The Living Word

KING JAMES VERSION

"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."

— Isaiah 40:8

2 Samuel 21

Listen to the Word

Initializing audio...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

1

Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

WhatsApp Copy

2

And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)

WhatsApp Copy

3

Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD?

WhatsApp Copy

4

And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.

WhatsApp Copy

5

And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,

WhatsApp Copy

6

Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them.

WhatsApp Copy

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.

WhatsApp Copy

8

But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:

WhatsApp Copy

9

And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and 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.

WhatsApp Copy

10

And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

WhatsApp Copy

11

And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.

WhatsApp Copy

12

And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:

WhatsApp Copy

13

And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.

WhatsApp Copy

14

And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.

WhatsApp Copy

15

Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.

WhatsApp Copy

16

And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.

WhatsApp Copy

17

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succored him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.

WhatsApp Copy

18

And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant.

WhatsApp Copy

19

And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.

WhatsApp Copy

20

And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.

WhatsApp Copy

21

And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the brother of David slew him.

WhatsApp Copy

22

These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

WhatsApp Copy

Previous Next

Chapter Study & Analysis

Overview

2 Samuel 21 details a three-year famine caused by Saul’s past sin against the Gibeonites. David seeks justice for them. The chapter ends with accounts of David’s mighty men slaying several Philistine giants.

CONTEMPORARY APPLICATIONS

1. Cleaning Up Past Injustice: A nation or family can suffer for "bloody houses" and broken covenants of the past (v. 1). True restoration sometimes requires addressing old wrongs that were never righted.
2. Intergenerational Consequences: Saul’s zeal for Israel led to a sin that David had to resolve years later. Our "zealous" actions can be sinful if they violate God’s covenants and impact those who come after us.
3. Relying on the Next Generation: As David grew faint, his men stepped in to kill the giants (v. 17). Good leaders must eventually allow those they have trained to take the front lines.

Practical Lessons

FORMAL PRAYER

Lord, show us if there are any unresolved injustices in our past that hinder Thy blessing. Help us to raise up a generation of "giant-slayers" who will stand strong when we are weary. Amen.

Copied to clipboard!