2 Samuel 21:10

RIZPAH GUARDED THE BODIES OF THE SLAIN

"Then Rizpah the daughter of Ahiah took sackcloth, and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest till the rain fell on them from heavens; and she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night. When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Ahiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa; and he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged. And they buried the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan in Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father; and they did all that the king commanded. And after that God heeded supplications for the land."

No greater and inspiring example of mother love is to be found anywhere in the literature of all nations and generations. Willis also commented on this and gave us these lines from Rudyard Kipling's immortal poem:

"If I were hanged on the highest hill,

Mother of mine, O mother of mine!

I know whose love would follow me still,

Mother of mine, O mother of mine!"[16]

"Until the rain fell upon them from the heavens" (2 Samuel 21:10). "The rains usually came in late November or early December, so Rizpah must have kept a six-months vigil over the bodies."[17]

If left unattended an exposed corpse, whether of a man or an animal, would soon be nothing but bones. "A strict order of priority is followed by carrion eating birds and beasts. The vultures come first ... the jackals wait in a circle until the vultures are satisfied, and the crows wait for the jackals."[18] Since only the bones of those who were hanged are mentioned (2 Samuel 21:13). it may be that Rizpah's long vigil might not have been completely successful. Then too, "the bones of those who were hanged" could merely be a euphemism for "their decaying bodies."

Although the text does not say so, it is likely that these seven grandsons of Saul were likewise buried in the tomb of Kish.

It appears to this writer as very significant that the rains did not come promptly after this brutal and inhuman sacrifice of the sons of Saul, which indeed may be viewed as God's displeasure with the whole episode. Yes, the rains finally came over six months later AT THE USUAL TIME WHEN THE RAINS GENERALLY CAME.

We have already noted that this long-time exposure of dead bodies to public view was a direct violation of God's Law in Deuteronomy 21:23. We find no agreement whatever with the scholars who fail to note this sinful action allowed by the king. Smith's assertion that, "That God was propitiated toward the land after that is the conclusion of the narrative,"[19] but the sacred text does not say that God was propitiated, but merely that it finally rained! All efforts to identify the action of this section as the will of God and as something that God was pleased with are a failure for the want of one thing. That lack is the total absence of any line in the Bible that says so!