Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close NET

2 Samuel 21:1-9
New English Translation

The Gibeonites Demand Revenge

21 During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord.[a] The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family,[b] because he murdered the Gibeonites.”

2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke with them. (Now the Gibeonites were not descendants of Israel; they were a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had made a promise to[c] them, but Saul tried to kill them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.) 3 David said to the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you, and how can I make amends so that you will bless[d] the Lord’s inheritance?”

4 The Gibeonites said to him, “We[e] have no claim to silver or gold from Saul or from his family,[f] nor would we be justified in putting to death anyone in Israel.” David asked,[g] “What then are you asking me to do for you?” 5 They replied to the king, “As for this man who exterminated us and who schemed against us so that we were destroyed and left without status throughout all the borders of Israel— 6 let seven of his male descendants be turned over to us, and we will execute[h] them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was the Lord’s chosen one.”[i] The king replied, “I will turn them over.”

7 The king had mercy on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, in light of the Lord’s oath that had been taken between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 8 So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah whom she had born to Saul, and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab[j] whom she had born to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 He turned them over to the Gibeonites, and they executed them on a hill before the Lord. The seven of them[k] died[l] together; they were put to death during harvest time—during the first days of the beginning[m] of the barley harvest.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:1 tn Heb “sought the face of the Lord.”
  2. 2 Samuel 21:1 tn Heb “and the house of bloodshed.”
  3. 2 Samuel 21:2 tn Heb “swore an oath to.”
  4. 2 Samuel 21:3 tn After the preceding imperfect verbal form, the subordinated imperative indicates purpose/result. S. R. Driver comments, “…the imper. is used instead of the more normal voluntative, for the purpose of expressing with somewhat greater force the intention of the previous verb” (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 350).
  5. 2 Samuel 21:4 tc The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew mss in reading לָנוּ (lanu, “to us”) rather than the MT לִי (li, “to me”). But for a contrary opinion see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 53, 350.
  6. 2 Samuel 21:4 tn Heb “house.”
  7. 2 Samuel 21:4 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  8. 2 Samuel 21:6 tn The exact nature of this execution is not altogether clear. The verb יָקַע (yaqaʿ) basically means “to dislocate” or “alienate.” In Gen 32:26 it is used of the dislocation of Jacob’s thigh. Figuratively it can refer to the removal of an individual from a group (e.g., Jer 6:8; Ezek 23:17) or to a type of punishment the specific identity of which is uncertain (e.g., here and Num 25:4); cf. NAB “dismember them”; NIV “to be killed and exposed.”
  9. 2 Samuel 21:6 tc The LXX reads “at Gibeon on the mountain of the Lord” (cf. 21:9). The present translation follows the MT, although a number of recent English translations follow the LXX reading here (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).
  10. 2 Samuel 21:8 tc The MT reads “Michal” here, but two Hebrew manuscripts read “Merab,” along with some LXX manuscripts. Cf. 1 Sam 18:19.
  11. 2 Samuel 21:9 tc The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew mss in reading שְׁבַעְתָּם (shevaʿtam, “the seven of them”) rather than MT שִׁבַעְתִּים (shivaʿtim, “seventy”).
  12. 2 Samuel 21:9 tn Heb “fell.”
  13. 2 Samuel 21:9 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading בִּתְחִלַּת (bitkhillat, “in the beginning”) rather than MT תְחִלַּת (tekhillat, “beginning of”).
Listen to 2 Samuel 21:1-9
Close NIV

2 Samuel 21:1-9
New International Version

The Gibeonites Avenged

21 During the reign of David, there was a famine(A) for three successive years; so David sought(B) 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(C) 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?”(D)

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.”(E)

“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(F) before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord’s chosen(G) one.”

So the king said, “I will give them to you.”

7 The king spared Mephibosheth(H) son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath(I) 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,(J) whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab,[a] whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.(K) 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(L) during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.(M)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:8 Two Hebrew manuscripts, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 1 Samuel 18:19); most Hebrew and Septuagint manuscripts Michal
Next
2 Samuel 20
2 Samuel 22
Next
dropdown
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

July Summer Surge

More on the NIV