Bible Strands
2 Samuel 21:2
At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal for Israel and Judah, Saul had sought to kill them.)
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David addresses the Gibeonites immediately after a three-year famine and a divine revelation attributing the crisis to Saul’s past violence against them.
The words — וַ/יִּקְרָ֥א (va/i.yik.Ra') translates to he summoned, and לֹ֣א (lo') means not, structuring the account of David’s official call and the Gibeonites’ non-Israelite status.
The thread — The narrative connects to Joshua 9:3 regarding their treaty origin, Genesis 15:16 on the delayed judgment of the Amorites, and 2 Samuel 21:1-3 which frames the famine and David’s inquiry.
Why it lands — The text records David acknowledging a historical breach of covenant and initiating formal restitution for a past king’s violence against a protected group, requiring readers to confront the long-term consequences of broken oaths.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)
Cross-references
- Joshua 9:3 But the people of Gibeon, having heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
- Genesis 15:16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
- Deuteronomy 7:16 You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
- 1 Samuel 14:44 And Saul declared, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if you, Jonathan, do not surely die!”
- 1 Samuel 15:8 He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword.
- 2 Kings 10:16 saying, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD!” So he had him ride in his chariot.
- 2 Kings 10:31 Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.
- Luke 9:54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”
- Romans 10:2 For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge.
- John 16:2 They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.