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Gibeonite Revenge

21 There was famine in the days of David for three consecutive years; and David sought the presence (face) of the Lord [asking the reason]. The Lord replied, “It is because of Saul and his bloody house, because [a]he put the Gibeonites to death.” So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons (descendants) of Israel but of the remnant (survivors) of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn [an oath] to [spare] them, but Saul in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah had sought to strike down the Gibeonites). So David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? How can I make it good so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance (Israel)?” The Gibeonites said to him, “We will not accept silver or gold belonging to Saul or his household (descendants); nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” David said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” So they said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to exterminate us from remaining in any territory of Israel, let seven men [chosen] from his sons (descendants) be given to us and we will hang them before the Lord [that is, put them on display, impaled with broken legs and arms] in [b]Gibeah of Saul, the chosen one of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord’s oath that was between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. So 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 [c]Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. He handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the Lord, and the seven died together. They were put to death in the first days of the grain harvest, the beginning of the barley harvest [in the spring].

10 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest [in the spring] until [the autumn] rain fell on them; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on their bodies by day, nor the beasts of the field [to feed on them] by night. 11 David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the [d]concubine of Saul, had done. 12 Then David went and took the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day when the Philistines had killed Saul in Gilboa. 13 He brought up the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged [with their arms and legs broken]. 14 They 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 did all that the king commanded. After that, God was moved by prayer for the land.

15 Now the Philistines were at war again with Israel. David went down with his servants, and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels (six pounds) of bronze, was armed with a new sword, and he intended to kill David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid, and struck and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.”

18 After this, there was war again with the Philistines at Gob (Gezer). At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph (Sippai), who was among the descendants of the giant. 19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam. 20 There was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he also was a descendant of the giants. 21 And when he taunted and defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, killed him. 22 These four [warriors] were descended from the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hands of David and his servants.

David’s Psalm of Rescue

22 David spoke the words of this song to the Lord when the Lord rescued him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress [on the mountain] and my rescuer;(A)

[e]My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge,
My Savior—You save me from violence.(B)

“I call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.

“For the waves of death encompassed me;
The torrents of [f]destruction overwhelmed and terrified me.

“The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.

“In my distress I called upon the Lord;
I cried out to my God,
And from His temple [in the heavens] He heard my voice;
My cry for help came into His ears.

“Then the earth shook and quaked,
The foundations of the heavens trembled
And were shaken, because He was angry.

“Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
10 
“He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With thick darkness under His feet.
11 
“He rode on a cherub and flew;
He appeared upon the wings of the wind.
12 
“He made darkness [g]canopies around Him,
A mass of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
13 
“Out of the brightness before Him
Coals of fire were set aflame.
14 
“The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice.
15 
“He sent out arrows and scattered them;
Lightning, and confused them.
16 
“The channels of the sea appeared,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At the rebuke of the Lord,
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
17 
“He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of great waters.
18 
“He rescued me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
19 
“They came upon me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
20 
“He also brought me out to an open place;
He rescued me because He delighted in me.
21 
“The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me.
22 
“For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not acted wickedly against my God.
23 
“For all His judgments (legal decisions) were before me,
And from His statutes I did not turn aside.
24 
“I was also blameless before Him,
And kept myself from wrongdoing.
25 
“Therefore the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
According to my cleanness in His sight.
26 
“With the loving and loyal You show Yourself loving and loyal,
With the blameless You show Yourself blameless.
27 
“With the pure You show Yourself pure,
With the perverted You show Yourself astute.
28 
“And You save the afflicted people;
But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase (humiliate).
29 
“For You, O Lord, are my lamp;
The Lord illumines and dispels my darkness.
30 
“For by You I can run upon a troop;
By my God I can leap over a wall.
31 
“As for God, His way is blameless and perfect;
The word of the Lord is tested.
He is a shield to all those who take refuge and trust in Him.
32 
“For who is God, besides the Lord?
And who is a rock, besides our God?(C)
33 
“God is my strong fortress;
He sets the blameless in His way.
34 
“He makes my feet like the doe’s feet [firm and swift];
He sets me [secure and confident] on my high places.
35 
“He trains my hands for war,
So that my arms can bend (pull back) a bow of bronze.
36 
“You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your help and gentleness make me great.
37 
“You enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
38 
“I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
And I did not turn back until they were consumed (eliminated).
39 
“I consumed them and shattered them, so that they did not rise;
They fell under my feet.
40 
“For You have surrounded me with strength for the battle;
You have subdued under me those who stood against me.
41 
“You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me [in retreat],
And I destroyed those who hated me.
42 
“They looked, but there was no savior for them
Even to the Lord [they looked], but He did not answer them.
43 
“Then I beat them as [small as] the dust of the earth;
I crushed and stamped them as the mire (dirt, mud) of the streets.
44 
“You also have rescued me from strife with my [own] people;
You have kept me as the head of the nations.
People whom I have not known served me.
45 
“Foreigners pretend obedience to me;
As soon as they hear [me], they obey me.
46 
“Foreigners lose heart;
They come trembling out of their strongholds.
47 
“The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
And exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation.
48 
“It is God who executes vengeance for me,
And brings down [and disciplines] the peoples under me,
49 
Who also brings me out from my enemies.
You even lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from the violent man.
50 
“For this I will give thanks and praise You, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing praises to Your name.
51 
“He is a tower of salvation and great deliverance to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,
To David and his offspring forever.”

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:1 There is no more information about this elsewhere. The Gibeonites had tricked Israel into making a treaty with them (Josh 9:3-15) and Saul apparently tried to exterminate them to right the original wrong perpetrated by them against Israel (cf v 2).
  2. 2 Samuel 21:6 Saul’s home had been in Gibeah (1 Sam 10:26).
  3. 2 Samuel 21:8 So Greek and some Hebrew mss; MT has Michal.
  4. 2 Samuel 21:11 See note Gen 22:24.
  5. 2 Samuel 22:3 Lit the God of my rock.
  6. 2 Samuel 22:5 Heb Belial.
  7. 2 Samuel 22:12 Some mss read His covering.

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