Second Book of Samuel 21

¹ In the time of David there was a famine lasting for three whole years. David consulted Yahweh, and Yahweh said, ‘There is blood on Saul and his family because he put the Gibeonites to death’. 21:2 The king then summoned the Gibeonites and said to them – now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, they were a remnant of the Amorites to whom the Israelites had bound themselves by oath; but Saul in his zeal for the Israelites and for Judah had tried to crush them –

³ ‘What must I do for you?’ David therefore asked the Gibeonites, ‘how make amends, for you to call down a blessing on the heritage of Yahweh?’

⁴ The Gibeonites answered, ‘It is no mere matter of silver or gold between ourselves and Saul and his family; nor is it for us to have any man in Israel put to death’. David said, ‘Say what you want and I will do it for you’.

⁵ So they told the king, ‘It is about the man who decimated us and planned to annihilate us so that we should no longer exist anywhere in Israelite territory.

⁶ Let seven of his sons be handed over to us, for us to impale them before Yahweh at Gibeon on the mountain of Yahweh.’ ‘I will band them over’ the king said.

⁷ The king spared Meribbaal son of Jonathan, son of Saul, on account of the oath by Yahweh that bound them together, David and Jonathan son of Saul.

⁸ But the king took the two sons that Rizpah the daughter of Aiah had borne Saul, Armoni and Meribbaal; also the five sons that Merab the daughter of Saul had borne Adriel son of Barzillai, of Meholah.

⁹ He handed these over to the Gibeonites who impaled them on the mountain before Yahweh. The seven of them perished together; they were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

¹⁰ Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock from the beginning of the barley harvest until the rain fell from the sky on them;[*b] she did not allow the birds of heaven to come at them by day nor the wild beasts by night.

¹¹ David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Saul’s concubine, had done.

¹² David went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the chief men of Jabesh-gilead. These had stolen them from the square in Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung them when the Philistines had defeated Saul at Gilboa.

¹³ David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there and put them together with the bones of those who had been impaled.

¹⁴ They buried the bones of Saul, of his son Jonathan, and of those who had been impaled, in the land of Benjamin at Zela in the tomb of Saul’s father, Kish. They did all that the king ordered; and after that, God took pity on the country. Various exploits against the Philistines

¹⁵ Once again the Philistines made war on Israel. David went down with his guards; they pitched camp at Gob and fought the Philistines. Then there arose Dodo

¹⁶ son of Joash, a descendant of Rapha. His spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze; he was wearing a new sword and was confident he could kill David.

¹⁷ But Abishai son of Zeruiah went to his rescue; he struck down the Philistine and killed him. It was then that David’s men urged him, ‘You must never again go into battle with us’ they said ‘in case you put out the lamp of Israel.’

¹⁸ After this, war with the Philistines broke out at Gob again. This was when Sibbecai of Hushah killed Saph, a descendant of Rapha.

¹⁹ Again war with the Philistines broke out at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair from Bethlehem killed Goliath of Gath, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

²⁰ There was another battle at Gath, where there was a man of huge stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all. He too was a descendant of Rapha.

²¹ Jonathan, son of David’s brother, Shimeah, killed him when he defied Israel. 21:22 These four were descended from Rapha of Gath and fell at the hands of David and his guards.