2 Samuel 21
1 And there came to be a famine, in the days of David, for three years, year after year, so then David sought the face of Yahweh, —and Yahweh said—It respecteth Saul and his house, as to bloodshed, in that he put to death the Gibeonites.
During the time that David [ruled], there was a famine [in Israel] for three years. David prayed to Yahweh about it. And Yahweh said, “[In order for the famine to end], Saul’s family needs to be punished [MTY] because Saul killed many people from Gibeon [city].”
2 The king therefore called the Gibeonites, and said unto them (now, the Gibeonites, were, not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites, with whom, the sons of Israel, had entered into an oath, and Saul had sought to smite them, in his jealousy for the sons of Israel and Judah)—
The people of Gibeon were not Israelis; they were a small group of the Amor people-group whom the Israelis had solemnly promised to protect. But Saul had tried to kill all of them because he (was very zealous/wanted very much) to enable the people of Judah and Israel [to be the only ones living in that land]. So the king summoned the leaders of Gibeon
3 wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites—What shall I do for you, and wherewith shall I make propitiation, so that ye may bless the inheritance of Yahweh?
and said to them, “What shall I do for you? How can I make amends/up for what was done to your people, in order that you will bless us who belong to Yahweh?”
4 And the Gibeonites said unto him—It is not a matter with us of silver or gold, with Saul or with his house, neither would we have a man put to death in Israel. And he said, —What do ye say I should do for you?
They replied, “You cannot settle our quarrel with Saul and his family by giving us silver or gold. And we do not have the right to kill any Israelis.” So David asked, “Then/So what do you say that I should do for you?”
5 Then said they unto the king, The man who consumed us, and who thought to have destroyed us from taking a place within any of the bounds of Israel,
They replied, “Saul [wanted to] get rid of us. He wanted to annihilate/kill all of us, in order that none of us would live anywhere in Israel.
6 let there be delivered up to us—seven men of his sons, and we will crucify them unto Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of Yahweh. And the king said, I, will deliver them up.
Hand over to us seven of Saul’s descendants. We will hang them where Yahweh is worshiped in Gibeon, our town, the town where Saul, whom Yahweh previously chose to be king, lived.” The king replied, “Okay, I will hand them over to you.”
7 But the king had pity upon Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, Saul’s son, —because of the oath of Yahweh that was between them, between David and Jonathan, Saul’s son.
The king did not hand over to them Saul’s grandson Mephibosheth, because of what he and [Mephibosheth’s father] Jonathan had solemnly promised to each other.
8 So the king took the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she had borne to Saul, even Armoni and Mephibosheth, —and the five sons of Michal daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai, the Meholathite;
Instead, he took Armoni and another man named Mephibosheth, the two sons that Saul’s slave wife Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, had given birth to, and the five sons that Saul’s daughter Merab had given birth to. Merab’s husband was Adriel, the son of a man named Barzillai from Meholah [town].
9 and delivered them up into the hand of the Gibeonites, and they crucified them in the mountain, before Yahweh, so they seven fell together, —they being put to death in the first days of harvest, in the beginning of the barley harvest.
David handed those men over to the men from Gibeon. Then they hanged those seven men on a hill where they worshiped Yahweh. They were all killed during the time of the year that the people started to harvest the barley.
10 Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth, and spread it out for herself, on the rock, from the beginning of harvest, until water poured out upon them from the heavens, —and suffered neither the birds of the heavens to rest on them by day, nor the wild beasts of the field, [to devour them] by night.
Then Rizpah took coarse cloth made from goats’ hair, and spread it on the rock [where the corpses lay]. She stayed there from the time that people started to harvest the barley until the rains started. She did not allow any birds to come near the corpses during the day, and she did not allow any animals to come near during the night.
11 And it was told David, —what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, Saul’s concubine, had done.
When someone told David what Rizpah had done,
12 So David went and fetched the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the owners of Jabesh-gilead, —who stole them from the broadway of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day when the Philistines had smitten Saul in Gilboa;
he went with some of his servants to Jabesh in [the] Gilead [region] and got the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan. The people of Jabesh had stolen their bones from the (plaza/public square) in Beth-Shan [city], where the men from Philistia had hanged them previously, on the day that they had killed Saul and Jonathan on Gilboa [Mountain].
13 and he brought up from thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, —and they gathered together the bones of them who had been crucified;
David and his men took the bones of Saul and Jonathan, and they also took the bones of the seven men [from Gibeon] whom the men from Philistia had hanged.
14 so they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin, in Zelah, in the grave of Kish his father, thus did they all that the king commanded, —and God suffered himself to be entreated for the land, after this.
They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan in Zela [town] in the land of [the tribe of] Benjamin. Doing all that the king commanded, they buried their bones in the tomb where Saul’s father Kish [was buried]. After that, [because] God [saw that Saul’s family had been punished to pay for Saul’s murder of many people from Gibeon, he] answered the Israelis’ prayers for their land, and caused the famine to end.
15 And the Philistines had yet again a war with Israel, —so David went down, and his servants with him, and fought the Philistines, and David became faint.
The army of Philistia again started to fight against the army of Israel. And David and his soldiers went to fight the Philistines. During the battle, David became weary.
16 So, Ishbi-benob, who was of the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear-head, was three hundred shekels of bronze, he also being newly armed, thought to smite David;
One of the Philistia men thought that he could kill David. His name was Ishbi-Benob. He was a descendant of [a group of] giants. He carried a bronze spear that weighed about (7-1/2 pounds/3-1/2 kg.), and he also had a new sword.
17 but Abishai son of Zeruiah, came to his help, and smote the Philistine, and slew him. Then, sware the men of David unto him, saying—Thou must not go forth any more with us, to battle, that thou quench not the lamp of Israel.
But Abishai came to help David, and attacked the giant and killed him. Then David’s soldiers forced him to promise that he would not go with them into a battle again. They said to him, “[If you die, and none of your descendants become king, that would be like] [MET] extinguishing the last light in Israel.”
18 And it came to pass, after this, that there was yet again a battle in Gob, with the Philistines, —then, Sibbekai the Hushathite smote Saph, who was of the descendants of the giant.
Some time after that, there was a battle with the army of Philistia near Gob [village]. During the battle, Sibbecai, from [the] Hushah [clan], killed Saph, one of the descendants of the Rapha giants.
19 And there was yet again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, —when Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim of Bethlehem, smote Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
[Later] there was another battle with the army of Philistia at Gob. During that battle, Elhanan, the son of Jaare-Oregim from Bethlehem, killed [the brother of] Goliath from Gath [city]; Goliath’s spear shaft/handle was (very thick, like the bar on a weaver’s loom/over two inches thick).
20 And there was yet again a battle in Gath; when there was a man of stature, with six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he also, having been born to the giant;
Later there was another battle near Gath. There was a (huge man/giant) there who liked to fight [in battles]. He had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He was descended from [the] Rapha [giants].
21 but, when he reproached Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah David’s brother, smote, him.
But when he (made fun of/ridiculed) the men in the Israeli [army], Jonathan, the son of David’s [older] brother Shimeah, killed him.
22 These four, had been born to the giant in Gath, —but they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
Those four men were some of the descendants of the Rapha giants who had lived in Gath, who were killed [MTY] by David and his soldiers.
