2 Samuel 21:1-22
21 Now there came to be a famine+ in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David proceeded to consult the face of Jehovah. Then Jehovah said: “Upon Saul and upon his house there is bloodguilt,* because he put the Gibʹe·on·ites to death.”+
2 So the king called the Gibʹe·on·ites+ and talked to them. (Incidentally, the Gibʹe·on·ites were not of the sons of Israel, but of the remainder of the Amʹor·ites;+ and the sons of Israel themselves had sworn to them,+ but Saul sought to strike+ them down in his feeling jealous+ for the sons of Israel and Judah.)
3 And David went on to say to the Gibʹe·on·ites: “What shall I do to YOU, and with what shall I make atonement,*+ that YOU may certainly bless the inheritance+ of Jehovah?”
4 So the Gibʹe·on·ites said to him: “It is not a matter of silver or gold+ for us* in connection with Saul and his household, neither is it ours to put a man to death in Israel.” At that he said: “Whatever YOU are saying I shall do for YOU.”
5 At this they said to the king: “The man that exterminated+ us and that schemed+ to annihilate us from subsisting in any of the territory of Israel,
6 let there be given to us seven men of his sons;+ and we must expose*+ them to Jehovah in Gibʹe·ah+ of Saul, the chosen one* of Jehovah.”+ Accordingly the king said: “I myself shall give them.”
7 However, the king felt compassion upon Me·phibʹo·sheth+ the son of Jonʹa·than the son of Saul on account of the oath+ of Jehovah that was between them, between David and Jonʹa·than the son of Saul.
8 Consequently the king took the two sons of Rizʹpah+ the daughter of Aʹiah whom she bore to Saul, Ar·moʹni and Me·phibʹo·sheth, and the five sons of Miʹchal*+ the daughter of Saul whom she bore to Aʹdri·el+ the son of Bar·zilʹlai the Me·holʹath·ite.
9 Then he gave them into the hand of the Gibʹe·on·ites and they proceeded to expose them on the mountain before Jehovah,+ so that the seven of them fell together; and they themselves were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the start of the barley harvest.+
10 However, Rizʹpah the daughter of Aʹiah+ took sackcloth+ and spread it for herself upon the rock from the start of harvest until water poured down upon them from the heavens;+ and she did not allow the fowls+ of the heavens to rest upon them by day nor the wild beasts+ of the field by night.
11 At length it was reported+ to David what Rizʹpah the daughter of Aʹiah, Saul’s concubine, had done.
12 So David went and took the bones of Saul+ and the bones of Jonʹa·than his son from the landowners of Jaʹbesh-gilʹe·ad,+ who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan,+ where the Phi·lisʹtines had hanged+ them on the day that the Phi·lisʹtines struck down Saul on Gil·boʹa.+
13 And he proceeded to bring up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonʹa·than his son; furthermore, they gathered the bones of the men being exposed.+
14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and of Jonʹa·than his son* in the land of Benjamin in Zeʹla*+ in the burial place of Kish+ his father, that they might do everything that the king had commanded. So God let himself be entreated for the land after this.+
15 And the Phi·lisʹtines+ came to have war again with Israel. Accordingly David and his servants with him went down and fought the Phi·lisʹtines; and David grew tired.
16 And Ishʹbi-beʹnob, who was among those born of the Rephʹa·im,*+ the weight of whose spear+ was three hundred shekels* of copper and who was girded with a new sword,* got to think of striking David down.
17 At once A·bishʹai+ the son of Ze·ruʹiah came to his help+ and struck the Phi·lisʹtine down and put him to death. At that time the men of David swore to him, saying: “You must not go out with us to the battle anymore,+ that you may not extinguish+ the lamp+ of Israel!”
18 And it came about after this that war arose once more with the Phi·lisʹtines at Gob.* Then it was that Sibʹbe·cai+ the Huʹshath·ite+ struck down Saph, who was among those born of the Rephʹa·im.+
19 And war arose once again with the Phi·lisʹtines at Gob, and El·haʹnan+ the son of Jaʹa·re-orʹe·gim the Bethʹle·hem·ite got to strike down Go·liʹath* the Gitʹtite,* the shaft of whose spear was like the beam of loom workers.+
20 And war arose yet again at Gath,+ when there happened to be a man of extraordinary size, with six fingers on each of his hands and six toes on each of his feet, twenty-four in number; and he too had been born to the Rephʹa·im.+
21 And he kept taunting+ Israel. Finally Jonʹa·than+ the son of Shimʹe·i,*+ David’s brother, struck him down.
22 These four had been born to the Rephʹa·im in Gath;+ and they came to fall by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.+
Footnotes
^ Lit., “the bloods.” Heb., had·da·mimʹ.
^ Or, “amends.”
^ Lit., “me,” M, in a collective sense; Mmargin, “us.”
^ “Expose,” M, that is, with arms and legs broken; LXX, “hang in the sun”; Sy, “sacrifice”; Vg, “crucify.”
^ “The chosen one,” M; LXX, “the ones chosen”; Vg, “the one once chosen.” Probably to be read, “on the mountain.” Compare vs 9.
^ “Merab,” LXXLSy and two Heb. mss. The Targums read: “The five sons of Merab (which Michal, Saul’s daughter, brought up) which she bare.” Compare 6:23.
^ LXX adds, “and of those hanged in the sun.”
^ Or, “Zelah.”
^ Lit., “the Raphah.” Heb., ha·Ra·phahʹ. The father’s name here is taken to stand for the entire race of giants.
^ About 3.42 kg (7.5 lb).
^ “A new sword,” MVg; Gr., ko·ryʹnen, “a club,” frequently shod with iron for fighting.
^ “The son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite got to strike down Goliath,” M; in 1Ch 20:5, “the son of Jair got to strike down Lahmi the brother of Goliath.”
^ Or, “Goliath the man of Gath.”
