2 Samuel 21:10-20

10 ¹Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.

11 When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,

12 David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, ²who had stolen them from the public square of ³Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa.

13 And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged.

14 And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in ⁴Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that ⁵God responded to the plea for the land.

War with the Philistines

15 There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary.

16 And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants ⁶of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels^[a] of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David.

17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, ⁷"You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench ⁸the lamp of Israel."

18 ⁹After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then ¹⁰Sibbecai ¹¹the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants ¹²of the giants.

19 And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and ¹³Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, ¹⁴the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.^[b]

20 And there was again 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 descended ¹⁵from the giants.

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2 Samuel 21:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 21

A famine being in the land three years, the Lord was inquired of, to know the reason of it; and it being answered, that it was on account of Saul's slaughter of the Gibeonites, they were summoned by David to know what satisfaction they required for the cruel usage of them, 2Sa 21:1-3; to which they replied, that they only desired seven of Saul's sons to be delivered up to them, to be hanged by them, which was granted, 2Sa 21:4-9; whose bones, with those of Saul and Jonathan, David buried in the sepulchre of their fathers, 2Sa 21:10-14; and the chapter is closed with an account of the various battles fought with the Philistines, in which four of their generals were slain, 2Sa 21:15-22.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 15

1. [Deuteronomy 21:23]
2. 1 Samuel 31:10-13; [2 Samuel 2:4]
3. Joshua 17:11
4. Joshua 18:28
5. 2 Samuel 24:25
6. ver. 18, 20, 22
7. [2 Samuel 18:3]
8. 2 Samuel 22:29; 1 Kings 11:36; 1 Kings 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19; 2 Chronicles 21:7; Psalms 132:17
9. For ver. 18-22, see 1 Chronicles 20:4-8
10. 1 Chronicles 11:29; 1 Chronicles 27:11
11. 2 Samuel 23:27
12. ver. 16, 20, 22
13. [2 Samuel 23:24]
14. 1 Samuel 17:7; 1 Chronicles 20:5
15. ver. 16, 18

Footnotes 2

[a]. A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
[b]. Contrast 1 Chronicles 20:5, which may preserve the original reading

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.