2 Samuel 21 explained: A Broken Promise and Its Cost

Famine and a broken oath (vv. 1-2)

Long before, in Joshua's time, Israel had sworn to let the Gibeonites live, but Saul later tried to wipe them out, a massacre not described anywhere else in the Bible. The three year famine is presented as the result of that broken national promise.

The Gibeonites' demand (vv. 3-9)

Refusing money, the Gibeonites ask for seven of Saul's male descendants, and David hands them over to be killed and displayed at Saul's hometown, sparing Jonathan's son Mephibosheth because of his own oath to Jonathan. This sits uneasily with the law in Deuteronomy 24:16 that children are not to die for a parent's crimes, and the text offers no comment on that tension.

Rizpah guards the dead (vv. 10-11)

Rizpah, mother of two of the dead men, camped on a rock on rough mourning cloth and drove birds and animals away from the bodies, possibly for months, from the spring barley harvest until rain fell. Leaving bodies unburied was a deep disgrace, and many readers take the rain as a sign that the famine was ending.

Saul's family laid to rest (vv. 12-14)

After hearing of her vigil, David brings back the bones of Saul and Jonathan, which the people of Jabesh Gilead had rescued years before, and buries them in the tomb of Saul's father; the bones of the seven are gathered too. Only after this does the text say God answered prayer for the land.

David nearly killed (vv. 15-17)

An aging David tires in battle and is almost killed by a warrior whose spearhead weighed about 3.5 kilograms (7.5 pounds), until Abishai rescues him. His men bar him from fighting again, calling him the lamp of Israel, meaning the nation's life and hope depended on him.

More giants fall (vv. 18-22)

Four huge Philistine fighters, linked to a group remembered for their great size, are killed by David's men. In verse 19 the Hebrew text says Elhanan killed Goliath, but some translations read "the brother of Goliath" to match 1 Chronicles 20:5, and scholars are unsure how to explain the difference with David's famous fight.

Key verse: 2 Samuel 21:1

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether the story shows God actually requiring the execution of Saul's descendants or simply records how David and the Gibeonites acted within the brutal justice customs of their day.

Something to think about

When a wrong has gone unaddressed for years, who should bear the cost of setting it right, and what does real repair look like?