2 Samuel 21:22

15-22 These events seem to have taken place towards the end of David's reign. David fainted, but he did not flee, and God sent help in the time of need. In spiritual conflicts, even strong saints sometimes wax faint; then Satan attacks them furiously; but those who stand their ground and resist him, shall be relieved and made more than conquerors. Death is a Christian's last enemy, and a son of Anak; but through Him that triumphed for us, believers shall be more than conquerors at last, even over that enemy....

FOUR - Not necessarily meaning that they were brothers, but that they were all of the race of the Giant, all Rephaim. The word “four” is omitted in the parallel passage, only the three last being mentioned in that chapter....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 21:1 THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE DAYS OF DAVID; Hebrew, _and there was. _There is an entire absence of any mark of time to show in what part of David's reign this famine took place. It does not even follow, from the mention of Mephibosheth's name, that it must have happened at a time subsequent to the sending for that prince from Machir's house; for it may have been the search after the descendants of Saul which made David remember the son of his old friend. The burial, however, of the bones of Saul and Jonathan as an act of respect to the slaughtered king makes it probable that the narrative belongs to the early part of David's reign, as also does the apparent fact that the seven victims were all young and unmarried. Mephibosheth, we read, had a young son when David sent for him. Now, he was five years old whe

THESE FOUR WERE BORN TO THE GIANT IN GATH,.... Not to Goliath, for one of them was his brother, but to some giant or another of that place, for which it was famous; they were all of them of the race of the giants; and so the Septuagint version, they were "the offspring of the giants in Gath, whose family was Repha;'' and this Repha, or Arepha, as the Vulgate Latin version, according to Abarbinel, was a woman of the daughters of the giants; the Talmudists e make her to be the same with Orpah, Ruth 1:4. These giants, it is highly probable, were the descendants of the Anakim which remained in Gath after they were cut off by Joshua in other places, Joshua 11:22; AND FELL BY THE HAND OF DAVID, AND BY THE HAND OF HIS SERVANTS; the first, Ishbibenob, fell by the hand of David assi

IV. THE APPENDIX TO THE HISTORY OF DAVID 1. The Famines and the Wars with the Philistines CHAPTER 21 _ 1. The Famine and the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21:1)_ 2. The Wars with the Philistines (2 Samuel 21:15) The fourth section of the second book of Samuel is an appendix to the history of David. When the great famine happened in the days of David we do not know. After the famine had returned year after year, for three years, David inquired of the Lord. Why did he not inquire in the first year? It is an evidence of the low spiritual state which prevailed at that time. The answer which David received revealed the cause of the judgment which rested upon the land. It was Saul and the blood-guilt in having slain the Gibeonites. The story of the Gibeonites is recorded in...

DAVID'S HEROES (first section). _Cf._ above. (J). These verses are probably from the same source as 2 Samuel 23:8 ff., and the source is no doubt ancient. The events in 2 Samuel 21:15 ff. and 2 Samuel 23:8 ff. belong to various periods in the life of David. 2 SAMUEL 21:15. ABISHAI RESCUES DAVID. The text of 2 Samuel 21:16 is corrupt; the general sense seems to have been: At Gob, some place otherwise unknown, David was in danger from a giant whose name has been lost through corruption of the text....

Heroic exploits in the Philistine wars This section is quite unconnected with the preceding narrative. It is perhaps a fragment from some "book of golden deeds" recording the exploits of David and his warriors. From such a chronicle may also be derived ch. 2 Samuel 23:8-39, possibly ch. 2 Samuel 5:17-25, and some other sections of the book. 2 Samuel 21:18 are also preserved in Chronicles, where they are placed immediately after the capture of Rabbah (1 Chronicles 20:4-8)....

_Battles With the Philistines._ 2 Samuel 21:15-22 15 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint. 16 And Ishbi-benob, which _was_ of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear _weighed_ three hundred _shekels_ of brass in weight, he being girded with a new _sword,_ thought to have slain David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel. 18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which _was_ of the sons of the giant. 19 And there was again a bat

THE FAMINE AND SOME EXPLOITS AGAINST THE PHILISTINES 1. _It is_ FOR SAUL, AND FOR _his_ BLOODY HOUSE] rather, 'upon Saul and his house rests bloodshed.' THE GIBEONITES] The lives of the Gibeonites had been spared, through fear of God's anger being excited by any breach of the covenant made with them (Joshua 9, especially Joshua 9:20)....

DAVID, THE GREAT KING OF ISRAEL 2 SAMUEL _HELEN POCOCK_ CHAPTER 21 THE *GIBEONITES PUNISH SAUL’S FAMILY V1 For three years while David was king, the people did not have enough to eat. So David prayed to the *Lord. The *Lord said, ‘This has happened because Saul and his family are murderers. They killed the *Gibeonites.’ V2 (The *Gibeonites were not *Israelites. The *Gibeonites were a small group that remained from the people called Amorites. The *Israelites had promised to protect them but Saul tried to destroy them. Saul had been too eager to help the people of *Israel and *Judah.) So, the king called the *Gibeonites together and he spoke to them. V3 He asked, ‘What can I do for you? I want to make matters right. Then you can *bless the *Lord’s people.’...