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Complete Jewish Bible

2 Samuel 21:10

Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah took sackcloth, spread it out toward a cliff for herself and stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until water was poured out on the bodies from the sky, not letting the birds land on them during the day or the wild animals at night.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ajah;   David;   Parents;   Rizpah;   Thompson Chain Reference - Cares of Motherhood;   Family;   Home;   Love;   Maternal Love;   Motherhood, Cares of;   Mothers;   Parental;   Parents;   Women;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Night;   Sackcloth;   Water;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Mephibosheth;   Rizpah;   Easton Bible Dictionary - David;   Gibeah;   Harvest;   Mephibosheth;   Rizpah;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Barley;   David;   Rizpah;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Burial;   Court Systems;   Hanging;   Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Aiah;   Ancestor-Worship;   Bird;   Haggai;   Israel;   Rizpah;   Rock;   Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Tree ;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Aiah ;   Gibeonites ;   Mephibosheth ;   Rizpah ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Rizpah;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Mourning;   Rizpah;   Smith Bible Dictionary - A-I'ah;   Mourning;   Riz'pah,;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Aiah;   Burial;   Corpse;   Harvest;   Rizpah;   Salvation;   Samuel, Books of;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Burial and sepulchers;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Burial;   Rizpah;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Rizpah, Aiah’s daughter, took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock from the beginning of the harvest until the rain poured down from heaven on the bodies. She kept the birds of the sky from them by day and the wild animals by night.
Hebrew Names Version
Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah took sackcloth, and spread it for her on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day, nor the animals of the field by night.
King James Version
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.
Lexham English Bible
Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took the sackcloth, and she spread it for herself on the rock at the beginning of the harvest until water gushed forth on them from heaven, but she did not allow the birds of heaven to rest on them by day nor the animals of the field by night.
English Standard Version
Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.
New Century Version
Aiah's daughter Rizpah took the rough cloth that was worn to show sadness and put it on a rock for herself. She stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on her sons' bodies. During the day she did not let the birds of the sky touch her sons' bodies, and during the night she did not let the wild animals touch them.
New English Translation
Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on them, she did not allow the birds of the air to feed on them by day, nor the wild animals by night.
Amplified Bible
Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest [in the spring] until [the autumn] rain fell on them; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on their bodies by day, nor the beasts of the field [to feed on them] by night.
New American Standard Bible
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the wild animals by night.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah tooke sackecloth and hanged it vp for her vpon the rocke, from the beginning of haruest, vntill water dropped vpon them from the heauen, and suffered neither the birdes of the aire to light on the by day, nor beasts of the fielde by night.
Legacy Standard Bible
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.
Contemporary English Version
Rizpah spread out some sackcloth on a nearby rock. She wouldn't let the birds land on the bodies during the day, and she kept the wild animals away at night. She stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until it started to rain.
Darby Translation
Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water poured on them out of the heavens, and suffered neither the fowl of the heavens to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
Easy-to-Read Version
Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took a mourning cloth and put it on the rock. That cloth stayed on the rock from the time the harvest began until the rains came. Rizpah watched the bodies day and night. She protected them from the wild birds during the day and the wild animals at night.
George Lamsa Translation
And Rizpah the daughter of Aria took sackcloth and spread it under her upon the rock, from the beginning of the harvest until water dropped upon them from the heaven, and she did not let the birds of the air rest upon the bodies by day nor the wild beasts of the field by night.
Good News Translation
Then Saul's concubine Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, used sackcloth to make a shelter for herself on the rock where the corpses were, and she stayed there from the beginning of harvest until the autumn rains came. During the day she would keep the birds away from the corpses, and at night she would protect them from wild animals.
Literal Translation
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and stretched it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water poured on them out of the heavens. And she did not allow a bird of the heavens to rest on them byday nor the beast of the field by night.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then toke Rispa the doughter of Aia a sack cloth, & spred it vpon the rock in the begynnynge of the haruest, tyll the water from the heauen dropped vpo them, and suffred not the foules of the heauen to rest on them on the daye tyme, nether the wylde beestes of the felde on the nighte season.
American Standard Version
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured upon them from heaven; and she suffered neither the birds of the heavens to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
Bible in Basic English
And Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took haircloth, placing it on the rock as a bed for herself, from the start of the grain-cutting till rain came down on them from heaven; and she did not let the birds of the air come near them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Rispha the daughter of Aia, toke sackcloth, & hanged it vp for her vpon the rocke [euen] from the beginning of haruest, vntill water dropped vpon them out of heauen, & suffered neither the byrdes of the ayre to lyght on them by day, nor beastes of ye fielde by night.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured upon them from heaven; and she suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
King James Version (1611)
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah tooke sackecloth, and spread it for her vpon the rocke, from the beginning of haruest, vntill water dropped vpon them out of heauen, and suffered neither the birds of the aire to rest on them by day, nor the beastes of the fielde by night.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Respha the daughter of Aia took sackcloth, and fixed it for herself on the rock in the beginning of barley harvest, until water dropped upon them out of heaven: and she did not suffer the birds of the air to rest upon them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
English Revised Version
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured upon them from heaven; and she suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
Berean Standard Bible
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain from heaven poured down on the bodies, she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe Respha, douytir of Ahia, took an heire, and `araiede to hir silf a place aboue the stoon, fro the bigynnyng of heruest til watir droppide `on hem fro heuene; and sche suffride not briddis to tere hem bi dai, nether beestis bi nyyt.
Young's Literal Translation
And Rizpah daughter of Aiah taketh the sackcloth, and stretcheth it out for herself on the rock, from the commencement of harvest till water hath been poured out upon them from the heavens, and hath not suffered a fowl of the heavens to rest upon them by day, or the beast of the field by night.
Update Bible Version
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured on them from heaven; and she allowed neither the birds of the heavens to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
Webster's Bible Translation
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.
World English Bible
Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day, nor the animals of the field by night.
New King James Version
Now Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until the late rains poured on them from heaven. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.
New Living Translation
Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the mother of two of the men, spread burlap on a rock and stayed there the entire harvest season. She prevented the scavenger birds from tearing at their bodies during the day and stopped wild animals from eating them at night.
New Life Bible
Aiah's daughter Rizpah spread cloth made from hair on the rock for herself to lie upon, from the beginning of gathering time until the rain fell from the sky upon the bodies. She would not let the birds of the sky rest on them during the day, or the animals of the field during the night.
New Revised Standard
Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it on a rock for herself, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell on them from the heavens; she did not allow the birds of the air to come on the bodies by day, or the wild animals by night.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth, and spread it out for herself, on the rock, from the beginning of harvest, until water poured out upon them from the heavens, - and suffered neither the birds of the heavens to rest on them by day, nor the wild beasts of the field, to devour them by night.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Respha the daughter of Aia took haircloth, and spread it under her upon the rock from the beginning of the harvest, till water dropped upon them out of heaven: and suffered neither the birds to tear them by day, nor the beasts by night.
Revised Standard Version
Then Rizpah the daughter of Ai'ah took sackcloth, and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens; and she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.
THE MESSAGE
Rizpah daughter of Aiah took rough burlap and spread it out for herself on a rock from the beginning of the harvest until the heavy rains started. She kept the birds away from the bodies by day and the wild animals by night.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.

Contextual Overview

10 Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah took sackcloth, spread it out toward a cliff for herself and stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until water was poured out on the bodies from the sky, not letting the birds land on them during the day or the wild animals at night. 11 David was told what Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah, the concubine of Sha'ul, had done. 12 So David went and took the bones of Sha'ul and the bones of Y'honatan his son from the men of Yavesh-Gil‘ad, who had stolen them from the open square of Beit-Sh'an, where the P'lishtim had hanged them at the time the P'lishtim had killed Sha'ul at Gilboa; 13 and he brought up from there the bones of Sha'ul and the bones of Y'honatan his son. They also gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Sha'ul and Y'honatan his son in the territory of Binyamin in Tzela, in the tomb of Kish his father; they did everything the king ordered. Only after that was God prevailed on to show mercy to the land.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Rizpah: 2 Samuel 21:8, 2 Samuel 3:7

took sackcloth: 1 Kings 21:27, Joel 1:18

from the: 2 Samuel 21:9, Deuteronomy 21:13

until water: Some suppose that this means a providential supply of rain, in order to remove the famine; but from the manner in which it is introduced, it seems to denote the autumnal rains, which commence about October. For five months did this broken-hearted woman watch by the bodies of her sons! Deuteronomy 11:14, 1 Kings 18:41-45, Jeremiah 5:24, Jeremiah 5:25, Jeremiah 14:22, Hosea 6:3, Joel 2:23, Zechariah 10:1

the birds: Genesis 40:19, Ezekiel 39:4

Reciprocal: Job 37:13 - for mercy Proverbs 30:17 - the ravens

Cross-References

Genesis 17:19
God answered, "No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you are to call him Yitz'chak [laughter]. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
Genesis 17:21
But I will establish my covenant with Yitz'chak, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year."
Genesis 20:11
Avraham replied, "It was because I thought, ‘There could not possibly be any fear of God in this place, so they will kill me in order to get my wife.'
Genesis 21:6
Sarah said, "God has given me good reason to laugh; now everyone who hears about it will laugh with me."
Genesis 21:7
And she said, "Who would have said to Avraham that Sarah would nurse children? Nevertheless, I have borne him a son in his old age!"
Genesis 21:11
Avraham became very distressed over this matter of his son.
Genesis 21:12
But God said to Avraham, "Don't be distressed because of the boy and your slave-girl. Listen to everything Sarah says to you, because it is your descendants through Yitz'chak who will be counted.
Genesis 21:22
(vi) At that time Avimelekh and Pikhol the commander of his army spoke to Avraham. They said, "God is with you in everything you do.
Genesis 21:31
This is why that place was called Be'er-Sheva [well of seven, well of an oath] — because they both swore an oath there.
Genesis 22:10
Then Avraham put out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 began, to the seventeenth of Marchesvan, when the former rain fell; that is, from the beginning of April to the beginning of October: but it is not likely that she continued so long watching the bodies, nor would there be any need of it to keep the birds and beasts from them; for after they had hung so many months, there would be nothing left for them; but rather the meaning is, that she continued there until it pleased God to send rain from heaven, which had been restrained, and a famine came upon it, because of the ill usage of the Gibeonites: and very probably the order from the king was, that the bodies should hang till rain came, that it might be observed what was the reason of their suffering; and no doubt Rizpah sat there praying that rain might come, and which, as Abarbinel thinks, came in a few days after, though not usual in summertime; but this was an extraordinary case, as in 1 Samuel 12:17; and was done to show the Lord was entreated for the land; and so Josephus says o, that upon the hanging up of these men, God caused it to rain immediately, and restored the earth to its former fruitfulness. According to the law in

Deuteronomy 21:22, the bodies should have been taken down and buried the same day: but these men suffered not for their own personal, sins, but for the sins of others, and to avert a public calamity, and therefore must hang till that was removed; nor were they executed by men bound by that law; and besides their continuing on the tree was according to the will of God, till he was entreated, who could dispense with this law; to which may be added, the ceremonial and judicial laws, of which this was one, gave place to those of a moral nature p, as this did to that of sanctifying the name of God in a public manner; hence the saying of one of the Rabbins upon this q, which is by many wrongly expressed,

"it is better that one letter should be rooted out of the law, than that the name of God should not be sanctified openly;''

that is, a lesser precept give way to a greater, or a ceremonial precept to a moral one, such as the sanctification of the name of God is:

and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day; as it is usual for crows r and ravens, and such sort of birds, to light on bodies thus hung up, and pick their flesh:

nor the beasts of the field by night; for it seems it was usual to make the gibbets, and so in some other nations the crosses, so low, that wild beasts could easily come at the bodies and devour them; so Blandina was hung upon a tree so low, that she might be exposed to the wild beasts to feed upon her, but not one of them would touch her body s; now Rizpah, by her servants, had ways and means to frighten away the birds, and beasts from doing any injury to the carcasses.

n Bemidbar Rabba, fol. 190. 1. o Antiqu. l. 7. c. 12. sect. 1. p See Stillingfleet's Origines Sacr. p. 140. q T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 79. 1. r "---- non pasces in cruce corvos", Horat. Epist, l. 1. Epist. 16. ver. 48. s Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 5. c. 1. Vid. Lipsium de Cruce, l. 3. c. 11. & l. 3. c. 13.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Dropped - Rather, “poured,” the proper word for heavy rain Exodus 9:33. The “early rain,” or heavy rain of autumn, usually began in October, so that Rizpah’s devoted watch continued about six months. How rare rain was in harvest we learn from 1 Samuel 12:17-18; Proverbs 26:1. The reason of the bodies being left unburied, contrary to Deuteronomy 21:23, probably was that the death of these men being an expiation of the guilt of a violated oath, they were to remain until the fall of rain should give the assurance that God’s anger was appeased, and the national sin forgiven.

Birds of the air ... beasts of the field - It is well known how in the East, on the death e. g. of a camel in a caravan, the vultures instantly flock to the carcass. (Compare Matthew 24:28.)

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 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 humiliation of the people.

Until water dropped upon them — Until the time of the autumnal rains, which in that country commence about October. Is it possible that this poor broken-hearted woman could have endured the fatigue, (and probably in the open air,) of watching these bodies for more than five months? Some think that the rain dropping on them out of heaven means the removal of the famine which was occasioned by drought, by now sending rain, which might have been shortly after these men were hanged; but this by no means agrees with the manner in which the account is introduced: "They were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest. And Rizpah - took sackcloth, and spread it for her on the rock, from the beginning of harvest, until water dropped upon them out of heaven." No casual or immediately providential rain can be here intended; the reference must be to the periodical rains above mentioned.


 
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