2 Samuel 21:6-16

6 have seven of his male descendants handed over to us, and we will put them to death by hanging before ADONAI in Giv'ah of Sha'ul, whom ADONAI chose."The king said, "I will hand them over."
7 But the king spared M'fivoshet, the son of Y'honatan the son of Sha'ul, because of the oath before ADONAI between David and Y'honatan the son of Sha'ul.
8 The king took the two sons of Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah, whom she bore to Sha'ul, Armoni and M'fivoshet; and the five sons of Mikhal the daughter of Sha'ul, whom she bore to Adri'el the son of Barzillai the Mecholati;
9 and handed them over to the Giv'onim, who hanged them on the hill before ADONAI. All seven died; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest season, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
10 Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah took sackcloth, spread it out toward a cliff for herself and stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until water was poured out on the bodies from the sky, not letting the birds land on them during the day or the wild animals at night.
11 David was told what Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah, the concubine of Sha'ul, had done.
12 So David went and took the bones of Sha'ul and the bones of Y'honatan his son from the men of Yavesh-Gil'ad, who had stolen them from the open square of Beit-Sh'an, where the P'lishtim had hanged them at the time the P'lishtim had killed Sha'ul at Gilboa;
13 and he brought up from there the bones of Sha'ul and the bones of Y'honatan his son. They also gathered the bones of those who had been hanged.
14 Then they buried the bones of Sha'ul and Y'honatan his son in the territory of Binyamin in Tzela, in the tomb of Kish his father; they did everything the king ordered. Only after that was God prevailed on to show mercy to the land.
15 Once again the P'lishtim made war on Isra'el. David went down with his servants and fought against the P'lishtim, but David began to get tired.
16 Yishbi-B'nov, one of the sons of the giant, said that he would kill David; his spear weighed seven pounds, and he was wearing new armor.

2 Samuel 21:6-16 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.

Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.