The great famine
1 There was famine during the reign of David for three consecutive years and
David consulted Yahweh. The answer was, ¡°There is bloodguilt on Saul and his
family be cause he put the Gibeonites to death.¡±
2 The Gibeonites were not of the peo ple of Israel but descendants of the
Amorites. Although the Israelites had sworn to spare them, Saul had
attempted to wipe them out on behalf of the people of Israel and Judah.
3 So David called the Gibeonites and asked them, ¡°What shall I do for you?
And how shall I repay you that you may bless the people of Yah weh?¡±
4 The Gibeonites answered him, ¡°Our quarrel with Saul and his family is not
over silver or gold, nor is it our task to put any Israelite to death.¡± The
king asked again, ¡°Tell me then what I shall do for you¡±;
5 and they replied,¡°That man slaughtered us and planned our destruction so
that we would no longer occupy any place in Israel.
6 Surrender seven of his sons to us so that we may hang them up before
Yahweh at Gibeon on the mountain of Yahweh.¡± To this, the king said, ¡°I will
surrender them.¡±
7 David spared Mepibaal, son of Jona than, Saul¡¯s son, because of the oath
David and Jonathan took before Yahweh.
8 But he took the two sons of Rizpah, daughter of Aiah whom she bore to Saul
¨C Armoni and Mepibaal; and the five sons of Merab, daughter of Saul, whom
she bore to Adriel, son of Barzillai the Meho lathite.
9 He delivered them into the hands of the Gibeon ites who hanged them on the
mountain of Yahweh where all seven perished together. They were put to death
in the first days of harvest at the beginning of the barley harvest.
10 Then Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth and spread it for herself
on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell on them from the
heavens. She did not allow the birds of the air to come on them by day or
the beasts of the field by night.
11 When David was told what Rizpah, Aiah¡¯s daughter and Saul¡¯s concubine,
had done,
12 he asked the men of Jabesh-gilead for the bones of Saul and those of his
son Jonathan. (They had taken them from the wall of Bethshan where the
Philistines had nailed them when they killed Saul on Gilboa.)
13 So David had brought up from there the bones of Saul and his son
Jonathan, and the bones of those who had been hanged were gathered.
14 All of them were buried in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of
Kish their father. When all that the king had commanded was done, God had
pity on the land.
15 The Philistines waged war again with Israel, and David went down together
with his ser vants to fight against them. When David was already tired,
16 Ishbibenob, one of the descendants of the giants whose spear weighed
three hundred shekels of bronze and who had put on a new sword, thought of
killing David.
17 But Abishai, son of Zeruiah, came to his help, at tack ing and killing
the Phi listine. Then David¡¯s men urged him, ¡°You shall not join us anymore
in battle lest the lamp of Israel be extinguished.¡±
18 After this, there was more fighting with the Philistines at Gob; there
Sibbecai the Hush athite, slew Saph, one of the descendants of the giants.
19 There was another battle with the Phil is tines at Gob where Elhanan, son
of Jaareoregim, the Bethle hemite, slew Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of
whose spear was the size of a weaver¡¯s beam.
20 In another encounter at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on
each hand and six toes on each foot, numbering twenty-four in all. He too
was a descendant of the giants.
21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan, son of Shimei, David¡¯s brother, slew
him.
22 All four descendants of the giants fell by the hand of David and his
guards.
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Comments 2 Samuel, Chapter 21
• 21.1 This episode shows us the most inhuman religious prejudices existing
at that time.
David consulted Yahweh¡ The answer was¡ We have already seen this practice
of consulting God by means of the Urim and Thum mim, i.e., by casting lots.
It is possible that God guided them through these means since they believed
that this was authorized by God. This episode also confirms that seeking a
response from God can lead to worse deviations: ¡°those responsible for the
famine are the descendants of Saul because he killed the Gibeonites¡¡±
A disaster occurs and the people say it is God¡¯s punishment and, if it is a
punishment, they must find the one responsible. Possibly David him self
shares the common belief; except that he uses his authority to save the son
of his friend, Jonathan.
We cannot say that this mentality has com-pletely disappeared. If something
goes wrong in society or in an institution, many search out whom to
sacrifice before finding out if they themselves have had a share in the
fault.