MPV Commentary

The Three Years' Famine for the Gibeonites Cease by Hanging

Seven of Saul's Sons.

1 The Lord answered, "It is for Saul and his family because he slaughtered the Gibeonites." This event was not recorded in sacred history, but some believe it occurred during Saul's attack on Nob (1 Samuel 22:19), where many Gibeonites may have resided as attendants of the priests. Others think it happened later, possibly to regain popularity after the atrocity.

2 In his zeal for Israel and Judah, Saul attempted to expel or destroy those whom Joshua had spared. His real motive seems to have been to seize their possessions, which would be forfeited to the crown (compare 1 Samuel 22:7). This action was a violation of a solemn oath and involved national guilt.

3 The famine that followed was a just retribution from God, as the Hebrews either assisted in the massacre or failed to prevent it. They neither made amends nor expressed horror at the deed. A prolonged chastisement might have been necessary to instill respect for the Gibeonite remnant that survived.

6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul. The practice among Hebrews and other Oriental nations was to slay first and then suspend the body on a gibbet. The king could not refuse this demand from the Gibeonites, who were exercising their right as blood-avengers. Although they had not claimed satisfaction earlier due to fear and weakness, now that David knew the cause of the calamity through an oracle, he felt it his duty to give them full satisfaction.

7 The king said, "I will give them." David was not motivated by a desire to eliminate rival claimants to the throne, as those delivered up were only collateral branches of Saul's family. Moreover, David was simply granting the Gibeonites' request as God had instructed him to do.

8 The five sons of Michal, daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel, were among those handed over. Merab, Michal's sister, was married to Adriel, but Michal adopted and cared for these boys.

9 They hanged them in the hill before the Lord. Deeming themselves exempt from Israel's criminal law (Deuteronomy 21:22-23), their intention was to let the bodies hang until God, appeased by this offering, would send rain upon the land. This practice of gibbeting men to appease the gods during famine was common among heathen nations. The Gibeonites, though familiar with the true God, were not entirely free from this superstition.

Rizpah's Kindness unto the Dead

10 Rizpah took sackcloth and spread it on a rock near the gibbets where her sons' bodies hung. She set up a tent nearby, where she and her servants kept watch day and night to scare away birds and beasts of prey from the exposed remains.