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The Blue Letter Bible

2 Samuel 21 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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David Avenges the Gibeonites

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:1

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:1 - Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:2

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:2 - So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:3

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:3 - And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the LORD?”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:4

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:4 - The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:5

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:5 - They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:6 - let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:7

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:7 - But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the LORD that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:8

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:8 - The king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab[fn] the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:9

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:9 - and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the LORD, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:10

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:10 - Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:11

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:11 - When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:12 - David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:13

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:13 - And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:14

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:14 - And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that God responded to the plea for the land.

War with the Philistines

(1Ch 20:4–8 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:15

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:15 - There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:16

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:16 - And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels[fn] of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:17

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:17 - But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:18

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:18 - After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:19

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:19 - And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:20

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:20 - And there was again war at Gath, 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 was descended from the giants.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:21

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:21 - And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 21:22

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 21:22 - These four were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
ESV Footnotes
Two Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts Michal
A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
Contrast 1 Chronicles 20:5, which may preserve the original reading
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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2 Samuel Chapter 21 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras