In the first section (21:1-14), the writer reminds us that breaking covenants results in God withdrawing the blessing of fertility.
Internal references in 2 Samuel enable us to date this incident early in David's reign between Mephibosheth's arrival in Jerusalem and the beginning of the Ammonite wars. Probably God sent judgment on Israel for Saul's action soon after he died. Saul's concubine watched over the bodies of her slain sons until the famine ended. If this took place later in David's reign, she would have been very old. This is possible but unlikely. Also, David buried the bodies of Saul and Jonathan at this time. He would hardly have done this years later. The fact that David did not execute Mephibosheth suggests that this son of Jonathan had come under David's protection by this time. That took place after David moved his capital to Jerusalem. After the Ammonite wars began, David might not have had time for what the writer described here. Consequently a date of about 996-993 B.C. for this famine seems reasonable.
Characteristically David sought the Lord about the famine (v. 1; cf. Deut. 28:47-48). Sometimes natural catastrophes such as famines resulted from Israel's sins, but sin was not always the cause (cf. Job; John 9:2-3). There is no mention elsewhere in Samuel that Saul had broken the Israelites' treaty with the Gibeonites (cf. Josh. 9:3-27).294David asked the Gibeonites what punishment would satisfy them and atone for (cover) Saul's sin of murder.
"Since the verb kipper["atonement"] is used absolutely here, it is impossible to say from the construction alone whether it means to propitiate or to expiate. From the context, however, it is clear that it means both. David is seeking both to satisfy the Gibeonites and to make up for' the wrong done to them. It is equally clear that he cannot achieve the latter with the former. There is no expiation [removal] without propitiation [satisfaction]."295
"The inheritance of the Lord"probably refers to the nation of Israel (cf. 20:19). The Gibeonites were content to have seven (a number symbolizing completeness) of Saul's descendants (not necessarily sons) executed. This was in keeping with ancient Near Eastern and Mosaic law (the lex talionisor law of revenge, Num. 35:31).296The Hebrew word translated "hang"(v. 6) means to execute in a way that the body suffers public humiliation (cf. Num. 25:4). Probably they suffered execution and then their bodies were hung up as a testimony to their offense.
David showed himself to be a true son of Yahweh by keeping his covenant with Jonathan and by sparing Mephibosheth (cf. v. 2; 1 Sam. 18:3; 20:8, 16). However, he followed God's Law and executed seven of Saul's descendants including another Mephibosheth, Saul's son (v. 8). "Merab"(v. 8) is the correct name of another of Rizpah's sons. "Michal,"the name that appears in the AV, is probably a scribal error.297David could justly slay Saul's descendants if they had had a part in the execution of the Gibeonites. This seems to have been the case (v. 1; cf. Ezek. 18:4, 20). The execution took place in Gibeah, Saul's former home and capital, which was on a hill ("mountain,"v. 9) of Benjamin. The barley harvest began in late March or early April when the feast of Passover took place. Since Passover memorialized the Israelites' liberation from oppression in Egypt this was an appropriate time for this event. By getting things right with the Gibeonites David brought Israel out from under God's oppression that Saul's sin had caused.
The writer did not mention how much time elapsed between the execution of Saul's descendants and the coming of rain.
"Leaving corpses without burial, to be consumed by birds of prey and wild beasts, was regarded as the greatest ignominy that could befall the dead . . ."298
David's action ended the famine, and God again blessed Israel with rain and fertility. David also proceeded to give Saul and Jonathan honorable burials.299
Because Saul had been unfaithful to Israel's covenant with the Gibeonites, God punished the nation with famine (lack of fertility). When David who followed the Mosaic Law righted this wrong, God restored fertility to the land again. God reduced Saul's line from one of the most powerful-looking men in Israel, Saul, to one of the weakest-looking, Mephibosheth. David's faithfulness to his covenant with Jonathan shows he was a covenant-keeping king like Yahweh. Saul on the other hand broke Israel's covenant with the Gibeonites.
