David Avenges the Gibeonites
Introduction:
These final chapters of 2 Samuel (21–24) serve as an appendix, coda, or epilogue to David’s reign. These chapters are thematic, not chronological, and not all the events described here happened at the end of David’s reign. The content is a collection of events, reflections, and summaries that highlight David’s leadership, God’s justice, and divine faithfulness to Israel.
The overall purpose of this section is to offer a final theological portrait of David, underscoring that his success was rooted in his humility and dependence on God, despite his significant failures.
Together, these chapters show that although David was flawed, he was deeply devoted to God, relying on His grace and pointing forward to the righteous reign of the coming Son of David—Jesus Christ.
David Avenges the Gibeonites
David takes action to make amends for a past wrong committed against the Gibeonites by King Saul.
2 Samuel 21:1-14 NLT
David Avenges the Gibeonites
21:1 There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted for three years, so David asked the Lord about it. And the Lord said, “The famine has come because Saul and his family are guilty of murdering the Gibeonites.”
2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites. They were not part of Israel but were all that was left of the nation of the Amorites. The people of Israel had sworn not to kill them, but Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, had tried to wipe them out. 3 David asked them, “What can I do for you? How can I make amends so that you will bless the Lord’s people again?”
4 “Well, money can’t settle this matter between us and the family of Saul,” the Gibeonites replied. “Neither can we demand the life of anyone in Israel.”
“What can I do then?” David asked. “Just tell me and I will do it for you.”
5 Then they replied, “It was Saul who planned to destroy us, to keep us from having any place at all in the territory of Israel. 6 So let seven of Saul’s sons be handed over to us, and we will execute them before the Lord at Gibeon, on the mountain of the Lord.”
“All right,” the king said, “I will do it.” 7 The king spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who was Saul’s grandson, because of the oath David and Jonathan had sworn before the Lord. 8 But he gave them Saul’s two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth, whose mother was Rizpah daughter of Aiah. He also gave them the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, the wife of Adriel son of Barzillai from Meholah. 9 The men of Gibeon executed them on the mountain before the Lord. So all seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest.
10 Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the mother of two of the men, spread burlap on a rock and stayed there the entire harvest season. She prevented the scavenger birds from tearing at their bodies during the day and stopped wild animals from eating them at night. 11 When David learned what Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, 12 he went to the people of Jabesh-gilead and retrieved the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan. (When the Philistines had killed Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa, the people of Jabesh-gilead stole their bodies from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them.) 13 So David obtained the bones of Saul and Jonathan, as well as the bones of the men the Gibeonites had executed.
14 Then the king ordered that they bury the bones in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father, at the town of Zela in the land of Benjamin. After that, God ended the famine in the land.
Examine the Scriptures
2 Samuel 21:1-14 NLT
David Avenges the Gibeonites
21:1 There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted for three years,
- These final chapters of 2 Samuel are thematic, not chronological, and not all the events described here happened at the end of David’s reign.
The exact chronological placement of the famine within David’s approximately 40-year reign is not specified in the biblical text.
so David asked the Lord about it.
David “begged” the Lord.
He inquired of God.
David was seeking divine guidance.
And the Lord said, “The famine has come because Saul and his family are guilty of murdering the Gibeonites.”
- A famine had come upon the land because Saul and his family were guilty of murdering some Gibeonites.
This passage is the only place in Scripture that records Saul’s attack on the Gibeonites, though the event itself is not described elsewhere in detail.
It refers back to the ancient covenant Israel made with the Gibeonites during Joshua’s time (see Joshua 9), when Joshua promised to spare them despite their deception.
400 years previous to this.
Joshua 9:3-20 NLT
The Gibeonites Deceive Israel
3 But when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags and old, patched wineskins. 5 They put on worn-out, patched sandals and ragged clothes. And the bread they took with them was dry and moldy. 6 When they arrived at the camp of Israel at Gilgal, they told Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land to ask you to make a peace treaty with us.”
7 The Israelites replied to these Hivites, “How do we know you don’t live nearby? For if you do, we cannot make a treaty with you.”
8 They replied, “We are your servants.”
“But who are you?” Joshua demanded. “Where do you come from?”
9 They answered, “Your servants have come from a very distant country. We have heard of the might of the Lord your God and of all he did in Egypt. 10 We have also heard what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River—King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan (who lived in Ashtaroth). 11 So our elders and all our people instructed us, ‘Take supplies for a long journey. Go meet with the people of Israel and tell them, “We are your servants; please make a treaty with us.”’
12 “This bread was hot from the ovens when we left our homes. But now, as you can see, it is dry and moldy. 13 These wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they are old and split open. And our clothing and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.”
14 So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. 15 Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath.
16 Three days after making the treaty, they learned that these people actually lived nearby! 17 The Israelites set out at once to investigate and reached their towns in three days. The names of these towns were Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18 But the Israelites did not attack the towns, for the Israelite leaders had made a vow to them in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
The people of Israel grumbled against their leaders because of the treaty. 19 But the leaders replied, “Since we have sworn an oath in the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel, we cannot touch them. 20 This is what we must do. We must let them live, for divine anger would come upon us if we broke our oath. 21 Let them live.” So they made them woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community, as the Israelite leaders directed.
Saul’s violation of this covenant brought God’s judgment on Israel in the form of a famine during David’s reign.
- Even though centuries had passed since Joshua’s treaty, God still upheld it. Promises made in His name must not be broken.
2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites. They were not part of Israel but were all that was left of the nation of the Amorites.
Amorites is one of the names sometimes used to designate all the pre-Israelites inhabitants of Canaan.
The people of Israel had sworn not to kill them, but Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, had tried to wipe them out.
- Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, had tried to wipe out the Gibeonites.
- Saul’s misdirected zeal involved blatant disregard for Israel’s covenant with the Gibeonites.
Saul’s violation of that covenant brought God’s judgment on Israel in the form of a famine during David’s reign.
- Breaking an oath sworn before God was a serious covenant violation.
3 David asked them, “What can I do for you? How can I make amends so that you will bless the Lord’s people again?”
Since the oath sworn to the Gibeonites had been violated, God had cursed the land.
- To remove the curse (the famine), David sought the Gibeonites’ terms for restitution.
David offers restitution.
David wanted reconciliation between the Israelites and the Gibeonites, so that there could be reconciliation between Israel and God.
David wanted the Gibeonites to “bless the Lord’s people again”. (How can we make this right?)
4 “Well, money can’t settle this matter between us and the family of Saul,” the Gibeonites replied.
- The Gibeonites seek justice, not revenge or wealth.
“Neither can we demand the life of anyone in Israel.”
The Gibeonites said that as Israel’s vassals they could not take revenge into their own hands.
“What can I do then?” David asked. “Just tell me and I will do it for you.”
5 Then they replied, “It was Saul who planned to destroy us, to keep us from having any place at all in the territory of Israel. 6 So let seven of Saul’s sons be handed over to us, and we will execute them before the Lord at Gibeon, on the mountain of the Lord.”
They asked not for silver or gold, but for seven of Saul’s male descendants to be handed over and executed.
- The Gibeonites asked for seven of Saul’s male descendants to be handed over to them to be executed.
They may have been applying:
Exodus 21:23-24 NLT (also Leviticus 24:19-20)
23 But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life, 24 an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot …
Execution in Saul’s hometown symbolizes divine retribution at the very site of Saul’s pride and sin.
The number seven symbolized completeness (not the number of Gibeonites killed).
“All right,” the king said, “I will do it.”
7 The king spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who was Saul’s grandson, because of the oath David and Jonathan had sworn before the Lord.
- David spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, because of his covenant with Jonathan.
David was honoring his oath with Jonathan.
8 But he gave them Saul’s two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth (this is not Jonathan’s son), whose mother (Saul’s concubine) was Rizpah daughter of Aiah.
Saul’s only two remaining sons.
He also gave them the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, the wife of Adriel son of Barzillai from Meholah.
Scripture does not say that God approved of David’s actions.
Deuteronomy 24:16 NLT
16 “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.
9 The men of Gibeon executed them on the mountain before the Lord. So all seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest.
These descendants were executed “before the Lord,” meaning as an act of public justice under divine witness.
The seven were hanged at Gibeah. (NIV) The home of Saul.
- Seven sons and grandsons of Saul were executed by the Gibeonites.
The execution was seen as atonement—restoring justice to remove divine wrath.
10 Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the mother of two of the men, spread burlap on a rock and stayed there the entire harvest season. She prevented the scavenger birds from tearing at their bodies during the day and stopped wild animals from eating them at night.
- Rizpah, the mother of two of the men, stayed with the bodies of the seven dead men the entire harvest season. She prevented the scavenger birds from tearing at their bodies during the day and stopped wild animals from eating them at night.
The Gibeonites were not Israelites. They did not adhere to Jewish laws.
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 NLT
22 “If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and hung on a tree, 23 the body must not remain hanging from the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone who is hung is cursed in the sight of God. In this way, you will prevent the defilement of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.
The Israelites practiced a quick and proper burial of a criminal.
It was considered a disgrace for a corpse to become food for the birds and beasts.
Rizpah may not have buried the bodies because she viewed this as vengeance from God against the land for Saul’s actions.
Rizpah was intent that her sons not be further shamed after their death.
Rizpah’s mourning shows deep maternal devotion. She kept vigil for months, protecting the bodies from scavengers.
The cost of sin — Saul’s disobedience brought immense sorrow even to innocent families.
Saul’s disobedience affected all Israel. Leaders’ actions can bring blessing or curse upon a nation.
11 When David learned what Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, 12 he went to the people of Jabesh-gilead and retrieved the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan. (When the Philistines had killed Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa, the people of Jabesh-gilead stole their bodies from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them.) 13 So David obtained the bones of Saul and Jonathan,
The bodies of Saul and Jonathan had also been disgraced.
1 Samuel 31:11-12 NLT
11 But when the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their mighty warriors traveled through the night to Beth-shan and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall. They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies.
as well as the bones of the men the Gibeonites had executed.
Rizpah’s act of faithfulness and love moved David’s heart.
- Rizpah’s action prompted David into likewise honoring the dead of Saul’s family.
14 Then the king ordered that they bury the bones in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father, at the town of Zela in the land of Benjamin.
- David’s final act toward Saul and Jonathan was a deed of deep respect for the king he had honored and the friend he had loved.
David’s honorable burial of Saul and Jonathan completes the atonement. (Making things right before God.)
This action restores dignity to Saul’s family and heals the national wound.
David’s actions balanced the scales of justice (executing Saul’s descendants) and showed mercy (honoring Mephibosheth and Saul’s remains).
After that, God ended the famine in the land.
Only after sin was confessed and restitution made did God bless the land again.
- God ended the famine and restored the land to prosperity.
