“The king took the two sons of Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah, whom she bore to Sha’ul, Armoni and M’fivoshet; and the five sons of Mikhal the daughter of Sha’ul, whom she bore to Adri’el, the son of Barzillai the Mecholati“-2 Samuel 21:8
We are continuing to examine the story of how the Gibeonites demanded justice from King David for the slaughter his predecessor, King Saul, had carried out against them.
When King David asked what he could do to make amends, the Gibeonites demanded that 7 men from Saul’s household be turned over to them for execution.
Now, verse 8 makes it clear that David himself decided who would be turned over to the Amorites to be killed.
First up on the list were the two sons of Rizpah.
Rizpah was one of King Saul’s concubines whom King David had inherited.
Remember, it was the custom of the day that the new king inherited the previous ruler’s harem.
I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here, but Rizpah will go down in history as one of the most admired women in Scripture for an incredible act of devotion.
But we’ll get to that soon enough.
Onward.
So one of her sons was named Armoni, and the other Mephibosheth.
This Mephiboshesh is a different Mephiboshesh from Jonathan’s son, who was under David’s protection.
Next, we’re told that the other 5 whom David chose to die at the hands of the Amorites were all sons of Michal, daughter of Saul.
Alrighty, we’ve just run into a translation mistake most likely due to a copyist’s error.
This is NOT David’s wife, Michal, the daughter of Saul.
Rather, it was Michal’s sister Merab, Saul’s oldest daughter, who is being spoken about here.
1 Samuel 18 makes this crystal clear.
Check out these verses:
“Saul said to David, ‘
Here is my older daughter Merab.
I will give her to you in marriage;
only serve me bravely and
fight the battles of the Lord.’
For Saul said to himself,
‘I will not raise a hand against him.
Let the Philistines do that!’
But David said to Saul,
‘Who am I, and what is my family
or my clan in Israel, that I should
become the king’s son-in-law?’
So when the time came for Merab,
Saul’s daughter, to be given to David,
she was given in marriage
to Adriel of Meholah.”
-1 Samuel 18:17-19
Additionally, the last words of 2nd Samuel 21:8 also state this woman was the wife of Adriel of Meholah.
Onward.
So we discover that 2 direct sons of Saul are still living.
This means that when Scripture says all of Saul’s sons died in the battle against the Philistines, and only Ishbosheth survived, it wasn’t to be taken literally.
So what gives?
In this case, “all of Saul’s sons” only refers to those old enough to serve in the military, the ones high up in the kingdom.
Ya feel me?
Now here’s the thing, and also what makes this whole situation tragic.
Rizpah’s two sons were probably just little kids when Saul tried to wipe out the Amorites.
And now, five of Saul’s grandsons (Merab’s boys) were also going to die.
That almost certainly means they weren’t even born yet when the massacre of the Gibeonites happened.
So what takeaway can we extract from all this?
Here’s what’s coming to me.
Saul’s choices didn’t just mess up his own life.
They wrecked things for his family and the whole nation long after he was gone.
That’s the thing about leadership.
It carries weight.
When the person at the top sins, others end up paying for it.
It’s a sobering reminder.
The higher you rise, the more careful you’ve gotta be to walk in obedience.
Because someone else might have to live with the fallout of your disobedience later.
Sin always costs more than you think.
And it’s usually someone else who ends up footing the bill.
Are you feeling me here?
Yup, I think you are feeling me.
Done.
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