“And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)”
My Notes
What Does 2 Samuel 21:2 Mean?
"And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)" A famine hits Israel for three years, and David inquires of God. The answer: Saul violated the covenant with the Gibeonites — the treaty Joshua made centuries earlier (Joshua 9). Saul killed Gibeonites "in his zeal" for Israel, and the unpunished covenant-breaking has consequences that outlast Saul's life.
The narrator's parenthetical is crucial: the Gibeonites were Amorites protected by a covenant Israel swore to God. Saul's "zeal" — which probably looked patriotic and even godly — was actually covenant-violation. His attempt to purify Israel by eliminating foreigners violated a promise made before God. And God held Israel accountable even after the violator was dead.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What broken covenants from previous generations might be affecting your community today?
- 2.How does the idea that covenants outlive the people who made them change how you view your own promises?
- 3.When has 'zeal' for something good motivated you to violate a commitment you'd already made?
- 4.What blessings in your life might trace back to covenants kept by people who came before you?
Devotional
A three-year famine. David asks God why. And the answer reaches back decades: Saul broke a covenant with the Gibeonites. A promise Israel made centuries earlier — under Joshua, before the monarchy even existed — is still binding. And violating it still has consequences. Even after the person who broke it is dead.
Saul killed Gibeonites "in his zeal" for Israel. It probably looked righteous at the time. Foreigners living in Israelite territory — shouldn't we remove them? Isn't that what God wants? Clean out the non-Israelites? But God had a different assessment: Israel swore an oath to the Gibeonites. That oath was made before God. And breaking it — regardless of how pious the motivation — is a sin that brings famine on the entire nation.
This is terrifying because it means your generation can suffer for a broken covenant you didn't break. David didn't violate the Gibeonite treaty. Saul did. But the famine falls on David's people. Covenant obligations don't expire with the person who made them. They carry forward.
The flipside is also true: covenant blessings carry forward too. The oath to the Gibeonites was made centuries earlier and was still operative. The covenants God has made — with Abraham, with David, with you through Christ — are equally durable. If a broken covenant can produce consequences generations later, a kept covenant can produce blessings just as far-reaching.
Be careful what promises you make, and what promises you break. Both outlive you.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And the king called the Gibeonites,.... Sent messengers unto them, and summoned them to come to him:
and said unto…
The way in which the writer here refers to the history of the league with the Gibeonites Josh. 9 shows that the Book of…
The remnant of the Amorites - The Gibeonites were Hivites, not Amorites, as appears from Jos 11:19 : but Amorites is a…
Here I. Were are told of the injury which Saul had, long before this, done to the Gibeonites, which we had no account of…
the Amorites Amorites(highlanders) is here and elsewhere used as a general designation for the ancient inhabitants of…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture