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2 Samuel 21:12

in 2 Samuel 21

he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies after they had struck down Saul at Gilboa.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, in the day that the Philistines slew Saul in Gilboa;

KJV

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:

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This verse in 2 Samuel 21

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
And David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the men of Jabeshgilead,.... Which, according to Bunting (t), was fifty two miles from Jerusalem; though perhaps David did not go thither in person to fetch them, but by his messengers, see 2Sa 21:14, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa; the history of all which see in 1Sa 31:8. (t) Travels, &c. p. 122, 143.

This site's exposition

had slain Saul in Gilboa

on 2 Samuel 21:12-14

David finally does what Rizpah's vigil moved him to do, closing a debt owed since Saul's death: he sends for the bones the men of Jabesh-gilead had stolen from the wall of Beth-shan the night after Gilboa, an act of loyalty told in full at 1 Samuel 31:11-13. The bones of the seven who were hanged are gathered too, and all are buried together in the family tomb of Kish at Zelah, in Benjamin's own territory rather than left where the Gibeonites' justice had put them. Clarke notes David may have sent messengers rather than travel the distance himself, since Gill records the route at some fifty miles. The chapter's last clause closes the famine that opened it in one line, after that God was intreated for the land, the oath kept and the guilt answered.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Took the bones of Saul - The reader will recollect that the men of Jabesh-gilead burned the bodies of Saul and his sons, and buried the remaining bones under a tree at Jabesh. See 1Sa 31:12, 1Sa 31:13. These David might have digged up again, in order to bury them in the family sepulcher.
From the street of Beth-shan - This was the wide place just inside the gate of an Oriental city, bounded therefore by the city wall (compare the marginal reference). Here, as the place of concourse, the Philistines had fastened the bodies.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

He took Shaul's bones. He [Dovid] was told concerning them, "Because of Shaul" 20 Earlier in:1. who was not eulogized according to halachah.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Samuel 21:12:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
They gathered the bones. Of the seven people that were hung there. 21 In verse.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Samuel 21:13:1, 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

30 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.

  • וַיֵּ֣לֶךְand he went

    vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times

  • דָּוִ֗דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • וַיִּקַּ֞חand he took

    vaiyikachH3947 →966 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • עַצְמ֤וֹת[the] bones of

    atzmotH6106 →126 times

  • שָׁאוּל֙Saul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • עַצְמוֹת֙[the] bones of

    ʾatzmotH6106 →126 times

  • יְהוֹנָתָ֣ןJonathan

    yehonatanH3083 →81 times

  • בְּנ֔וֹson his

    benoH1121 →4930 times

  • מֵאֵ֕תfrom with

    meetH854 →929 times

  • בַּעֲלֵ֖י[the] citizens of

    baaleiH1167 →84 times

  • יָבֵ֣ישׁJabesh

    yaveishH3003 →24 times

  • גִּלְעָ֑דGilead

    giladH1568 →134 times

  • אֲשֶׁר֩who

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • גָּנְב֨וּthey had stolen

    ganevuH1589 →40 times

  • אֹתָ֜ם<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • מֵרְחֹ֣בfrom [the] open square of

    merechoH7339 →

  • בֵּֽית־Beth

    beit-H1052 →

  • שַׁ֗ןShan

    shanH1052 →

  • אֲשֶׁ֨רwhere

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • תְּלָא֥וּםthey had hung up them

    telumH8511 →

  • שָׁ֙מָּה֙there <towards>

    shamhH8033 →834 times

  • פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים[the] Philistines

    hapelishtimH6430 →287 times

  • בְּי֨וֹםon [the] day

    beyomH3117 →2304 times

  • הַכּ֧וֹתstruck down

    hakotH5221 →499 times

  • פְּלִשְׁתִּ֛ים[the] Philistines

    pelishtimH6430 →287 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • שָׁא֖וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • בַּגִּלְבֹּֽעַ׃on <the> Gilboa

    bagilboa'H1533 →8 times

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

Related verses

9 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.

Joshua 17:11Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.5 works1 Samuel 31:10–13They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.5 works1 Chronicles 10:1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.3 works1 Samuel 28:4The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.2 works2 Samuel 2:5–7So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead to tell them, “The LORD bless you, because you showed this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him.1 works2 Samuel 1:21O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.1 works
The other 3 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 Samuel 1:6“I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and the cavalry closing in on him.1 works1 Samuel 31:1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.1 works1 Chronicles 10:8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.0 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

    1 Samuel 28:4

    The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 31:1

      Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Joshua 19:18

      Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,

  • Through

    Joshua 17:11

    Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 7:29

      And along the borders of Manasseh were Beth-shean, Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor, together with their villages. The descendants of Joseph son of Israel lived in these towns.

    • Judges 5:19

      Kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver.

    • 2 Kings 9:27

      When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot Ahaziah in his chariot on the Ascent of Gur,…

    • Joshua 12:23

      the king of Dor in Naphath-dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one;

    • Judges 1:27

      At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 1:21

    O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 21:5

      They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields!

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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.

Read on in 2 Samuel 21 →