Armoni and Mephibosheth [1] are named in the Hebrew Bible as the two sons of Saul by his concubine Rizpah, daughter of Aiah. [2] After Saul's death, they were killed in revenge for his violence against the Gibeonites.
Armoni and Mephibosheth [1] are named in the Hebrew Bible as the two sons of Saul by his concubine Rizpah, daughter of Aiah. [2] After Saul's death, they were killed in revenge for his violence against the Gibeonites.
Their deaths are described in the Second Book of Samuel, chapter 21. It describes how Israel suffered a three-year famine, which was thought to have happened because Saul had earlier wronged the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites told King David that nothing would now compensate them but the death of seven of Saul's sons (2 Samuel 21:1–6). David accordingly handed them Armoni, Mephibosheth [the son of Saul, not to be confused with Mephibosheth, who was the son of Jonathan], and five of Saul's grandsons (the sons of Merab and Adriel).
The Gibeonites killed all seven, and hung up their bodies at the sanctuary at Gibeah (2 Samuel 21:8–9). For five months their bodies were hung out in the elements, and the grieving Rizpah guarded them from being eaten by the beasts and birds of prey (2 Samuel 21:10). Finally, David had the bodies taken down and buried in the family grave at Zelah with the remains of Saul and their half-brother Jonathan. (2 Samuel 21:13–14).
The Book of Samuel is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books that constitute a theological history of the Israelites and that aim to explain God's law for Israel under the guidance of the prophets.
Saul was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BC, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tribal society ruled by various judges to organized statehood.
Adriel was a person mentioned in the Bible. Adriel was a nobleman in the ancient kingdom of Israel.
Ahimelech was an Israeli priest and served as the grand priest of the town of Nob. In the Book of Samuel, he was described as the son of Ahitub and father of Abiathar, but described as the son of Abiathar in 2 Samuel 8:17 and in four places in 1 Chronicles. He descended from Aaron's son Ithamar and the High Priest of Israel Eli. In 1 Chronicles 18:16 his name is Abimelech according to the Masoretic Text, and is probably the same as Ahiah.
Amalek is described in the Hebrew Bible as the enemy nation of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the descendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esau, or anyone who lived in their territories in Canaan.
Rizpah was the daughter of Aiah, and one of Saul's concubines. She was the mother of Armoni and Mephibosheth.
Gibeon was a Canaanite and later an Israelite city, which was located north of Jerusalem. According to Joshua 11:19, the pre-Israelite-conquest inhabitants, the Gibeonites, were Hivites; according to 2 Samuel 21:2, they were Amorites. The remains of Gibeon are located in the southern portion of the Palestinian village of al-Jib.
Ish-bosheth, also called Eshbaal was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second monarch of the Kingdom of Israel. After the death of his father, Saul, Ish-bosheth ascended to the throne and reigned for two years.
Jabesh-Gilead, sometimes shortened to Jabesh, was an ancient Israelite town in Gilead, in northwest Jordan. Jabesh is mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible primarily in connection with King Saul's battles against the Ammonites and Philistines.
David and Jonathan were, according to the Hebrew Bible's Books of Samuel, heroic figures of the Kingdom of Israel, who formed a covenant, taking a mutual oath.
Mephibosheth, or Miphibosheth, was the son of Jonathan—and, thus, a grandson of Saul—mentioned in the Biblical Books of Samuel and Chronicles.
Lo-debar was a town in the Old Testament in Gilead not far from Mahanaim, north of the Jabbok river in ancient Israel. It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the home of Machir, a contemporary of David..
Jonathan is a figure in the Book of Samuel of the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, he is the eldest son of King Saul of the Kingdom of Israel, and a close friend of David. He is described as having great strength and swiftness and excelling in archery and slinging.
Zelah or Zela was an unidentified place in the territory of the Tribe of Benjamin, ancient Judea, known as the burial place of King Saul, his father Kish and his son Jonathan, with the 7 grandsons of Saul hung by the Gibeonites. Saul and Jonathan died during the Battle of Gilboa, and 2 Samuel 21:13 refers to King David authorising their bones to be moved to Kish's grave to join the bodies of the 7 grandsons killed in retribution for Saul's slaughter of Gibeonites. It may be the Zilu of the Amarna letters.
2 Samuel 21 is the twenty-first chapter of the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the second part of Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's reign in Jerusalem. This is within a section comprising 2 Samuel 21–24 containing the appendices to the Books of Samuel.
1 Samuel 24 is the twenty-fourth chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's escape from Saul's repeated attempts to kill him. This is within a section comprising 1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 5 which records the rise of David as the king of Israel.
1 Samuel 31 is the thirty-first chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of Saul's repeated attempts to kill him. This is within a section comprising 1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 5 which records the rise of David as the king of Israel.
2 Samuel 3 is the third chapter of the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the second part of Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's reign in Hebron. This is within a section comprising 1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 5 which records the rise of David as the king of Israel, and a section comprising 2 Samuel 2–8 which deals with the period when David set up his kingdom.
2 Samuel 4 is the fourth chapter of the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the second part of Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's reign in Hebron. This is within a section comprising 1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 5 which records the rise of David as the king of Israel, and a section comprising 2 Samuel 2–8 which deals with the period when David set up his kingdom.
2 Samuel 9 is the ninth chapter of the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the second part of Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's reign in Jerusalem. This is within a section comprising 2 Samuel 9–20 and continued to 1 Kings 1–2 which deal with the power struggles among David's sons to succeed David's throne until 'the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon'.