2 Samuel 21:9 Meaning and Explanation
“And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The seven are handed over and put to death together on the hill, at the start of the barley harvest.
What Does 2 Samuel 21:9 Mean?
The sentence is carried out. The seven die together on the hill before the LORD, and the narrator marks the season precisely: the first days of the barley harvest, when the famine-stricken land was just beginning to yield again. The timing is no accident in the telling.
That the deaths fall at the dawn of harvest hints quietly at the turning the chapter is moving toward, when the long famine will finally break. Scripture lays the grief and the first signs of mercy side by side. Even in its darkest scenes, the story keeps its eyes on the God who can bring life out of a barren and guilty land.
2 Samuel 21:9 in the Original Language
qatsir (קָצִיר), 'harvest' -- the reaping season, here marking both an ending and the land's return to life.
Frequently Asked Questions About 2 Samuel 21:9
What does 2 Samuel 21:9 mean?
The seven are handed over and put to death together on the hill, at the start of the barley harvest.