of the two sons Rizpah bore to Saul, handed over by David to the Gibeonites and hanged.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 21:8
Barzillai
Called Barzillai the Meholathite, the father of Adriel who married Saul's daughter Merab.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 21:8
David
The shepherd who became Israel's greatest king and a man after God's own heart.
Cited in the guide: 1 Sam. 16 - 1 Kings 2; 2 Sam. 7; 1 Chron. 2:15; Matt. 1:6
Elhanan
Elhanan son of Jair, a Bethlehemite, who in a battle with the Philistines at Gob killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver's beam.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 21:19; 1 Chronicles 20:5
Jonathan
A son of David's brother Shimei, who killed the six-fingered descendant of Rapha who taunted Israel at Gath.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 21:21; 1 Chronicles 20:7
Mephibosheth
One of the two sons Rizpah bore to Saul, handed over by David to the Gibeonites and hanged with his brother Armoni and five sons of Merab.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 21:8
Rizpah
Saul's concubine, the daughter of Aiah, who bore Saul two sons and, after they were hanged by the Gibeonites, guarded their bodies from the birds and beasts from the harvest until…
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 3:7; 2 Samuel 21:8; 2 Samuel 21:10
Saph
One of the descendants of Rapha, killed by Sibbecai the Hushathite in a battle with the Philistines at Gob.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 21:18; 1 Chronicles 20:4
Cross references (21)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Joshua 7:11–12; Genesis 26:1; Genesis 12:10; 1 Samuel 23:4; 1 Kings 18:2
- 2 Joshua 9:3–21; 2 Kings 10:31; 1 Samuel 15:8–9; Romans 10:2; 2 Kings 10:16
- 3 Hebrews 9:22; 2 Samuel 20:19; 1 Samuel 26:19; Micah 6:6–7; Hebrews 10:4–12
- 4 1 Peter 1:18–19; Psalm 49:6–8
- 5 2 Samuel 21:1; Matthew 7:2; Daniel 9:26; Esther 9:24–25
- 6 1 Samuel 10:24; Numbers 25:4–5; 1 Samuel 10:26; 1 Samuel 11:4; 2 Samuel 18:10
- 7 1 Samuel 23:18; 1 Samuel 18:3; 2 Samuel 4:4; 1 Samuel 20:15; 1 Samuel 20:8
- 8 1 Samuel 18:19; 2 Samuel 3:7
- 9 Ruth 1:22; Deuteronomy 21:1–9; Numbers 35:31–34; 2 Samuel 21:6; 2 Kings 24:3–4
- 10 Deuteronomy 21:23; 2 Samuel 3:7; 1 Kings 18:41–45; Joel 2:23; 1 Kings 21:27
- 11 2 Samuel 2:4; Ruth 2:11–12
- 12 1 Samuel 31:10–13; Joshua 17:11; 1 Chronicles 10:1; 2 Samuel 1:21; 1 Samuel 28:4
- 14 Joshua 18:28; 2 Samuel 24:25; Joshua 7:26; Zechariah 6:8; 2 Samuel 3:32
- 15 Joshua 14:10–11; Psalm 71:9; 2 Samuel 5:17; 2 Samuel 5:25; Ecclesiastes 12:3
- 16 2 Samuel 21:20; 2 Samuel 21:18; Deuteronomy 9:2; Deuteronomy 3:11; 2 Samuel 5:18
- 17 1 Kings 11:36; 2 Samuel 18:3; Psalm 132:17; 1 Kings 15:4; 2 Samuel 14:7
- 18 1 Chronicles 11:29; 2 Samuel 21:20; 1 Chronicles 27:11; 2 Samuel 21:16; 2 Samuel 21:22
- 19 1 Chronicles 20:5; 1 Samuel 17:4–11; 1 Chronicles 11:26
- 20 2 Samuel 21:18; 2 Samuel 21:16; 1 Chronicles 20:6
- 21 1 Samuel 16:9; 1 Samuel 17:36; 1 Samuel 17:10; 1 Samuel 17:25–26; 1 Samuel 17:3
- 22 1 Chronicles 20:8; Romans 8:31; Jeremiah 9:23; Joshua 14:12; Ecclesiastes 9:11
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences