2 Samuel 21
1 Once during David's reign there was a famine for three years in a row, and David asked the Lord about it. The Lord replied, “It's because Saul and his family are guilty of murdering the Gibeonites.”
And there is a famine in the days of David [for] three years, year after year, and David seeks the face of YHWH, and YHWH says, “[This is] for Saul and for the bloody house, because that he put the Gibeonites to death.”
2 David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke with them. The Gibeonites were not Israelites, but what was left of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn an oath to them, but in his nationalistic passion for the Israelites and Judah, Saul had tried to wipe them out.
And the king calls for the Gibeonites and says to them—as for the Gibeonites, they [are] not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorite, and the sons of Israel had sworn to them, and Saul seeks to strike them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah—
3 “What can I do for you?” David asked the Gibeonites. “How can I compensate you so that you may bless the Lord's people?”
indeed, David says to the Gibeonites, “What do I do for you? And with what do I make atonement? And bless the inheritance of YHWH.”
4 “This isn't a question of us receiving payment in silver or gold from Saul or his family,” the Gibeonites replied. “In addition we don't have the right to have anyone in Israel put to death for us.” “I'll do whatever you ask,” David answered.
And the Gibeonites say to him, “We have no silver and gold by Saul and by his house, and we have no man to put to death in Israel”; and he says, “What you are saying I do to you.”
5 They replied, “Regarding the man who destroyed us, who planned to prevent us having any place to live in the whole country of Israel,
And they say to the king, “The man who consumed us, and who devised against us—we have been destroyed from stationing ourselves in all the border of Israel—
6 have seven of Saul's male descendants be handed over to us, and we will hang them in the presence of the Lord at Gibeon of Saul, the Lord's chosen one.” “I will hand them over to you,” said the king.
let there be given to us seven men of his sons, and we have hanged them before YHWH, in the height of Saul, the chosen of YHWH.” And the king says, “I give”;
7 However, the king spared Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, son of Saul, because of the oath sworn before the Lord between David and Jonathan, son of Saul.
and the king has pity on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, son of Saul, because of the oath of YHWH that [is] between them, between David and Jonathan son of Saul;
8 The king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Merab, the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel, son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
and the king takes the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Michal daughter of Saul whom she bore to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite,
9 He handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill in the presence of the Lord. All seven of them died at the same time, executed at the beginning of the barley harvest.
and gives them into the hand of the Gibeonites, and they hang them in the hill before YHWH; and the seven fall together, and they have been put to death in the days of harvest, in the first [days], the commencement of barley-harvest.
10 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took some sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the time the rains came and poured down on the bodies, she kept the birds away from them during the day and the wild animals at night.
And Rizpah daughter of Aiah takes the sackcloth, and stretches it out for herself on the rock, from the commencement of harvest until water has been poured out on them from the heavens, and has not permitted a bird of the heavens to rest on them by day, or the beast of the field by night.
11 When David heard what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Saul's concubine of Saul had done,
And it is declared to David that which Rizpah daughter of Aiah, concubine of Saul, has done,
12 he retrieved the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had taken them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies after they had killed Saul at Gilboa.
and David goes and takes the bones of Saul, and the bones of his son Jonathan, from the possessors of Jabesh-Gilead, who had stolen them from the broad place of Beth-Shan, where the Philistines hanged them, in the day of the Philistines striking Saul in Gilboa;
13 David had the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan brought back, and also had the bones of those who had been hanged gathered up.
and he brings up there the bones of Saul, and the bones of his son Jonathan, and they gather the bones of those hanged,
14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan at Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul's father Kish. Once they finished doing everything the king had ordered, God answered their prayers to end the famine in the land.
and bury the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin, in Zelah, in the burying-place of his father Kish, and do all that the king commanded, and God accepts the plea for the land afterward.
15 There was war once more between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight the Philistines, and he got worn out.
And again the Philistines have war with Israel, and David goes down, and his servants with him, and they fight with the Philistines; and David is weary,
16 Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels, and who was carrying a new sword, said he was going to kill David.
and Ishbi-Benob, who [is] among the children of the giant—the weight of his spear [is] three hundred [shekels in] weight of bronze, and he is girded with a new one—speaks of striking David,
17 But Abishai, son of Zeruiah, came to his rescue, attacked the Philistine, and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, “Don't ever go out with us to battle again, so that the Israel's light isn't snuffed out!”
and Abishai son of Zeruiah gives help to him, and strikes the Philistine, and puts him to death; then the men of David swear to him, saying, “You do not go out with us to battle again, nor quench the lamp of Israel.”
18 Some time after this there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob. But then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Repha.
And it comes to pass afterward that the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines. Then Sibbechai the Hushathite has struck Saph, who [is] among the children of the giant.
19 In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan, son of Jair, from Bethlehem, killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite. The shaft of his spear was as thick as a weaver's rod.
And the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim, the Beth-Lehemite, strikes [a brother of] Goliath the Gittite, and the wood of his spear [is] like a weavers’ beam.
20 In yet another battle at Gath, there was a gigantic man, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, making twenty-four all. He too was descended from the giants.
And the battle is again in Gath, and there is a man of [great] stature, and the fingers of his hands [are] six, and the toes of his feet [are] six—twenty-four in number, and he has also been born to the giant,
21 But when he insulted Israel, Jonathan, son of Shimea, David's brother, killed him.
and he reproaches Israel, and Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, strikes him;
22 These four were the descendants of the giants in Gath, but they were all killed by David and his men.
these four have been born to the giant in Gath, and they fall by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
