2 Samuel 21:1

And a famine occurred, during the days of David, for three years continuously. And David consulted the oracle of the Lord. And the Lord said: “This is because of Saul, and his house of bloodshed. For he killed the Gibeonites.”

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

In Context

2Therefore, the king, calling for the Gibeonites, spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but were the remnant of the Amorites. And the sons of Israel had sworn an oath to them, but Saul wished to strike them in zeal, as if on behalf of the sons of Israel and Judah.

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Cross References

Genesis 26:1Then, when a famine arose over the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Palestinians, in Gerar.

Genesis 43:1Meanwhile, the famine pressed heavily on all the land.

Leviticus 26:26After this, I will have broken the staff of your bread, so that ten women bake bread in one oven, and distribute it by weight. And you shall eat and not be filled.

Joshua 7:1But the sons of Israel transgressed the commandment, and they usurped what was anathema. For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took something from what was anathema. And the Lord became angry against the sons of Israel.

Joshua 9:20But we shall do this to them: Certainly, let them be preserved so that they may live, lest the wrath of the Lord be stirred up against us, since we would have sworn falsely.

1 Samuel 10:22And after these things, they consulted the Lord as to whether he would soon arrive there. And the Lord responded, “Behold, he is hidden at home.”

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 21:1

The date of the events of this chapter is uncertain. I incline to think that they happened as they are here placed, after Absalom's and Sheba's rebellion, and towards the latter end of David's reign. That the battles with the Philistines, mentioned here, were long after the Philistines were subdued, appears by comparing 1 Chron. xviii. 1 with xx. 4 . The numbering of the people was just before the fixing of the place of the temple (as appears 1 Chron. xxii. 1 ), and that was towards the close of David's life; and,… Read the whole commentary →

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