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 Living Translation (NLT)The king spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who was Saul’s grandson, because of the oath David and Jonathan had sworn before the Lord.

Context of 2 Samuel 21:7

5Then they answered the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel, 6let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us, and we will hang them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord chose.” And the king said, “I will give them.” 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. 8So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; 9and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the Lord. So they fell, all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

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 4:4Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.
• 2 Samuel 9:10You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son shall eat bread at my table always.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
• 2 Samuel 16:4So the king said to Ziba, “Here, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” And Ziba said, “I humbly bow before you, that I may find favor in your sight, my lord, O king!”
• 2 Samuel 19:25So it was, when he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”
• 1 Samuel 18:3Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
• 1 Samuel 20:8Therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. Nevertheless, if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”
• 1 Samuel 23:18So the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own 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

• 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