2 Samuel 21:7

2 Samuel 21:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the Lord’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
• New International Version (NIV)The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

Context of 2 Samuel 21:7

5They answered the king, ‘You know that Saul tried to destroy us. That man wanted to kill all of our family who were living in Israel. 6So we want you to give us seven of his male descendants. Then we will kill them. We will hang their bodies at the place where people worship the Lord in Gibeah. That was Saul's town, the man that the Lord had chosen to be king.’ The king said, ‘I will give them to you.’ The king did not give Jonathan's son Mephibosheth to them. He was kind to Mephibosheth because of David's promise to Jonathan, Saul's son. David had made that promise in the Lord's name. 8Instead, the king took Saul's two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth. Aiah's daughter Rizpah was their mother. He also took the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab. Adriel, the son of Barzillai from Meholath, was their father. 9He gave them to the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites hanged them on a hill where people worshipped the Lord. All seven of them died together. That happened at the time when the barley harvest was beginning.

2 Samuel 21:7 word by word

וַיַּחְמֹ֣ל הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ עַל־מְפִי־בֹ֖שֶׁת בֶּן־יְהוֹנָתָ֣ן בֶּן־שָׁא֑וּל עַל־שְׁבֻעַ֤ת יְהוָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בֵּֽינֹתָ֔ם בֵּ֣ין דָּוִ֔ד וּבֵ֖ין יְהוֹנָתָ֥ן בֶּן־שָׁאֽוּל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• But the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• sparedחָמַלchâmal · to spareH2550
• Mephiboshethמְפִיבֹשֶׁתmephîybôsheth mephibôsheth · MephiboshethH4648
• the sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• of Jonathanיְהוֹנָתָןyehônâthân · JonathanH3083
• of Saulשָׁאוּלshâ'ûl · SaulH7586
• because of the Lord’sיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• oathשְׁבוּעָהshebû‛âh · oathH7621
• between them, between Davidדָּוִדdâvid dâvîyd · DavidH1732

Cross-references for 2 Samuel 21:7

• 2 Samuel 4:4Saul's son Jonathan had a son called Mephibosheth. Since he was five years old he had not been able to walk. At that time someone had come from Jezreel to say that Saul and Jonathan had died. So Mephibosheth's nurse picked him up to escape with him. But as she ran in a hurry, he fell to the ground. It hurt his feet very badly.
• 2 Samuel 9:10You, your sons and your servants must work on the land for him. You must grow crops that will be food for your master's grandson to eat. But Mephibosheth will always be able to eat with me.’ Ziba himself had 15 sons and 20 servants.
• 2 Samuel 16:4Then the king said to Ziba, ‘Everything that Mephibosheth had will now belong to you.’ Ziba said, ‘Thank you, sir. I hope that you will always be pleased with me.’
• 2 Samuel 19:25When he arrived from Jerusalem to meet the king, David asked him, ‘Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?’
• 1 Samuel 18:3Jonathan made a special promise to be David's friend, because he loved David as much as he loved his own life.
• 1 Samuel 20:8Jonathan, please show that you love me. The Lord knows about the promise that you made, to be my friend. If I am guilty of a sin, please kill me yourself. Do not let your father kill me.’
• 1 Samuel 23:18Jonathan and David promised again in the Lord's name that they would be faithful friends of one another. Then Jonathan went to his home. David stayed at Horesh.

Commentaries on 2 Samuel 21:7

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7The Lord‘s oath - The calamity brought upon Israel by Saul‘s breach of the oath to the Gibeonites would make David doubly careful in the matter of his own oath to Jonathan.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7the oath: See 1 Samuel 20:14–15. Unlike Saul, David kept his promise even as he faced the dangerous consequences of Saul breaking an oath.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-92Sa 21:1-9. The Three Years' Famine for the Gibeonites Cease by Hanging Seven of Saul's Sons. 1. 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. Some think that they were sufferers in the atrocity perpetrated by Saul at Nob (1Sa 22:19), where many of them may have resided as attendants of the priests; while others suppose it…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Samuel 21:7

• Covenant
• David
• Gibeon
• Mephibosheth
• Oath
• Saul

In the dictionaries

• David
• Jonathan
• Saul
• Paul, Saul
• Gibeah
• Giants
• Heredity
• Mephibosheth
• Psalms, Book of
• Rizpah

Commentaries on 2 Samuel 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary