211 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years , year after year ; and David sought the presence of the Lord . And the Lord said , "It is for Saul and his bloody house , because e he put the Gibeonites to death ." 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites , and the sons of Israel made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah ). 3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites , "What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord ?" 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, " We have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house , nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel ." And he said , "I will do for you whatever you say ." 5 So they said to the king , " The man who consumed us and who planned to exterminate us from remaining within any border of Israel , 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul , the chosen of the Lord ." And the king said , "I will give them." 7 But the king spared Mephibosheth , the son of Jonathan the son of Saul , because of the oath of the Lord which was between them, between David and Saul's son Jonathan . 8 So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah , Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul , and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul , whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite . 9 Then he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites , and they hanged them in the mountain before the Lord , so that the seven of them fell together ; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at the beginning of barley harvest .
10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock , from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky ; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night . 11 When it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah , the concubine of Saul , had done , 12 then David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead e , who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan , where e the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa . 13 He brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there , and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged . 14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela , in the grave of Kish his father ; thus they did all that the king commanded , and after that God was moved by prayer for the land .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Samuel 21:1-14
Commentary on 2 Samuel 21:1-9
(Read 2 Samuel 21:1-9)
Every affliction arises from sin, and should lead us to repent and humble ourselves before God; but some troubles especially show that they are sent to bring sin to remembrance. God's judgments often look a great way back, which requires us to do so, when we are under his rebukes. It is not for us to object against the people's smarting for the sin of their king; perhaps they helped him. Nor against this generation suffering for the sin of the last. God often visits the sins of the fathers upon the children, and he gives no account of any matters. Time does not wear out the guilt of sin; nor can we build hopes of escape upon the delay of judgments. If we cannot understand all the reasons of Providence in this matter, still we have no right to demand that God should acquaint us with those reasons. It must be right, because it is the will of God, and in the end it will be proved to be so. Money is no satisfaction for blood. It should seem, Saul's posterity trod in his steps, for it is called a bloody house. It was the spirit of the family, therefore they are justly reckoned with for his sin, as well as for their own. The Gibeonites did not require this out of malice against Saul or his family. It was not to gratify any revenge, but for the public good. They were put to death at the beginning of harvest; they were thus sacrificed to turn away the wrath of Almighty God, who had withheld the harvest-mercies for some years past, and to obtain his favour in the present harvest. In vain do we expect mercy from God, unless we do justice upon our sins. Executions must not be thought cruel, which are for the public welfare.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 21:10-14
(Read 2 Samuel 21:10-14)
That a guilty land should enjoy many years of plenty, calls for gratitude; and we need not wonder misused abundance should be punished with scarcity; yet how few are disposed to ask of the Lord concerning the sinful cause, while numbers search for the second causes by which he is pleased to work! But the Lord will plead the cause of those who cannot or will not avenge themselves; and the prayers of the poor are of great power. When God sent rain to water the earth, these bodies were buried, for then it appeared that God was entreated for the land. When justice is done on earth, vengeance from heaven ceases. God is pacified, and is entreated for us through Christ, who was hanged on a tree, and so made a curse for us, to do away our guilt, though he was himself guiltless.