The third year of famine below Gibeon: terraced hill fields of stunted, pale barley over cracked bare earth, an empty stone threshing floor and a dry cistern mouth, the small walled town on its rounded hill behind, under a hazy, cloudless pale sky.

The Book of

2 Samuel 21

Three years of famine, and David seeks the face of the LORD. An old oath sworn in His name has been broken.

22 verses≈ 6 min4 peopleBSB

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In this chapter

Where we are

1–4King in HebronThe house of Saul falls
5–6JerusalemThe ark comes home
7–10A house foreverGod's promise to David
11–12David's sinBathsheba and Nathan
13–20The swordAmnon, Absalom and Sheba
21–24Last wordsSongs, heroes and an altarChapter 21

David Avenges the Gibeonites

Inside a plain stone storeroom, a thin woman in a faded head covering tips a tall clay storage jar to show its empty bottom; more empty jars stand along the wall and a bare grinding stone lies on the floor in dusty light from the doorway.

During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD.

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And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”

At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal for Israel and Judah, Saul had sought to kill them.)

David

So David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How can I make amends so that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?”

The Gibeonites

The Gibeonites said to him, “We need no silver or gold from Saul or his house, nor should you put to death anyone in Israel for us.”

David

“Whatever you ask, I will do for you,” he replied.

The Gibeonites

And they answered the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us to exterminate us from existing within any border of Israel, let seven of his male descendants be delivered to us so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.”

David

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

Now the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul.

But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, as well as the five sons whom Merab daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the LORD. So all seven of them fell together; they were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Question

Quick question

Three years of famine, and David asked the LORD why.

Why did the LORD say the famine had come?

Two oaths

Whiteboard

Two oaths sworn before the LORD run through this chapter. Israel had sworn to let the Gibeonites live, and centuries later the oath still stood: Saul broke it, and the land went hungry. David had sworn to Jonathan, and he kept it: “the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan.” A promise made in the LORD’s name does not wear out.

Seen from far across harvested barley fields at evening, a lone woman in dark sackcloth sits on a flat gray rock on a bare hillside, a staff in her hand, the evening sky empty; nothing else on the hill.

And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain from heaven poured down on the bodies, she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

After they had done everything the king had commanded, God answered their prayers for the land.

2 Samuel 21:14

Reflect

An oath before the LORD

Saul broke a promise Israel had made long before him, and the land suffered for it. David kept the promise he had made to his friend: “because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul.” What promises have you made before God? Is there one you need to keep, or to make right, this week? Write it down.

Four Battles against the Philistines

Night in a plain goat-hair field tent after a battle: a small clay oil lamp burns on a low wooden stool beside a sheathed sword, and an aging white-bearded king in a deep-blue robe sits on a mat, exhausted, head bowed, while his men keep watch at the open tent flap.

Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines. But David became exhausted.

Then Ishbi-benob, a descendant of Rapha, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels and who was bearing a new sword, resolved to kill David. But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished.”

0:31

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Some time later at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, a descendant of Rapha.

Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

And there was also a battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha, and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimei killed him.

So these four descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.

Pray

The lamp of Israel

Thank the LORD that He keeps His word and holds His people to theirs. Pray for those who grieve as Rizpah grieved, faithful when no one else is watching. Thank Him for the friends who come to your aid when you are weary, as Abishai came to David’s, and pray for the leaders you depend on, that God would keep them as a light for the people they serve.

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2 Samuel 21

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A verse to carry with you

After they had done everything the king had commanded, God answered their prayers for the land.

2 Samuel 21:14

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