New English Translation
2 Samuel 21:7
7The king had mercy on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, in light of the Lord’s oath that had been taken between David and Jonathan son of Saul.
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 replied to the king, “As for this man who exterminated us and who schemed against us so that we were destroyed and left without status throughout all the borders of Israel – 6let seven of his male descendants be turned over to us, and we will execute them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was the Lord’s chosen one.” The king replied, “I will turn them over.” The king had mercy on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, in light of the Lord’s oath that had been taken between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 8So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah whom she had born to Saul, and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab whom she had born to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9He turned them over to the Gibeonites, and they executed them on a hill before the Lord. The seven of them died together; they were put to death during harvest time – during the first days of the beginning of the barley harvest.
Read all of 2 Samuel 212 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 4:4Now Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan arrived from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to get away, he fell and was injured. Mephibosheth was his name.
- 2 Samuel 9:10You will cultivate the land for him – you and your sons and your servants. You will bring its produce and it will be food for your master’s grandson to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will be a regular guest at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
- 2 Samuel 16:4The king said to Ziba, “Everything that was Mephibosheth’s now belongs to you.” Ziba replied, “I bow before you. May I find favor in your sight, my lord the king.”
- 2 Samuel 19:25When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why didn’t you go with me, Mephibosheth?”
- 1 Samuel 18:3Jonathan made a covenant with David, for he loved him as much as he did his own life.
- 1 Samuel 20:8You must be loyal to your servant, for you have made a covenant with your servant in the Lord’s name. If I am guilty, you yourself kill me! Why bother taking me to your father?”
- 1 Samuel 23:18When the two of them had made a covenant before the Lord, David stayed on at Horesh, but Jonathan went to his house.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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Commentaries