2 Samuel 21:10

And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Rizpah	רִצְפָּה֩ ritz.Pah	H7532	Ritspah · proper noun, a woman's name
daughter	בַת vat-	H1323	a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · noun, common feminine singular construct
Aiah	אַיָּ֨ה 'ai.Yah	H345	Ajah · proper noun, a man's name
took	וַתִּקַּ֣ח va.ti.Kach	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
sackcloth	הַשַּׂ֜ק ha.Sak	H8242	properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
spread	וַתַּטֵּ֨הוּ va.ta.Te.hu	H5186	to stretch or spread out · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
rock	הַצּוּר֙ ha.Tzur	H6697	properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
beginning	מִתְּחִלַּ֣ת mi.te.chi.Lat	H8462	a commencement · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
harvest	קָצִ֔יר ka.Tzir	H7105	severed · noun, common masculine singular absolute
water	מַ֥יִם Ma.yim	H4325	water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
dropped	נִתַּךְ ni.takh-	H5413	to flow forth (literally or figuratively) · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
heaven	הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם ha.sha.Ma.yim	H8064	the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
suffered	נָתְנָה֩ na.te.Nah	H5414	to give · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
birds	ע֨וֹף of	H5775	a bird (as covered with feathers · noun, common masculine singular construct
air	הַשָּׁמַ֜יִם ha.sha.Ma.yim	H8064	the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
rest	לָנ֤וּחַ la.Nu.ach	H5117	to rest · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
day	יוֹמָ֔ם yo.Mam	H3119	daily · adverb
beasts	חַיַּ֥ת chai.Yat	H2416	alive · noun, common feminine singular construct
field	הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה ha.sa.Deh	H7704	a field (as flat) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
night	לָֽיְלָה La.ye.lah	H3915	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 21:23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;)…
2 Samuel 3:7 And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my fa…
1 Kings 18:41-45 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.
1 Kings 21:27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackclo…
Joel 2:23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to…
Zechariah 10:1 Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one gr…
Deuteronomy 11:14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and t…
Deuteronomy 21:13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full mo…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 21:10-14

Here we have, I. Saul's sons not only hanged, but hanged in chains, their dead bodies left hanging, and exposed, till the judgment ceased, which their death was to turn away, by the sending of rain upon the land. They died as sacrifices, and thus they were, in a manner, offered up, not consumed all at once by fire, but gradually by the air. They died as anathemas, and by this ignominious usage they were represented as execrable, because iniquity was laid upon them. When our blessed Saviour was made sin for us he was made a curse for us. But how shall we reconcile this with the law which expressly required that those who were hanged should be buried on the same day? Deu 21:23. One of the Jewi…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 21:10

RIZPAH'S KINDNESS UNTO THE DEAD. (Sa2 21:10-11) Rizpah . . . took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock--She erected a tent near the spot, in which she and her servants kept watch, as the relatives of executed persons were wont to do, day and night, to scare the birds and beasts of prey away from the remains exposed on the low-standing gibbets.

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 21:10

Rizpah - took sackcloth - Who can read the account of Rizpah's maternal affection for her sons that were now hanged, without feeling his mind deeply impressed with sorrows? Did God require this sacrifice of Saul's sons, probably all innocent of the alleged crime of their father? Was there no other method of averting the Divine displeasure? Was the requisition of the Gibeonites to have Saul's sons sacrificed to God, to be considered as an oracle of God? Certainly not; God will not have man's blood for sacrifice, no more than he will have swine's blood. The famine might have been removed, and the land properly purged, by offering the sacrifices prescribed by the law, and by a general humiliati…

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John Gill on 2 Samuel 21:10

And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth,.... Both as a token of mourning for her sons, and as fittest to defend from the weather, the heat by day of cold by night: and spread it for her upon the rock; the hill on which her sons were hanged; this she spread as a canopy or tent to sit under, and be covered with it; not to cover the bodies with it, but herself, and where she sat to mourn the loss of her sons, and to watch their bodies, that they might not be devoured by birds and breasts of prey, as after observed: and here she sat from the beginning of harvest until water dropped on them out of heaven; that is, as the Jews say (n), from the sixteenth of Nisan, when barley harvest bega…

Dictionary and topics

Aiah — (clamor).
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Gibeah — A hill or hill-town, “of Benjamin” (1 Sam. 13:15), better known as “Gibeah of Saul” (11:4; Isa. 10:29). It was here that the terrible outrage was committed on the Levite’s concubine which led to the…
Harvest — The season for gathering grain or fruit. On the 16th day of Abib (or April) a handful of ripe ears of corn was offered as a first-fruit before the Lord, and immediately after this the harvest…
Mephibosheth — Exterminator of shame; i.e., of idols. (1.) The name of Saul’s son by the concubine Rizpah (q.v.), the daughter of Aiah. He and his brother Armoni were with five others “hanged on a hill before the…
Mourning — One marked feature of Oriental mourning is what may be called its studies publicity and the careful observance of the prescribed ceremonies. (Genesis 23:2; Job 1:20; 2:12)
Rizpah — Coal; hot stone, the daughter of Aiah, and one of Saul’s concubines. She was the mother of Armoni and Mephibosheth (2 Sam. 3:7; 21:8, 10, 11). It happened that a grievous famine, which lasted for…
Ajah · 2. Father of Rizpah — 2. Father of Rizpah
Night · Wild beasts go forth in search of prey during — Wild beasts go forth in search of prey during
Parents · .Rizpah — .Rizpah
Rizpah · of David — of David
Sabbath, The · The Jews lay in, when in deep affliction

2 Samuel 21:10

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 21:10-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 21:10

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 21:10

John Gill on 2 Samuel 21:10

Dictionary and topics

2 Samuel 21:10

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 21:10-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 21:10

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 21:10

John Gill on 2 Samuel 21:10

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 21:1-14

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 21:10

Rashi on 2 Samuel 21:10