2 Samuel 21:8

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 the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;

2 Samuel 21:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 21:8

But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah,
&c.] Saul's concubine, ( 2 Samuel 3:7 ) ;

whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth;
of whom we read nowhere else; after the name of the latter, it is probable, Jonathan's son was called, before mentioned:

and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up
for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;
Michal had no children to the day of her death, nor was she the wife of Adriel, but Merab her sister, ( 1 Samuel 18:19 ) ; wherefore these sons were not whom she "bare", as the word used signifies, but, as we rightly render it, whom she "brought up" or educated, so the Targum, her sister being dead; and so the Jews say ^F11, Merab brought them forth, and Michal brought them up, therefore they were called by her name; or the words may be supplied thus, "and the five sons [of the sister of Michal]", and, as in ( 2 Samuel 21:19 ) , is supplied, "[the brother of] Goliath". Barzillai is here called the Meholathite, to distinguish him from Barzillai the Gileadite, spoken of in a former chapter, see ( 2 Samuel 17:27 ) ( 19:31 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F11 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 19. 2.

2 Samuel 21:8 In-Context

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 chose." And the king said, "I will give them."

7 But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

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 the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;

9 and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the Lord. 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.

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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or Merab (compare 1 Samuel 18:19 and 1 Samuel 25:44; 2 Samuel 3:14 and 2 Samuel 6:23)