2 Samuel 21:10

2 Samuel 21:10 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until the late rains poured on them from heaven. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the mother of two of the men, spread burlap on a rock and stayed there the entire harvest season. She prevented the scavenger birds from tearing at their bodies during the day and stopped wild animals from eating them at night.

Context of 2 Samuel 21:10

8But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the Lord. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning. Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night. 11When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, 12he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.)

2 Samuel 21:10 word by word

וַתִּקַּ֣ח רִצְפָּה֩ בַת־אַיָּ֨ה אֶת־הַשַּׂ֜ק וַתַּטֵּ֨הוּ לָ֤הּ אֶל־הַצּוּר֙ מִתְּחִלַּ֣ת קָצִ֔יר עַ֛ד נִתַּךְ־מַ֥יִם עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם מִן־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְלֹֽא־נָתְנָה֩ ע֨וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֜יִם לָנ֤וּחַ עֲלֵיהֶם֙ יוֹמָ֔ם וְאֶת־חַיַּ֥ת הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה לָֽיְלָה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Rizpahרִצְפָּהritspâh · RizpahH7532
• the daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• of Aiahאַיָּה'ayâh · AiahH345
• tookלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• sackclothשַׂקώaq · sackclothH8242
• and spreadנָטָהnâţâh · to stretchH5186
• it for her upon the rockצוּרtsûr tsûr · rockH6697
• from the beginningתְּחִלָּהtechillâh · beginningH8462
• of harvestקָצִירqâtsîyr · harvestH7105
• until waterמַיmayim · waterH4325
• droppedנָתַךְnâthak · to pourH5413
• upon them out of heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
• and sufferedנָתַןnâthan · to give: allowH5414
• neither the birdsעוֹף‛ôph · birdH5775
• to restנוּחַnûach · to restH5117
• on them by dayיוֹמָםyômâm · by dayH3119
• nor the beastsחַיָּהchay · living thingH2416
• of the fieldשָׂדֶהώâdeh ώâday · land: countryH7704
• by nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915

Cross-references for 2 Samuel 21:10

• 2 Samuel 20:8While they were at the great rock in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was wearing his military tunic, and strapped over it at his waist was a belt with a dagger in its sheath. As he stepped forward, it dropped out of its sheath.
• 2 Samuel 3:7Now Saul had had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah. And Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”
• 1 Kings 21:27When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.
• Joel 1:18How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
• 2 Samuel 20:9Joab said to Amasa, “How are you, my brother?” Then Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.
• Deuteronomy 21:13and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.
• Deuteronomy 11:14then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.
• 1 Kings 18:41And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”
• Jeremiah 5:24They do not say to themselves, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’
• Jeremiah 14:22Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, Lord our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.
• Hosea 6:3Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
• Joel 2:23Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
• Zechariah 10:1Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.
• Genesis 40:19Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.”
• Ezekiel 39:4On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals.

Commentaries on 2 Samuel 21:10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10Rizpah - took sackcloth - Who can read the account of Rizpah's maternal affection for her sons that were now hanged, without feeling his mind deeply impressed with sorrows? Did God require this sacrifice of Saul's sons, probably all innocent of the alleged crime of their father? Was there no other method of averting the Divine displeasure? Was the requisition of the Gibeonites to have Saul's sons sacrificed to God, to be considered as an oracle of God?…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10Dropped - Rather, “poured,” the proper word for heavy rain Exodus 9:33. The “early rain,” or heavy rain of autumn, usually began in October, so that Rizpah‘s devoted watch continued about six months. How rare rain was in harvest we learn from 1 Samuel 12:17-18; Proverbs 26:1. The reason of the bodies being left unburied, contrary to Deuteronomy 21:23, probably was that the death of these men being an expiation of the guilt of a violated oath, they were to…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-14Verses 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 10The Gibeonites were not Israelites (2 Samuel 21:2), so they did not follow the Israelite law in Deuteronomy 21:22–23 about quickly and properly burying a criminal. Rizpah wanted to prevent her sons from being further shamed after their death.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1010. Rizpah ... took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock--She erected a tent near the spot, in which she and her servants kept watch, as the relatives of executed persons were wont to do, day and night, to scare the birds and beasts of prey away from the remains exposed on the low-standing gibbets. 2Sa 21:12-22. David Buries the Bones of Saul and Jonathan in Their Father's Sepulcher.Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Samuel 21:10

• Ajah
• David
• Parents
• Rizpah

In the dictionaries

• David
• Gibeah
• Harvest
• Mephibosheth
• Rizpah
• Aiah
• Burial
• Corpse
• Giants
• Psalms, Book of

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