Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

2 Samuel 21:1

in 2 Samuel 21

During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David sought the face of Jehovah. And Jehovah said, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put to death the Gibeonites.

KJV

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.

⋯

This verse in 2 Samuel 21

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Against Jovinianus 2.33 · Written before 420.

The Gibeonites met the children of Israel, and although other nations were slaughtered, they were kept for hewers of wood and drawers of water. And of such value were they in God's eyes that the family of Saul was destroyed for the wrong done to them. Where would you put them? Among the goats? But they were not slain, and they were avenged by the determination of God. Among the sheep? But holy Scripture says they were not of the same merit as the Israelites.

This site's exposition

the blood shed by Saul and his family

on 2 Samuel 21:1-2

The oath lies back in Joshua 9, where Israel swore to spare the Gibeonites though they had won the oath by deceit. Verse 2 calls them “a remnant of the Amorites”. Saul broke that oath in his zeal for Israel and Judah, an act told nowhere else in Scripture.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

And indeed that this was done, and Saul's seven sons hanged by David's order before that time, seems to be intimated by that passage, chap. xvi, 8, where he is charged with the blood of the house of Saul: for which there was not the least colour 'till this time.
Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year,....

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

There is no note of time whatever, nor any clue as to what part of David’s reign the events of this chapter ought to be assigned. Enquired of the Lord - Hebrew “sought the face of the Lord,” quite a different phrase from that so often used in Judges (e. g. Jdg 1:1) and the Books of Samuel, and probably indicating that this chapter is from a different source; an inference agreeing with the indefinite “in the days of David,” and with the allusion to the slaughter of the Gibeonites, which has not anywhere been narrated.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites--The sacred history has not recorded either the time or the reason of this massacre.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Then there was a famine - Of this famine we know nothing; it is not mentioned in any part of the history of David. Because he slew the Gibeonites - No such fact is mentioned in the life and transactions of Saul; nor is there any reference to it in any other part of Scripture.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On account of Shaul. On account of the sin regarding Shaul who was buried immediately and secretly as the men of Yovish Gilod stole his body and buried him. [Consequently] he was not eulogized with the respect due him.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Samuel 21:1:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

26 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיְהִ֣יand it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • רָעָב֩a famine

    raavH7458 →

  • בִּימֵ֨יin [the] days of

    bimeiH3117 →2304 times

  • דָוִ֜דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • שָׁלֹ֣שׁthree

    shaloshH7969 →432 times

  • שָׁנִ֗יםyears

    shanimH8141 →877 times

  • שָׁנָה֙year

    shanahH8141 →877 times

  • אַחֲרֵ֣יafter

    ʾachareiH310 →715 times

  • שָׁנָ֔הyear

    shanahH8141 →877 times

  • וַיְבַקֵּ֥שׁand he sought

    vayvakeshH1245 →225 times

  • דָּוִ֖דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • פְּנֵ֣י[the] face of

    peneiH6440 →2123 times

  • יְהוָ֑ה סYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָ֗הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֶל־because of

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • שָׁאוּל֙Saul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • וְאֶל־and because of

    veel-H413 →5510 times

  • בֵּ֣ית[the] house of

    beitH1004 →2046 times

  • הַדָּמִ֔ים<the> blood<s>

    hadamimH1818 →360 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־that

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • הֵמִ֖יתhe put to death

    hemitH4191 →839 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַגִּבְעֹנִֽים׃the Gibeonites

    hagivonimH1393 →7 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Haggai 1:6You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”7 worksJoshua 7:11–12Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions.6 worksExodus 20:5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,5 worksDeuteronomy 19:13You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you.4 worksExodus 33:7Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it at a distance outside the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting, and anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.3 worksPsalms 109:14May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.3 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Joshua 6:18But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster upon it.3 works2 Samuel 21:5And they answered the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us to exterminate us from existing within any border of Israel,3 works2 Samuel 24:13So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”3 worksGenesis 12:10Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.2 worksGenesis 26:1Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.2 works1 Chronicles 21:12between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the LORD—days of plague upon the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”2 works1 Chronicles 21:7This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He struck Israel.2 works2 Kings 4:38When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting at his feet, he said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and boil some stew for the sons of the prophets.”2 works2 Kings 8:1Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed a seven-year famine, and it has already come to the land.”2 worksHaggai 1:9You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.2 worksMicah 6:9The voice of the LORD calls out to the city (and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name): “Heed the rod and the One who ordained it.2 worksPsalms 26:9Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men of bloodshed,2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 91:15

    When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 33:3

      Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

    • Isaiah 65:24

      Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

    • Psalms 50:15

      Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

    • Psalms 138:7

      If I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me from the anger of my foes; You extend Your hand, and Your right hand saves me.

    • John 12:26

      If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

  • Through

    Genesis 26:1

    Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 12:10

      Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.

    • Genesis 25:11

      After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.

    • Genesis 21:22–32

      At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Samuel

Rizpah’s Kindness toward the Dead — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Rizpah’s Kindness toward the Dead — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 21 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Against Jovinianus 2.33; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.

Read on in 2 Samuel 21 →