II
S A M U E L
CHAP. XXI.
The
date of the events of this chapter is uncertain. I incline to think that they
happened as they are here placed, after Absalom's and Sheba's rebellion, and
towards the latter end of David's reign. That the battles with the
Philistines, mentioned here, were long after the Philistines were subdued,
appears by comparing 1 Chron. xviii. 1 with xx. 4. The numbering of the people
was just before the fixing of the place of the temple (as appears 1 Chron.
xxii. 1), and that was towards the close of David's life; and, it should seem,
the people were numbered just after the three years' famine for the Gibeonites,
for that which is threatened as "three" years' famine (1 Chron. xxi.
12) is called "seven" years (2 Sam. xxiv. 12, 13), three more, with
the year current, added to those three. We have here, I. The Gibeonites
avenged, 1. By a famine in the land, ver. 1. 2. By the putting of seven of
Saul's posterity to death (ver. 2-9), care, however, being taken of their dead
bodies, and of the bones of Saul, ver. 10-14. II. The giants of the
Philistines slain in several battles, ver. 15-22.
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A
Famine in Israel; The Gibeonites Avenged.
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B. C. 1021.
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1
Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and
David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD
answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he
slew the Gibeonites. 2 And the king called the Gibeonites, and
said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel,
but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto
them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and
Judah.) 3 Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I
do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the
inheritance of the LORD?
4 And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul,
nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he
said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. 5 And they
answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that
we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,
6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up
unto the LORD
in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them.
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul,
because of the LORD's
oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of
Saul. 8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of
Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of
Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of
Barzillai the Meholathite: 9 And he delivered them into the hands
of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD:
and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of
harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
Here I. Were are told of the injury which Saul had, long before this, done to
the Gibeonites, which we had no account of in the history of his reign, nor
should we have heard of it here but that it came now to be reckoned for. The
Gibeonites were of the remnant of the Amorites (v. 2), who by a
stratagem had made peace with Israel, and had the public faith pledged to them
by Joshua for their safety. We had the story Josh. ix., where it was agreed (v.
23) that they should have their lives secured, but be deprived of their lands
and liberties, that they and theirs should be tenants in villanage to Israel.
It does not appear that they had broken their part of the covenant, either by
denying their service or attempting to recover their lands or liberties; nor
was this pretended; but Saul, under colour of zeal for the honour of Israel,
that it might not be said that they had any of the natives among them, aimed
to root them out, and, in order to that, slew many of them. Thus he would seem
wiser than his predecessors the judges, and more zealous for the public
interest; and perhaps he designed it for an instance of his royal prerogative
and the power which as king he assumed to rescind the former acts of
government and to disannul the most solemn leagues. It may be, he designed, by
this severity towards the Gibeonites, to atone for his clemency towards the
Amalekites. Some conjecture that he sought to cut off the Gibeonites at the
same time when he put away the witches (1 Sam. xxviii. 3), or perhaps many of
them were remarkably pious, and he sought to destroy them when he slew the
priests their masters. That which made this an exceedingly sinful sin was that
he not only shed innocent blood, but therein violated the solemn oath by which
the nation was bound to protect them. See what brought ruin on Saul's house:
it was a bloody house.
II. We find the nation of Israel chastised with a sore famine, long after, for
this sin of Saul. Observe, 1. Even in the land of Israel, that fruitful land,
and in the reign of David, that glorious reign, there was a famine, not
extreme (for then notice would sooner have been taken of it and enquiry made
into the cause of it), but great drought, and scarcity of provisions, the
consequence of it, for three years together. If corn miss one year, commonly
the next makes up the deficiency; but, if it miss three years successively, it
will be a sore judgment; and the man of wisdom will by it hear God's voice
crying to the country to repent of the abuse of plenty. 2. David enquired of
God concerning it. Though he was himself a prophet, he must consult the
oracle, and know God's mind in his own appointed way. Note, When we are under
God's judgments we ought to enquire into the grounds of the controversy. Lord,
show me wherefore thou contendest with me. It is strange that David did
not sooner consult the oracle, not till the third year; but perhaps, till
then, he apprehended it not to be an extraordinary judgment for some
particular sin. Even good men are often slack and remiss in doing their duty.
We continue in ignorance, and under mistake, because we delay to enquire. 3.
God was ready in his answer, though David was slow in his enquiries: It is
for Saul. Note, God's judgments often look a great way back, which obliges
us to do so when we are under his rebukes. It is not for us to object against
the people's smarting for the sin of their king (perhaps they were aiding and
abetting), nor against this generation's suffering for the sin of the last God
often visiteth the sins of the fathers upon the children, and his judgments
are a great deep. He gives not account of any of his matters. Time does
not wear out the guilt of sin; nor can we build hopes of impunity upon the
delay of judgments. There is no statute of limitation to be pleaded against
God's demands. Nullum tempus occurrit Deo--God may punish when he
pleases.
III. We have vengeance taken upon the house of Saul for the turning away of
God's wrath from the land, which, at present, smarted for his sin.
1. David, probably by divine direction, referred it to the Gibeonites
themselves to prescribe what satisfaction should be given them for the wrong
that had been done them, v. 3. They had many years remained silent, had
not appealed to David, nor given the kingdom any disturbance with their
complaints or demands; and now, at length, God speaks for them (I heard
not, for thou wilt hear, Ps. xxxviii. 14, 15); and they are recompensed
for their patience with this honour, that they are made judges in their own
case, and have a blank given them to write their demands on: What you shall
say, that will I do (v. 4), that atonement may be made, and that you
may bless the inheritance of the Lord, v. 3. It is sad for any
family or nation to have the prayers of oppressed innocency against them, and
therefore the expense of a just restitution is well bestowed for the
retrieving of the blessing of those that were ready to perish, Job xxix.
13. "My servant Job, whom you have wronged, shall pray for you,"
says God, "and then I will be reconciled to you, and not till then."
Those understand not themselves that value not the prayers of the poor and
despised.
2. They desired that seven of Saul's posterity might be put to death, and
David granted their demand. (1.) They required no silver, nor gold, v.
4. Note, Money is no satisfaction for blood, see Num. xxxv. 31-33. It is the
ancient law that blood calls for blood (Gen. ix. 6); and those over-value
money and under-value life, that sell the blood of their relations for
corruptible things, such as silver and gold. The Gibeonites had now a
fair opportunity to get a discharge from their servitude, in compensation for
the wrong done them, according to the equity of that law (Exod. xxi. 26), If
a man strike out his servant's eye, he shall let him go free for his eye's
sake. But they did not insist on this; though the covenant was broken on
the other side, it should not be broken on theirs. They were Nethinim,
given to God and his people Israel, and they would not seem weary of the
service. (2.) They required no lives but of Saul's family. He had done them
the wrong, and therefore his children must pay for it. We sue the heirs for
the parents' debts. Men may not extend this principle so far as life, Deut.
xxiv. 16. The children in an ordinary course of law, shall never be
put to death for the parents. But this case of the Gibeonites was
altogether extraordinary. God had made himself an immediate party to the cause
and no doubt put it into the heart of the Gibeonites to make this demand, for
he owned what was done (v. 14), and his judgments are not subject to
the rules which men's judgments must be subject to. Let parents take heed of
sin, especially the sin of cruelty and oppression, for their poor children's
sake, who may be smarting for it by the just hand of God when they themselves
are in their graves. Guilt and a curse are a bad entail upon a family. It
should seem, Saul's posterity trod in his steps, for it is called a bloody
house; it was the spirit of the family, and therefore they are justly
reckoned with for his sin, as well as for their own. (3.) They would not
impose it upon David to do this execution: Thou shalt not for us kill any
man (v. 4), but we will do it ourselves, we will hang them up
unto the Lord (v. 6), that if there were any hardship in it, they
might bear the blame, and not David or his house. By our old law, if a
murderer had judgment given against him upon an appeal, the relations that
appealed had the executing of him. (4.) They did not require this out of
malice against Saul or his family (had they been revengeful, they would have
moved it themselves long before), but out of love to the people of Israel,
whom they saw plagued for the injury done to them: "We will hang them
up unto the Lord (v. 6), to satisfy his justice, not to gratify any
revenge of our own--for the good of the public, not for our own
reputation." (5.) The nomination of the persons they left to David, who
took care to secure Mephibosheth for Jonathan's sake, that, while he was
avenging the breach of one oath, he might not himself break another (v.
7); but he delivered up two of Saul's sons whom he had by a concubine, and
five of his grandsons, whom his daughter Merab bore to Adriel (1 Sam. xviii.
19), but his daughter Michal brought up, v. 8. Now Saul's treachery was
punished, in giving Merab to Adriel, when he had promised her to David, with a
design to provoke him. "It is a dangerous matter," says bishop Hall
upon this, "to offer injury to any of God's faithful ones; if their
meekness have easily remitted it, their God will not pass it over without a
severe retribution, though it may be long first." (6.) The place, time,
and manner, of their execution, all added to the solemnity of their being
sacrificed to divine justice. [1.] They were hanged up, as anathemas, under a
peculiar mark of God's displeasure; for the law had said, He that is hanged
is accursed of God, Deut. xxi. 23; Gal. iii. 13. Christ being made a curse
for us, and dying to satisfy for our sins and to turn away the wrath of God,
became obedient to this ignominious death. [2.] They were hanged up in Gibeah
of Saul (v. 6), to show that it was for his sin that they died. They
were hanged, as it were, before their own door, to expiate the guilt of the
house of Saul; and thus God accomplished the ruin of that family, for the
blood of the priests, and their families, which, doubtless, now came in
remembrance before God, and inquisition was made for it, Ps. ix. 12. Yet the
blood of the Gibeonites only is mentioned, because that was shed in
violation of a sacred oath, which, though sworn long before, though obtained
by a wile, and the promise made to Canaanites, yet is thus severely reckoned
for. The despising of the oath, and breaking of the covenant, will be
recompensed on the head of those who thus profane God's sacred name, Ezek.
xvii. 18, 19. And thus God would show that with him rich and poor meet
together. Even royal blood must go to atone for the blood of the Gibeonites,
who were but the vassals for the congregation. [3.] They were put to death in
the days of harvest (v. 9), at the beginning of harvest (v.
10), to show that they were thus sacrificed for the turning sway of that wrath
of God which had withheld from them their harvest-mercies for some years past,
and to obtain his favour in the present harvest. Thus there is no way of
appeasing God's anger but by mortifying and crucifying our lusts and
corruptions. In vain do we expect mercy from God, unless we do justice upon
our sins. Those executions must not be complained of as cruel which have
become necessary to the public welfare. Better that seven of Saul's bloody
house be hanged than that all Israel be famished.
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The Death of Saul's Sons.
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B. C. 1021.
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10
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the
rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of
heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor
the beasts of the field by night. 11 And it was told David what
Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. 12
And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son
from the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan,
where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in
Gilboa: 13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the
bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were
hanged. 14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they
in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and
they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated
for the land.
Here we have, I. Saul's sons not only hanged, but hanged in chains, their dead
bodies left hanging, and exposed, till the judgment ceased, which their death
was to turn away, by the sending of rain upon the land. They died as
sacrifices, and thus they were, in a manner, offered up, not consumed all at
once by fire, but gradually by the air. They died as anathemas, and by this
ignominious usage they were represented as execrable, because iniquity was
laid upon them. When our blessed Saviour was made sin for us he was made a
curse for us. But how shall we reconcile this with the law which expressly
required that those who were hanged should be buried on the same day? Deut.
xxi. 23. One of the Jewish rabbin wishes this passage of story expunged, that
the name of God might be sanctified, which, he thinks, is dishonoured by
his acceptance of that which was a violation of his law: but this was an
extraordinary case, and did not fall within that law; nay, the very reason for
that law is a reason for this exception. He that is thus left hanged is
accursed; therefore ordinary malefactors must not be so abused; but therefore
these must, because they were sacrificed, not to the justice of the nation,
but for the crime of the nation (no less a crime than the violation of the
public faith) and for the deliverance of the nation from no less a judgment
than a general famine. Being thus made as the off-scouring of all things,
they were made a spectacle to the world (1 Cor. iv. 9, 13), God
appointing, or at least allowing it.
II. Their dead bodies watched by Rizpah, the mother of two of them, v.
10. It was a great affliction to her, now in her old age, to see her two sons,
who, we may suppose, had been a comfort to her, and were likely to be the
support of her declining years, cut off in this dreadful manner. None know
what sorrows they are reserved for. She may not see them decently interred,
but they shall be decently attended. She attempts not to violate the sentence
passed upon them, that they should hang there till God sent rain; she neither
steals nor forces away their dead bodies, though the divine law might have
been cited to bear her out; but she patiently submits, pitches a tent of
sackcloth near the gibbets, where, with her servants and friends, she protects
the dead bodies from birds and beasts of prey. Thus, 1. She indulged her
grief, as mourners are too apt to do, to no good purpose. When sorrow, in such
cases, is in danger of growing excessive, we should rather study how to divert
and pacify it than how to humour and gratify it. Why should we thus harden
ourselves in sorrow? 2. She testified her love. Thus she let the world know
that her sons died, not for any sin of their own, not as stubborn and
rebellious sons, whose eye had despised to obey their mother; if that
had been the case, she would have suffered the ravens of the valley to pick
it out and the young eagles to eat it, Prov. xxx. 17. But they died for
their father's sin and therefore her mind could not be alienated from them by
their hard fate. Though there is not remedy, but they must die, yet they shall
die pitied and lamented.
III. The solemn interment of their dead bodies, with the bones of Saul and
Jonathan, in the burying-place of their family. David was so far from being
displeased at what Rizpah had done that he was himself stirred up by it to do
honour to the house of Saul, and to these branches of it among the rest; thus
it appeared that it was not out of any personal disgust to the family that he
delivered them up, and that he had not desired the woeful day, but that he was
obliged to do it for the public good. 1. He now bethought himself of removing
the bodies of Saul and Jonathan from the place where the men of Jabesh-Gilead
had decently, but privately and obscurely, interred them, under a tree,
1 Sam. xxxi. 12, 13. Though the shield of Saul was vilely cast away, as if he
had not been anointed with oil, yet let not royal dust be lost in the graves
of the common people. Humanity obliges us to respect human bodies, especially
of the great and good, in consideration both of what they have been and what
they are to be. 2. With them he buried the bodies of those that were
hanged; for, when God's anger was turned away, they were no longer to be
looked upon as a curse, v. 13, 14. When water dropped upon them out
of heaven (v. 10), that is, when God sent rain to water the earth
(which perhaps was not many days after they were hung up), then they were
taken down, for then it appeared that God was entreated for the land.
When justice is done on earth vengeance from heaven ceases. Through Christ,
who was hanged on a tree and so made a curse for us, to expiate our guilt
(though he was himself guiltless), God is pacified, and is entreated for us:
and it is said (Acts xiii. 29) that when they had fulfilled all that was
written of him, in token of the completeness of the sacrifice and of God's
acceptance of it, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a
sepulchre.
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The Giants Subdued.
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B. C. 1020.
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15
Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down,
and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed
faint. 16 And Ishbi-benob, which was of the sons of the
giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels
of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have
slain David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and
smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him,
saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the
light of Israel. 18 And it came to pass after this, that there was
again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew
Saph, which was of the sons of the giant. 19 And there was
again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of
Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite,
the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. 20 And
there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that
had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in
number; and he also was born to the giant. 21 And when he defied
Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the brother of David slew him.
22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David,
and by the hand of his servants.
We have here the story of some conflicts with the Philistines, which happened,
as it should seem, in the latter end of David's reign. Though he had so
subdued them that they could not bring any great numbers into the field, yet
as long as they had any giants among them to be their champions, they would
never be quiet, but took all occasions to disturb the peace of Israel, to
challenge them, or make incursions upon them.
I. David himself was engaged with one of the giants. The Philistines began the
war yet again, v. 15. The enemies of God's Israel are restless in their
attempts against them. David, though old, desired not a writ of ease from the
public service, but he went down in person to fight against the
Philistines (Senescit, non segnescit--He grows old, but not indolent),
a sign that he fought not for his own glory (at this age he was loaded with
glory, and needed no more), but for the good of his kingdom. But in this
engagement we find him, 1. In distress and danger. He thought he could bear
the fatigues of war as well as he had done formerly; his will was good, and he
hoped he could do as at other times. But he found himself deceived; age had
cut his hair, and, after a little toil, he waxed faint. His body could
not keep pace with his mind. The champion of the Philistines was soon aware of
his advantage, perceived that David's strength failed him, and, being himself
strong and well-armed, he thought to slay David; but God was not in his
thoughts, and therefore in that very day they all perished. The enemies of
God's people are often very strong, very subtle, and very sure of success,
like Isbi-benob, but there is no strength, nor counsel, nor confidence against
the Lord. 2. Wonderfully rescued by Abishai, who came seasonably in to his
relief, v. 17. Herein we must own Abishai's courage and fidelity to his
prince (to save whose life he bravely ventured his own), but much more the
good providence of God, which brought him in to David's succour in the moment
of his extremity. Such a cause and such a champion, though distressed, shall
not be deserted. When Abishai succoured him, gave him a cordial, it may
be, to relieve his fainting spirits, or appeared as his second, he
(namely, David, so I understand it) smote the Philistine and killed him;
for it is said (v. 22) that David had himself a hand in slaying the
giants. David fainted, but he did not flee; though his strength failed him, he
bravely kept his ground, and then God sent him this help in the time of need,
which, though brought him by his junior and inferior, he thankfully accepted,
and, with a little recruiting, gained his point, and came off a conqueror.
Christ, in his agonies, was strengthened by an angel. In spiritual conflicts,
even strong saints sometimes wax faint; then Satan attacks them furiously; but
those that stand their ground and resist him shall be relieved, and made more
than conquerors. 3. David's servants hereupon resolved that he should never
expose himself thus any more. They had easily persuaded him not to fight
against Absalom (ch. xviii. 3), but against the Philistines he would
go, till, having had this narrow escape, it was resolved in council, and
confirmed with an oath, that the light of Israel (its guide and glory,
so David was) should never be put again into such hazard of being blown out.
The lives of those who are as valuable to their country as David was ought to
be preserved with a double care, both by themselves and others.
II. The rest of the giants fell by the hand of David's servants. 1. Saph was
slain by Sibbechai, one of David's worthies, v. 18; 1 Chron. xi. 29. 2.
Another, who was brother to Goliath, was slain by Elhanan, who is mentioned ch.
xxiii. 24. 3. Another, who was of very unusual bulk, who had more fingers and
toes than other people (v. 20), and such an unparalleled insolence
that, though he had seen the fall of other giants, yet he defied Israel, was
slain by Jonathan the son of Shimea. Shimea had one son named Jonadab
(2 Sam. xiii. 3), whom I should have taken for the same with this Jonathan,
but that the former was noted for subtlety, the latter for bravery. These
giants were probably the remains of the sons of Anak, who, though long feared,
fell at last. Now observe, (1.) It is folly for the strong man to glory in
his strength. David's servants were no bigger nor stronger than other men;
yet thus, by divine assistance, they mastered one giant after another. God
chooses by the weak things to confound the mighty. (2.) It is common for those
to go down slain to the pit who have been the terror of the mighty in the
land of the living, Ezek. xxxii. 27. (3.) The most powerful enemies are
often reserved for the last conflict. David began his glory with the conquest
of one giant, and here concludes it with the conquest of four. Death is a
Christian's last enemy, and a son of Anak; but, through him that triumphed for
us, we hope to be more than conquerors at last, even over that enemy.
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