2 Samuel 21

This is one of the really strange stories of the Bible.

Basically, at a unstated time during David's reign, there is a 3 year drought. The reason for the drought was because Saul killed the Gibeonites after the people of Israel had sworn not to kill them. (remember the people who tricked Joshua into sparing their cities? They said they were from far away, but they were Canaanites)

David asks them what they want for justice. They want to execute 7 of Saul's descendants. David hands over 7 of Saul's descendants, but not Mephibosheth. They execute all 7 and the drought lifts.

This story is disturbing for several reasons. First, the Mosaic code prohibited punishing children for the sins of their parents. Second, David swore an oath to Saul to protect Saul's children when David became king. Third, God seems to implicitly honor these executed people by lifting the drought, which has some implication of human sacrifice.

I am not entirely sure how to balance all this. The story has political undercurrents because David's legitimacy is secured by removing Saul's bloodline. It also seems odd because we do not live in a vengeance culture. Further, since there is no statement by God after the initial one about the drought, we should be cautious and not speculate too much about God's role in this. The story unfolds with David and the Gibeonites making decisions on their own, however bizarre they are.

That said, we should definitely take away that God was displeased that Saul dishonored the peace treaty with the Gibeonites.

The rest of the chapter has a few anecdotes about wars with the Philistines and the giants of Gath being slain, including the brother of Goliath. This is interesting because David lived in Gath while running from Saul and he also had some Gath allies within his army when he fought with Absalom. So, it is interesting that here we have people of Gath fighting David again. The same stories are also covered in 1 chronicles 20:4-8.