2 Samuel 21:1-6

1. Saul’s broken treaty with the Gibeonites 21:1-6

Internal references in 2 Samuel enable us to date this incident early in David’s reign between Mephibosheth’s arrival in Jerusalem and the beginning of the Ammonite wars. Probably God sent judgment on Israel for Saul’s action soon after he died. Saul’s concubine watched over the bodies of her slain sons until the famine ended. If this took place later in David’s reign, she would have been very old, which is possible but unlikely. Also, David buried the bodies of Saul and Jonathan at this time. He would hardly have done this years later. The fact that David did not execute Mephibosheth suggests that this son of Jonathan had come under David’s protection by this time. That took place after David moved his capital to Jerusalem. After the Ammonite wars began, David might not have had time for what the writer described here. Consequently a date within 996-993 B.C. for this famine seems reasonable.

Characteristically, David sought the Lord about the famine (2 Samuel 21:1; cf. Deuteronomy 28:47-48). Sometimes natural catastrophes such as famines resulted from Israel’s sins, but sin was not always the cause (cf. Job; John 9:2-3). There is no mention elsewhere in Samuel that Saul had broken the Israelites’ treaty with the Gibeonites (cf. Joshua 9:3-27). Saul evidently refused to acknowledge Israel’s treaty with the Gibeonites (Joshua 9) and put some of them to death. One writer suggested that Saul had made Gibeon his capital, and after a falling out with the native Hivite inhabitants Saul slaughtered them. [Note: Joseph Blenkinsopp, "Did Saul Make Gibeon His Capital?" Vetus Testamentum 24:1 (January 1974):1-7.] However there is nothing in the text that indicates he did this. Another possibility is that when Saul slew many of the priests at Nob he also executed many Gibeonites (1 Samuel 22:19). David asked the Gibeonites what punishment would satisfy them and atone for (cover) Saul’s sin of murder.

"Since the verb kipper ["atonement"] is used absolutely here, it is impossible to say from the construction alone whether it means to propitiate [satisfy] or to expiate [remove]. From the context, however, it is clear that it means both. David is seeking both to satisfy the Gibeonites and to ’make up for’ the wrong done to them. It is equally clear that he cannot achieve the latter with the former. There is no expiation [removal] without propitiation [satisfaction]." [Note: Paul Garnet, "Atonement Constructions in the Old Testament and the Qumran Scrolls," Evangelical Quarterly 46:3 (July-September 1974):134.]

"The inheritance of the Lord" probably refers to the nation of Israel (cf. 2 Samuel 20:19). The Gibeonites were content to have seven (a number symbolizing completeness) of Saul’s descendants (not necessarily sons) executed. This was in keeping with ancient Near Eastern and Mosaic laws (the lex talionis or law of revenge, Numbers 35:31). There are records of broken treaties leading to natural calamities in other ancient Near Eastern literature. [Note: See F. Charles Fensham, "The Treaty between Israel and the Gibeonites," Biblical Archaeologist 27:3 (1964):96-100.] The Hebrew word translated "hang" (2 Samuel 21:6) means to execute in a way that the body suffers public humiliation (cf. Numbers 25:4). Probably they suffered execution and then their bodies were hung up so everyone could witness their fate.