2 Samuel 21
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1-9 10-14 15-22
1-9 10-14 15-22
1-9
1-9
The last four chapters are not all in chronological order and is an epilogue to the book of Samuel, which in the original text is one book not two. This also mirrors the last four chapters of the book of Judges.
This first section probably occurs after the display of David’s kindness to Mephibosheth but before Absalom’s revolt.
Through consulting with God, through the priest and the Urim and Thummin, David learned that the famine was the result of Saul’s breaking of the covenant between the Gibeonites and Joshua and Israel back in Joshua 9 400 years prior. Joshua was deceived into making the covenant but it was a covenant none the less and the keeping of covenants is no small thing to God even though the Gibeonites were not of Israel but from the Amorites more precisely Hivites. And we can be very thankful of this as we have an everlasting covenant with God through Jesus even though we are not of the stock of Israel.
When David spoke to the remaining Gibeonites he asks what they can do to make peace with the Gibeonites for Saul’s bloodguilt. There is no other reference to what Saul did to the Gibeonites but it was probably Saul attempting to do as God commanded and rid the land of the remnant of heathens but not fully listening or obeying all of what God had commanded, past and present.
The Gibeonites tell David that they do not seek monetary compensation, nor the random or indiscriminate death from the house of Israel in general, but like and eye for an eye they wanted seven descendants, sons or grandsons, of Saul to hang for Saul’s acts. They came up with seven either because Saul killed seven Gibeonites, some Jewish writings say there were two woodsmen, two who drew the water and a scribe of the synagogue, or there were 8 sons and grandsons of Saul left and they knew that David had great respect for Mephibosheth and Jonathan his father and did not seek to break his bond with Mephibosheth. David did that himself as we saw in chapter 19. So they left it up to David to choose the seven.
Since this punishment was from God and making peace with the Gibeonites was what God wanted David agrees with the Gibeonites commands. David had previously made a covenant with Saul not to cut off his house from Israel but this was a divine direction from God and David was not going to kill them himself nor was he going to completely erase all of Saul’s descendants from the earth.
David chose two sons from Rizpah a concubine of Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, not the son of Jonathan, and five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul so these would be his grandsons. The KJV mentions Michal the daughter of Saul and the wife of David, but she had no children and these five she raised when Merab died and their father was Adriel the son of Barzillai Meholathite not Barzillai the Gileadite mentioned in chapter 17.
The seven men were delivered to the Gibeonites who hung them together on a hill on the first day of the barley harvest which began right after the passover in the beginning of April.
10-14
10-14
Rizpah dressed in sackcloth made a small tent near the bodies of her sons and nephews. Since the Gibeonites were not of Israel and not bound by the law of Deuteronomy 21:22-23 ““And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.” The bodies were left hanging until God removed the curse of famine from the land. Rizpah stayed in her tent near the bodies the whole time keeping the birds and wild animals away from them until God allowed it to rain on the land signaling the end of the curse and famine.
Normally it does not rain in the region from then until October but the rain that came and signified the end of the famine was probably only a few days to a week from when the men were hanged.
David hears of what Rizpah did, keeping a watch on the bodies so they would not be consumed by wild animals and scattered over all of the mountain and he has pity and compassion on her and all of Saul’s house, he gathers or sends his people to gather the bones of Saul and Johnathan that were buried in Jabesh-Gilead after the men recovered their bodies from the Philistines and also the bodies/bones of the hanged men and had them buried/reburied in the land of Benjamin in the tomb of their father Kish the town of Zela.
15-22
15-22
This uprising of the Philistines cannot be exactly determined chronologically but probably happened near the latter part of David’s reign as when he goes out to battle he becomes tired and weary, not from fear that they may be defeated but because of his advanced age.
Ishbi-Benob a descendant of the Rephaim also call the Nephilim Numbers 13:33 “And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”” Who were known for their great size, strength and height of which Goliath was also a descendant. David was battling Ishbi-Benob when he became weary, making it seem that the giant was about to slay David until Abishai came to his aid and killed the giant.
After this all of David’s men made him swear that he would no longer go out into battle because he was the light of prosperity and well-being to the whole land of Israel and their symbol of hope and security.
After that David went out no more in battle, the rest of the chapter describes more battles with the Philistines and the giants, four in all.
There is probably a scribal error in the naming of the giant that Elhanan killed, omitting “the brother of” before Goliath based on 1 Chronicles 20:5 “And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.” or their were two descendants of the Rephaim named Goliath and Elhanan killed one and also killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath that David slew.