2 Samuel 21:1-3

The Gibeonites Demand Revenge

21:1 During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. ¹  The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, ²  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 ³  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 ⁴  the Lord’s inheritance?”

Psalms 15:4

15:4 He despises a reprobate, ⁵ 

but honors the Lord’s loyal followers. ⁶ 

He makes firm commitments and does not renege on his promise. ⁷ 

Ezekiel 17:15-19

17:15 But this one from Israel’s royal family ⁸  rebelled against the king of Babylon ⁹  by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?

17:16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city ¹⁰  of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – in the middle of Babylon he will die! 17:17 Pharaoh with his great army and mighty horde will not help ¹¹  him in battle, when siege ramps are erected and siege-walls are built to kill many people. 17:18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note ¹²  – he gave his promise ¹³  and did all these things – he will not escape!

17:19 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will certainly repay him ¹⁴  for despising my oath and breaking my covenant!

Romans 1:31

1:31 senseless, covenant-breakers, ¹⁵  heartless, ruthless.

[21:1]  ¹ tn Heb “sought the face of the Lord.”

[21:1]  ² tn Heb “and the house of bloodshed.”

[21:2]  ³ tn Heb “swore an oath to.”

[21:3]  ⁴ tn After the preceding imperfect verbal form, the subordinated imperative indicates purpose/result. S. R. Driver comments, “…the imper. is used instead of the more normal voluntative, for the purpose of expressing with somewhat greater force the intention of the previous verb” (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 350).

[15:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “despised in his eyes [is] a rejected [one].” The Hebrew term נִמְאָס (nim’as, “rejected [one]”) apparently refers here to one who has been rejected by God because of his godless behavior. It stands in contrast to “those who fear God” in the following line.

[15:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “those who fear the Lord.” The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[15:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “he takes an oath to do harm and does not change.” The phrase “to do harm” cannot mean “do harm to others,” for the preceding verse clearly characterizes this individual as one who does not harm others. In this context the phrase must refer to an oath to which a self-imprecation is attached. The godly individual takes his commitments to others so seriously he is willing to “swear to his own hurt.” For an example of such an oath, see Ruth 1:16-17.

[17:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the member of the royal family, v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “place.”

[17:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “deal with” or “work with.”

[17:18]  ¹² tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something.

[17:18]  ¹³ sn Heb “hand.” “Giving one’s hand” is a gesture of promise (2 Kgs 10:15).

[17:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “place it on his head.”

[1:31]  ¹⁵ tn Or “promise-breakers.”