2 Samuel 21:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,

NIV: When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done,

NASB: When it was reported to David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,

CSB: When it was reported to David what Saul’s concubine Rizpah daughter of Aiah had done,

NLT: When David learned what Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done,

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

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

In 2 Samuel 21:10–14, Rizpah, Saul's concubine, protects the remains of her sons. The Gibeonites hanged them along with five sons of Merab, Saul's daughter. Their deaths pay the debt owed because Saul's household attacked Gibeonites, who were protected under Joshua's treaty (Joshua 9). Rizpah stays with the bodies, preventing them from being eaten by scavengers. David hears and buries them with Saul and Jonathan in Saul's father's tomb. In the parallel level of the mirror-like arrangement, God punishes David's sin with a pestilence that kills thousands of people (2 Samuel 24).

Second Samuel 21 records several varied stories of David's reign. A famine strikes the land because Saul and his household had attacked the Gibeonites, who had tricked Joshua into a treaty (Joshua 9). The Gibeonites ask for seven of Saul's descendants, whom they kill and hang in their city. Saul's concubine Rizpah protects them from birds and beasts until David orders them removed and buried in the family tomb. Next, David's men forcibly retire him from active military service and go on to slay several giant Philistine warriors. The battles against the giants are also recorded in 2 Chronicles 20:4–8.

Second Samuel 21 presents the first two levels of a mirrored view of David's reign (2 Samuel 21—24). First, David learns a famine is due to Saul's attack on the protected Gibeonites (Joshua 9). David gives them seven of Saul's male descendants, and God lifts the famine. In the second section, David retires from military service, and his men kill Philistine giants. The giants are also mentioned in 1 Chronicles 20:4–8. Section three is David's praise to God (2 Samuel 22:1—23:7). The fourth records David's mighty men's exploits (2 Samuel 23:8–38). The fifth is David's sinful census (2 Samuel 24).

Second Samuel continues the story of David, who will become king over Judah. The other tribes of Israel are resistant, eventually sparking a civil war. David wins and makes Jerusalem his capital. Early success is followed by moral failure and controversy in David's house. The book of 1 Kings will begin by detailing David's decline and death.

Accessed 5/20/2026 1:03:38 PM