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2 Samuel 21

The chapter traces the cost of Saul’s bloodguilt, Rizpah’s vigil, and the protection of a king whose strength fails.

A three-year famine leads David to seek YHWH, who identifies Saul’s killing of the Gibeonites as its cause. David hands over seven of Saul’s descendants at the Gibeonites’ request, while sparing Jonathan’s son because of his oath. Rizpah guards the dead from birds and animals until rain falls. Her vigil prompts David to gather and bury the remains, including Saul’s and Jonathan’s. The account then turns to Philistine wars, David’s exhaustion, and victories won by his servants.

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1There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, “It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
2The king called the Gibeonites and said to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the children of Israel had sworn to them; and Saul sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah);
3and David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And with what should I make atonement, that you may bless the LORD’s inheritance?”
5They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and who plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders of Israel,
6let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them up to the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” The king said, “I will give them.”
7But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
8But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
9He delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites; and they hanged them on the mountain before the LORD, and all seven of them fell together. They were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of barley harvest.
10Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water poured on them from the sky. She allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day, nor the animals of the field by night.
12So David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged them in the day that the Philistines killed Saul in Gilboa;
14They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father; and they performed all that the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer for the land.
15The Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. David grew faint;
16and Ishbibenob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, he being armed with a new sword, thought he would kill David.
17But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “Don’t go out with us to battle any more, so that you don’t quench the lamp of Israel.”
18After this, there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was of the sons of the giant.
19There was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite’s brother, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
20There was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on every hand and six toes on every foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was born to the giant.
21When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, killed him.
22These four were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
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Key verses
2 Samuel 21:1YHWH identifies Saul’s violence against a people protected by Israel’s oath as the cause of this famine.
2 Samuel 21:6The Gibeonites demand seven of Saul’s descendants, and David’s agreement sets the executions and Rizpah’s vigil in motion.
2 Samuel 21:15David’s exhaustion introduces his dependence on his servants, whose rescue leads them to restrict his role in battle.
Where this chapter reaches

Joshua records Israel’s oath to the Gibeonites, while 1 Samuel supplies the background of David’s oath to Jonathan and the recovery of Saul’s body. The battles against Philistine giants also appear in 1 Chronicles, sharing several named warriors and victories with this account.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What questions does the account leave you with about Saul’s violence and the deaths of his descendants?

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What do you notice about Rizpah’s actions and David’s response to her vigil?

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Questions people ask about 2 Samuel 21

Did God command David to execute Saul’s descendants in 2 Samuel 21?

YHWH identifies Saul’s bloodguilt as the cause of the famine. The demand for seven descendants comes from the Gibeonites, and David agrees. The text records no direct divine command for these executions and does not describe each victim’s guilt. It reports God answering prayer for the land after the burials.

Why did Rizpah guard the bodies in 2 Samuel 21?

Two of those killed were Rizpah’s sons. She kept birds and wild animals away from the bodies from the beginning of barley harvest until rain fell. The text does not record her words or explain her full intent. David hears of her vigil and arranges the gathering and burial of the remains.

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2 Samuel · 24 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).