Law of Moses — 2 Samuel 21:1-14

The Books of Samuel appear to have been written by Samuel’s School of the Prophets. It is not a dry chronology like the Chronicles, which was likely drawn from the royal archives. But typical of some Hebrew prophets, the writers assume their readers would have access to records, if not a direct memory, of pertinent historical events surrounding the prophetic message. Stuff gets left out of the narrative because the writers assume their readers already know all of the background.

First, a few reminders. The Gibeonites were the folks, living in several cities strung out along a wandering valley west of the Jerusalem area, who had deceived Joshua during the Conquest. They pretended to come from a distant land and wanted to make a submission treaty with Israel. Once made, the deception was found out. Too late; it was solemnly sworn before God without asking Him, and these Gibeonites were quite willing to pay whatever tribute was required by their new rulers. So they were placed under a rather substantial tribute of wood and water for use in Tabernacle worship. Don’t read too much into comments about this being “slavery” in any Western sense of the word; it was tribute to which they agreed in the first place.

That was roughly 400 years before David learns that a three-year drought and famine was because of violations of that treaty. So David asks them what he can do to set things right. Keep in mind that the Gibeonites did not convert; they were placed under the Covenant of Noah. If you review the terms noted in the narrative (Genesis 9:5-6), you’ll see that it calls for murderers to lose their lives. More to the point, they are to be executed on behalf of the victims. Given the Ancient Near Eastern cultural viewpoint, we already know that refers to blood feuds, in which the closest kin of the victims accept the lives of the perpetrators (or their closest kin) as the peace offering that the victims make to the Lord to declare the matter settled.

Anyone approaching this from a late Western point of view cannot fathom how God would honor that kind of feudal approach to things. But they refuse to understand that this kind of feudalism was designed and demanded by God. It’s written into the very fabric of Creation, which is why it comes wrapped in all this talk about blood speaking and Creation echoing. Blood for blood — and the community that stood to benefit from the crime is guilty as a whole. By rights, that community should be eager to clear their shalom from the blood guilt. See Numbers 35:33-34 about pollution of the land.

Saul had at some point in his reign killed some Gibeonites in violation of the treaty. Given what we know of Saul and his clan, with the notable exception of Jonathan, it was likely something to do with trying to seize Gibeonite land. That lovely valley was right on the edge of Benjamin’s tribal holdings, and wasn’t officially part of Judah’s just yet, since it was still occupied by Canaanites. It’s a good bet Saul killed a substantial number of them.

The Gibeonites were not in a vengeful mood, to be honest. They were suffering from the famine, as well. They didn’t want to take anything for themselves, and didn’t wish suffering on anyone. Knowing the terms of Noahic Law, since it was imposed on them as part of the treaty, they said it would require an Offering of Seven. This has flexible connotations, and is often some innocent animal lives, but this time it’s an issue that required human lives. It’s not tit-for-tat; it’s a matter of sacred execution rituals of sufficient number to answer very ancient traditions — to “seven” something (as a verb) in Semitic tongues was to make it sacred. The men didn’t have to be directly culpable; they stood to benefit from the crime. By Israeli custom and the Law of Moses, five of those men were not in line of Saul’s succession. They were grandsons-in-law, if you will. But by Noahic Law, it was good enough. David was scratching to find even those few.

The action of Rizpah was quite honorable. They were hung under Noah’s Law, so it’s different from what happens under Israel’s Covenant Law. Since the whole point of the sacrifice of these men was to move God to make it rain, she stood watch to keep the carcasses from being picked over and carried off by scavengers. Nobody was keeping her from taking them down, but she knew she had to wait until it did rain, to indicate God’s favor restored, when she was free to have them buried. Her action reminded David of some unfinished business, which apparently also contributed to the wrath they all faced. So David went and gathered the remains of Saul and Jonathan and performed the obligatory rituals (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).

These two actions together settled some old blood debts in order to cleanse the land. If we don’t understand how blood guilt can be inherited, we cannot understand how to avert the wrath of God. This is a covenant obligation that falls on both the individual in one way, and upon the covenant community in another way. It explains how the sin of Adam and Eve is imputed to the whole human race. It explains how the Blood of Christ cleanses us, because we are adopted into the family that paid the blood price.