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2 Samuel 21:1-3
New Catholic Bible
2 Samuel 21:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Appendices[a]
Chapter 21
Gibeonite Vengeance.[b] 1 During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years. Therefore, David consulted the Lord, who said: “Saul and his family have incurred bloodguilt because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 Thereupon the king summoned the Gibeonites and conferred with them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites; rather they were a remnant of the Amorites. Although the Israelites had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to exterminate them in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)
3 David said to the Gibeonites: “What can I do for you? How shall I atone for our treatment of you so that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Samuel 21:1 A series of conjoined passages interrupts the history of the Davidic succession; the final act in this history will be found at the beginning of the First Book of Kings.
- 2 Samuel 21:1 In accordance with the idea then current, that every misfortune is a result of sin, the famine is attributed to an atrocity of Saul. The descendants of the guilty person must, therefore, be put to death. Perhaps David takes the occasion to rid himself of some rivals; the son of Jonathan is spared (see 2 Sam 9:1ff).
