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Text -- 2 Samuel 21:1-13 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
The Gibeonites Demand Revenge
21:1 During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years . So David inquired of the Lord . The Lord said , “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family , because he murdered the Gibeonites .”
21:2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke with them. (Now the Gibeonites were not descendants of Israel ; they were a remnant of the Amorites . The Israelites had made a promise to them , but Saul tried to kill them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah .)
21:3 David said to the Gibeonites , “What can I do for you, and how can I make amends so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance ?”
21:4 The Gibeonites said to him, “We have no claim to silver or gold from Saul or from his family , nor would we be justified in putting to death anyone in Israel .” David asked , “What then are you asking me to do for you?”
21:5 They replied to the king , “As for this man who exterminated us and who schemed against us so that we were destroyed and left without status throughout all the borders of Israel –
21:6 let seven of his male descendants be turned over to us, and we will execute them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul , who was the Lord’s chosen one .” The king replied , “I will turn them over .”
21:7 The king had mercy on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan , the son of Saul , in light of the Lord’s oath that had been taken between David and Jonathan son of Saul .
21:8 So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth , the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah whom she had born to Saul , and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab whom she had born to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite .
21:9 He turned them over to the Gibeonites , and they executed them on a hill before the Lord . The seven of them died together ; they were put to death during harvest time– during the first days of the beginning of the barley harvest .
21:10 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 fell on them, she did not allow the birds of the air to feed on them by day , nor the wild animals by night .
21:11 When David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah , Saul’s concubine , had done ,
21:12 he went and took the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from the leaders of Jabesh Gilead . (They had secretly taken them from the plaza at Beth Shan . It was there that Philistines publicly exposed their corpses after they had killed Saul at Gilboa .)
21:13 David brought the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son from there ; they also gathered up the bones of those who had been executed .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
David |
Rizpah |
Gibeon |
SAMUEL, BOOKS OF |
PSALMS, BOOK OF |
GIANTS |
SALVATION |
Saul |
Mephibosheth |
HEREDITY |
AIAH |
Covenant |
GIBEONITES, THE |
GIBEAH |
Adriel |
Jonathan |
Armoni |
PUNISHMENTS |
HARVEST |
BURIAL |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
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NET Notes: 2Sa 21:3 After the preceding imperfect verbal form, the subordinated imperative indicates purpose/result. S. R. Driver comments, “…the imper. is us...
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NET Notes: 2Sa 21:4 Heb “and he said”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: 2Sa 21:6 The LXX reads “at Gibeon on the mountain of the Lord” (cf. 21:9). The present translation follows the MT, although a number of recent Engl...
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NET Notes: 2Sa 21:8 The MT reads “Michal” here, but two Hebrew manuscripts read “Merab,” along with some LXX manuscripts. Cf. 1 Sam 18:19.
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NET Notes: 2Sa 21:9 The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading בִּתְחִלַּת...
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