2 Samuel 21, Additional Reading Isaiah 21

Tuesday, January 21, 2025
 

Gibeonite Revenge

21 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the Lord. And the Lord said, “It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel [a]made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to [b]kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). 3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?” 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, “We have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” 5 So they said to the king, “The man who consumed us and who planned [c]to exterminate us from remaining within any border of Israel, 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will [d]hang them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.” 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 oath of the Lord which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. 8 So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of [e]Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 Then he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they [f]hanged them in the mountain before the Lord, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at the beginning of barley harvest.

10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until [g]it rained on them from the sky; and she [h]allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. 11 When it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 then David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa. 13 He brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been [i]hanged. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and after that God was moved by prayer for the land.

15 Now when the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David went down and his servants with him; and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the [j]giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, [k]was girded with a new sword, and he [l]intended to kill David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.”

18 Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among the descendants of the [m]giant. 19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite [n]killed [o]Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 There was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to the [p]giant. 21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. 22 These four were born to the [q]giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:2 Lit had sworn to
  2. 2 Samuel 21:2 Lit smite
  3. 2 Samuel 21:5 Lit against us that we should be exterminated
  4. 2 Samuel 21:6 Lit expose them
  5. 2 Samuel 21:8 So Gr and Heb mss
  6. 2 Samuel 21:9 Lit exposed them
  7. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit water was poured
  8. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit gave
  9. 2 Samuel 21:13 Lit exposed
  10. 2 Samuel 21:16 Heb Raphah
  11. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit and he was
  12. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit said
  13. 2 Samuel 21:18 Heb Raphah
  14. 2 Samuel 21:19 Lit smote
  15. 2 Samuel 21:19 In 1 Chr 20:5, Lahmi, the brother of Goliath
  16. 2 Samuel 21:20 Heb Raphah
  17. 2 Samuel 21:22 Heb Raphah
 
 

God Commands That Babylon Be Taken

21 The [a]oracle concerning the [b]wilderness of the sea.

As windstorms in the [c]Negev sweep on,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
2 A harsh vision has been shown to me;
The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media;
I have made an end of all [d]the groaning she has caused.
3 For this reason my loins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
4 My [e]mind reels, [f]horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.
5 They set the table, they [g]spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”

6 For thus the Lord says to me,

“Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.
7 “When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”

8 Then [h]the lookout called,

“O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
9 “Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the images of her gods [i]are shattered on the ground.”
10 O my threshed people, and my [j]afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Oracles about Edom and Arabia

11 The [k]oracle concerning [l]Edom.

One keeps calling to me from Seir,
“Watchman, [m]how far gone is the night?
Watchman, [n]how far gone is the night?”
12 The watchman says,
“Morning comes but also night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
Come back again.”

13 The [o]oracle about Arabia.

In the thickets of Arabia you [p]must spend the night,
O caravans of Dedanites.
14 Bring water [q]for the thirsty,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
Meet the fugitive with bread.
15 For they have fled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow
And from the press of battle.

16 For thus the Lord said to me, “In a year, as [r]a hired man would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will terminate; 17 and the remainder of the number of bowmen, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 21:1 Or burden of
  2. Isaiah 21:1 Or sandy wastes, sea country
  3. Isaiah 21:1 I.e. South country
  4. Isaiah 21:2 Lit her groaning
  5. Isaiah 21:4 Lit heart has wandered
  6. Isaiah 21:4 Lit shuddering
  7. Isaiah 21:5 Or spread out the rugs or possibly they arranged the seating
  8. Isaiah 21:8 So DSS; M.T. he called like a lion
  9. Isaiah 21:9 Lit he has shattered to the earth
  10. Isaiah 21:10 Lit son
  11. Isaiah 21:11 Or burden
  12. Isaiah 21:11 So the Gr; Heb Dumah, silence
  13. Isaiah 21:11 Lit what is the time of the night?
  14. Isaiah 21:11 Lit what is the time of the night?
  15. Isaiah 21:13 Or burden
  16. Isaiah 21:13 Or will spend
  17. Isaiah 21:14 Lit to meet
  18. Isaiah 21:16 Lit the years of a hireling

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