Why this story matters
(commentary on 2 Samuel 21)
(Page 1 of 3)
Introduction
Christians today would probably scoff at primitive people who believed that disasters, like famines, were caused by angry gods. And they would rightly be disturbed at the idea that a god's anger would be appeased by putting human beings to death. They would likely deny that the Hebrew tribe believed the same things about their god, Yahweh. Yet, the Bible tells us that this was indeed the case. According to the book of 2nd Samuel, Yahweh caused a famine because he was angry. He only brought an end to the famine after seven of the king's sons and grandsons had been put to death before him at harvest time. Although most preachers are not willing to use the phrase human sacrifice when speaking about this incident, there’s really too much evidence to escape it, as we shall see.
The reason for the famine
During King David’s reign there was a terrible famine that lasted a full three years. By the end of the third year, David suspects that it was brought by Yahweh and asks him directly why he is punishing the people. Without hesitation, and as if they're in an every day conversation, Yahweh explains that it is due to the actions of King Saul, who ruled before David. Saul had angered Yahweh by killing some people from the town of Gibeah: "And the LORD said, 'It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death'" (2 Samuel 21: 1). It's not known when Saul did this because the event is not recorded anywhere in the Bible. What we are told is that Saul broke a treaty that Israel had with Gibeah. The treaty was not signed by Saul, though. It was signed by Joshua, and he was tricked into signing it by the Gibeonites (Joshua 9). Nevertheless, Joshua had sworn an oath in the Lord's name, and he refused to kill any Gibeonites. When Saul came to power, he did not honor the treaty.
After hearing the reason for Yahweh's anger, David summons the Gibeonite leaders to see what he can do to make amends. The Gibeonites say they want seven of Saul’s descendents so that they can kill them and hang them up before Yahweh: “let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and exposed before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul” (2 Sam. 21:6).
David hands over Saul's descendents
David obliges. He gives them two of Saul’s sons, but he also gives them five of his grandsons. Saul's two sons are named Armoni and Mephibosheth. They are the children of Saul’s mistress, Rizpah. The five grandsons are the children of Saul’s daughter Merab. Merab was at one time betrothed to King David but she ended up marrying a man called Adriel instead. Merab and Adriel's sons would obviously have been of varying ages with the youngest possibly being quite young. The Bible doesn’t tell us how Merab and Adriel felt about their five sons being taken away to be sacrificed to Yahweh but, as any mother or father will tell you, it would have been utterly devastating. Of course, on the rare occasions this story is used for a Sunday sermon, details like this are usually left out. But it would be hard to deny the extent of their heartache.
Next, we're told that the Gibeonites, “killed and exposed them on a hill before the LORD” (2 Sam. 21:9). The phrase “before the Lord” is highly significant. In the book, The David Story, Robert Alter, professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley, explains, “‘Before the Lord’ is an explicit indication of the sacrificial nature of the killings" (W.W. Norton & Co, 2000, p.331). We're not told how the seven people were killed. Some texts say they were hung, while others say they were killed and then “exposed”. Some commentators even believe they were crucified.
We may not know how they were killed, but we do know when. They were killed at the start of the barley harvest: “they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning” (1 Sam. 21:9). The barley harvest was also known as the festival of first fruits, because barley was the first to ripen. This occurred in the spring just after Passover. Matthew Henry, in his commentary, notes the significance of the timing: “They were put to death at the beginning of harvest; they were thus sacrificed to turn away the wrath of Almighty God, who had withheld the harvest-mercies for some years past, and to obtain his favour in the present harvest.” As Henry confirms, then, they were "sacrificed" to obtain God's favour.
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