Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.
II Samuel 21
David Avenges the Gibeonites
II Samuel 21:1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord (yᵊhōvâ) . And the Lord (yᵊhōvâ) answered, “It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house (Lit. house of bloodshed), because he killed the Gibeonites.”
II Samuel 21:2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.
II Samuel 21:3 Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord (yᵊhōvâ)?”
II Samuel 21:4 And the Gibeonites said to him, “We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us.”
So he said, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
II Samuel 21:5 Then they answered the king, “As for the (one) man who consumed us and plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel,
II Samuel 21:6 let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us, and we will hang them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord (yᵊhōvâ) chose.”
- Note: Seven for One. The Seven Year Tribulation is Daniel’s last (one) Week. (The 70th Week)
And the king said, “I will give them.”
II Samuel 21:7 But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord’s (yᵊhōvâ) oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
II Samuel 21:8 So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, and the five sons of Michal (Merab, I Sam. 18:19; 25:44; II Sam. 3:14; 6:23) the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel (Lit. bore to Adriel) the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;
II Samuel 21:9 and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the Lord (yᵊhōvâ). So they fell, all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
II Samuel 21:10 Now Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until the late rains poured on them from heaven. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.
II Samuel 21:11 And David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.
II Samuel 21:12 Then 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 (Beth Shean, Josh. 17:11), where the Philistines had hung them up, after the Philistines had struck down Saul in Gilboa.
II Samuel 21:13 So he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there; and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged.
II Samuel 21:14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the tomb of Kish his father. So they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God (‘ĕlōhîm) heeded the prayer for the land.
Philistine Giants Destroyed
- King David‘s listed brothers:
1. Eliab is David’s oldest brother (I Samuel 16:6; 17:13, 28; I Chronicles 2:13).
The second born is Abinadab (I Samuel 16:8; 17:13; I Chronicles 2:13). David’s third oldest brother is Shimea (I Samuel 16:9; I Chronicles 2:13). Shimea is alternately spelled Shammah (I Samuel 17:13) and Shimeah (II Samuel 13:3). The fourth brother is Nethanel, the fifth Raddai, and the sixth Ozem (II Chronicles 2:14–15). The chronicler also names two sisters of David: Zeruiah and Abigail (I Chronicles 2:16). Mysteriously, however, one brother is missing from this list of names, and David—again listed as the youngest here—is called “the seventh” (verse 15).
David was the youngest.
II Samuel 21:15 When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint.
II Samuel 21:16 Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of the giant (Or Rapha), the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David.
II Samuel 21:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”
II Samuel 21:18 Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbechai (Sippai, I Chr. 20:4) the Hushathite killed Saph (Or Rapha), who was one of the sons of the giant (Or Rapha).
II Samuel 21:19 Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim (Jair, I Chr. 20:5) the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
II Samuel 21:20 Yet again there was war at Gath, 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; and he also was born to the giant (Or Rapha).
Hamas Billboard: A fist with six fingers. (Corrupted Seed)
Hebrew meaning for “Hamas” is “Violence”.
- I Chronicles 20:6
Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, with twenty-four fingers and toes, six on each hand and six on each foot; and he also was born to the giant.
