2 Samuel 21:10-20

10 Forsooth Rizpah, (the) daughter of Aiah, took an hair-shirt, and arrayed to herself a place above the stone/and laid it under her(self) upon a stone (and arrayed for herself a place on the rock where their bodies lay), from the beginning of harvest till water dropped on them from (the) heaven(s); and she suffered not (the) birds to tear them by day, neither (the) beasts by night.
11 And those things which Rizpah, the secondary wife of Saul, the daughter of Aiah, had done, were told to David.
12 And David went, and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan, his son, from the men of Jabesh of Gilead; which had stolen those bones from the street of Bethshan, in which Philistines had hanged them, when they had slain Saul in Gilboa (for they had stolen those bones from the street in Bethshan, where the Philistines had hung them, after they had killed Saul at Gilboa).
13 And David bare out from thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan, his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were crucified (and they also gathered up the bones of the seven men who were hanged),
14 and they buried those with the bones of Saul and of Jonathan, his son, in the land of Benjamin, in the side of the sepulchre of Kish, the father of Saul (in the tomb, or the grave, of Saul's father Kish). And they did all things, whatever the king commanded them; and the Lord did mercy to the land after these things.
15 Forsooth battle of the Philistines was made again against Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. Soothly when David failed, (And again the Philistines made battle against Israel; and David and his men went down, and fought against the Philistines. And when David grew weary,)
16 Ishbibenob, that was of the kin of Harapha, that is, (the father) of the giants, and the iron of his spear weighed three hundred ounces, and he was girded with a new sword, enforced to smite David. (Ishbibenob, who was a descendant of Harapha, that is, the father of the giants, whose iron of his spear weighed three hundred ounces, and who was girded with a new sword, endeavoured to strike down David.)
17 And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, was in help to David; and he smote and killed the Philistine. Then the men of David swore, and said, Now thou shalt not go out with us into battle, lest thou quench the lantern of Israel. (But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, helped David; and he struck and killed the Philistine. And then the men of David swore, and said, From now on, thou shalt not go out with us into battle, lest thou quench Israel's lantern.)
18 Also the second battle was in Gob against [the] Philistines; then Sibbechai of Hushathites smote Saph, of the generation of Harapha, of the kin of giants. (And there was a second battle against the Philistines at Gob; there Sibbechai of the Hushathites struck down Saph, a descendant of Harapha, that is, the father of the giants.)
19 Also the third battle was in Gob against [the] Philistines; in which battle a man given of God, the son of a forest, and a(n) (em)broiderer, a man of Bethlehem, smote (the brother of) Goliath of Gath, whose spear shaft was as a beam of webs. (And the third battle against the Philistines was also at Gob; in which battle Elhanan, the son of Jair/the son of Jaareoregim, a man of Bethlehem, struck down the brother of Goliath of Gath, whose spear shaft was like a weaver's beam.)
20 The fourth battle was in Gath; wherein was an high man, that had six fingers in his hands and (six toes) in his feet, that is, four and twenty (digits); and he was of the kin of Harapha, (the father of the giants); (And the fourth battle was at Gath; and there was a very tall man there, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, that is, twenty-four digits altogether; and he was a descendant of Harapha, that is, the father of the giants;)

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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.