2 Samuel 21:1-22
The Gibeonites Avenged
1 During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the Lord. The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
2 The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) 3 David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance?”
4 The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” David asked.
5 They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, 6 let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord’s chosen one.”
So the king said, “I will give them to you.”
7 The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 8 But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the Lord. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.
10 Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night. 11 When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, 12 he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.) 13 David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.
14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.
15 Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. 16 And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David. 17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.”
18 In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.
19 In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.
20 In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. 21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him.
22 These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.
While David was king, there was a famine that continued for three years...So David prayed to the LORD...And the LORD answered, “Saul and his family of murderers are the reason for the famine, because he killed the Gibeonites.”...(The Gibeonites were not Israelites...They were a group of Amorites...The Israelites had promised not to hurt them, but Saul tried to kill the Gibeonites...He did this because of his strong feelings for the people of Israel and Judah.)...King David called the Gibeonites together and talked to them...David said to the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you?...What can I do to take away Israel’s sin, so that you can bless the LORD’s people?”...The Gibeonites said to David, “There isn’t enough gold and silver for Saul’s family to pay for what they did...But we don’t have the right to kill anyone else in Israel.”...David said, “Well, what can I do for you?”...The Gibeonites said to King David, “The person who plotted against us was Saul...He is the one who tried to destroy all our people living in the land of Israel...Give us seven of Saul’s sons...Saul was the LORD’s chosen king, so we will hang his sons in front of the LORD on Mount Gibeah of Saul.”...King David said, “All right, I will give them to you.”...But the king protected Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth...Jonathan was Saul’s son, and David had made a promise in the LORD’s name to Jonathan...So the king did not let them hurt Mephibosheth...David gave them Armoni and Mephibosheth...These were the sons of Saul and Rizpah...Saul also had a daughter named Merab who was married to Adriel son of Barzillai, from Meholah...David took the five sons of Merab and Adriel...David gave these seven men to the Gibeonites who then brought them to Mount Gibeah and hanged them in front of the LORD...Those seven men died together in the spring, during the first days of the barley harvest...
Rizpah the daughter of Aiah and Saul's slave woman took a mourning cloth and put it on the rock...That cloth stayed on the rock from the time the harvest began until the rains came...Rizpah watched the bodies day and night...She protected them from the wild birds during the day and the wild animals at night...So David took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathon and the bones of these sons and buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded...After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land...
The Philistines started another war with Israel...David and his men went out to fight the Philistines, but David became very tired and weak...Ishbi-Benob was one of the giants...His spear weighed over 7 pounds...He put on new armor and thought he would be able to kill David...But Abishai son of Zeruiah killed this giant Philistine and saved David’s life...Then David’s men made him promise that he would not go out to battle anymore...They said, “If you do, Israel might lose its brightest leader.”...Later, there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob...Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, another one of the giants...Later, there was another battle at Gob against the Philistines...Elhanan the son of Jair the Bethlehemite from Bethlehem killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath from Gath...His spear was as big as a post...There was another battle at Gath...There was a very large man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot...He had 24 fingers and toes in all...This man was also one of the giants...This man challenged Israel and made fun of them, but Jonathan killed this man...(This was Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimei.)...All four of these men were giants from Gath...They were killed by David and his men...