The 3 Years of Famine During David’s Reign |
2 Samuel 21:1-22 The Book of 2 Samuel [in Smaller Chunks] |
[During] the days of David, there was a famine [for] 3 years [in a row.] And David [inquired from] the Lord [God.] And the Lord answered, [The famine] is for Saul, & his bloody, [a.k.a. blood thirsty,] house, because he [killed] the Gibeonites. |
And king [David] called the Gibeonites, & [talked] to them. (Now, the Gibeonites were not of the children, [a.k.a. people] of Israel, but [were] [remaining from] the Amorites. The [people] of Israel had sworn [to protect] them, & Saul [tried to kill] them in his zeal [for] the [people] of Israel & Judah.) |
[For this reason,] David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? [How] shall I make atonement, [so] you may bless the inheritance of the Lord? And the Gibeonites said to [king David,] We [don’t want any] silver or gold of [Saul’s] nor his house, [a.k.a. family,] & neither [shall] you kill any man in Israel for us. |
And [king David] said, What shall you say, that I [should] do for you? They answered the king, Let 7 of [Saul’s] sons, [a.k.a. male descendants,] be delivered to us, [since] he is the man [who] consumed us, & [plotted] against us, [to destroy us] from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel. |
We will hang them up [before] the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord [chose.] And king [David] said, I will give them [to you.] But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, [Saul’s] son, because of the oath David & Jonathan made between them, & the [Lord.] |
But king [David] took 2 [of] the sons of Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, whom she [bore] to Saul, Armoni & Mephibosheth; & the 5 sons, whom Michal [a.k.a. Merab, Saul’s] daughter, brought up for Adriel, [Barzillai’s] son, the Meholathite. [1 Samuel 18:17-19 And Saul said to David, [See,] my elder daughter, Merab, I will give her [to] you to [marry as your] wife. Only, you be valiant for me, & fight the Lord's battles. For Saul said, [Don't] let [my] hand be upon [David,] but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. And David said to Saul, Who am I? And what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be [the] son-in-law to the king? But it [happened] at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel, the Meholathite, to [marry as his] wife.] |
But king [David] delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, & they [hung] them [on] the hill before the Lord. And all 7 fell, [a.k.a. died,] together, & were put to death [during] the 1st days, in the beginning of [the] barley harvest. |
And Rizpah, [Aiah’s] daughter, took sackcloth, & spread it for [herself] upon the rock. [Rizpah didn’t] [allow] the birds of the air to rest on them, [a.k.a. the corpses of Saul's descendants, during the] day, nor [the wild animals] of the field by night, from the beginning of the harvest until [rain] dropped upon them [from] heaven. |
And David was told what Rizpath, the daughter of Aiah, [Saul’s mistress,] had done. And David went & took [Saul’s & Jonathan’s] bones from the men of Jabesh Gilead, [who] had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had [hung] them, [after they] had [killed] Saul in Gilboa. |
And [king David] brought up the bones of Saul, Jonathan, [Saul's] son, & they gathered the bones of [those who] were [hung.] And they buried the bones of Saul & Jonathan, his son, in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the [tomb] of Kish, [Saul’s] father. |
And they [did] all that king [David] commanded. After that, [requests] for the land [were] [made] [to] God. [Additionally,] the Philistines [warred] again with Israel. And David & his servants went down, & fought against the Philistines, & David [grew] faint. |
And Ishbi Benob, [who] was [from] the sons of the giant, [with] [a] spear [that] weighed 300 shekels of brass, & he [was belted] with a new sword & [planned to kill] David. |
But Abishai, [Zeruiah’s] son, [came to king David’s aid,] & [struck] the Philistine, & killed him. Then [David’s] men [swore] to him, saying, You shall [no longer] go out with us to battle, [so,] that you [don't] quench, [a.k.a. extinguish,] the light of Israel. |
And it [happened] after this, there was [another] battle with the Philistines [in] Gob. Then, Sibbechai, the Hushathite, [killed] Saph, [who] was [from] the sons of the giant. Again, there was a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan, [Jaare Oregim’s] son, a Bethlemite, [killed] the brother of Goliath, the Gittite. |
The staff, [a.k.a. the rod portion of his spear] was like a beam [weavers use.] And there [still] was a battle in Gath, [an extremely tall] man was, [who] had 6 fingers on [both hands,] & 6 toes on [both feet,] 24 [total, who] was also born to the giant, [a.k.a. Rapha.] |
And when he defiled Israel, Jonathan, [Shimeah’s] son, the brother of David, [killed] him. These 4 were born to [Rapha,] the giant in Gath, & [they] fell by the hand of: David, & his servants. |