Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son,.... Together with those who had been hanged:

buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah; a city in the tribe of Benjamin, Joshua 18:28,

in the sepulchre of Kish his father; the father of Saul, 1 Samuel 9:1; and which, according to Fuller^F23Pisgah-Sight, B. 2. c. 12. p. 258. , and the position of it in his map, was not far from the hill on which the seven sons of Saul were hanged:

and they performed all that the king commanded; that is, David's messengers and servants did; they fetched the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Jabeshgilead, and buried them with those of his seven sons hanged, in the burying place of his father Kish, and made a general mourning for them; for the Jews say^F24Bemidbar Rabba, ut supra. (fol. 190. 1.) , that by David's order Saul's coffin was carried through every tribe, and men, women, and children, came out and expressed concern:

and after that God was entreated for the land; not after the burial of the said persons, but after the seven men were hanged up; by this the wrath of God was appeased, which was seen by his sending rain and fruitful seasons, so that the famine ceased.

Geneva Study Bible

And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was ^k intreated for the land.

(k) For where the government permits faults to go unpunished, there the plague of God lies on the land.

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.

After that — After those things were done which were before related; that is, after they were hanged up: for by that God was pacified, and not by their burial.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

2 Samuel 21:14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.

Ver. 14. And after that God was entreated for the land.] So pleasing to God is the due execution of justice, that thereby the wickednesses of the wicked are expiated, as to temporal punishment.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Zelah; a place in Benjamin, mentioned Joshua 18:28.

After that; after those things were done which were before related, i.e. after they were hanged up; for by that God was pacified, and not by their burial. So the relative belongs to the remoter antecedent. Or if this relate to what was last mentioned, the meaning is, that God was pleased to restore the blessing of plenty to the land.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

14.Zelah — This town, in the tribe of Benjamin, (Joshua 18:28,) was probably the native place of the family of Kish, and Saul’s early home. Its site is now unknown.

After that — After the execution of Saul’s sons, and the decent burial of their bones.

God was entreated for the land — He removed the plague of famine. But did God require the execution of Saul’s sons? Undoubtedly; otherwise he would not have scourged the land because of their and their father’s sins, (2 Samuel 21:1,) and removed the plague as soon as they were executed. And did he not the same in the case of Achan (Joshua vii;) and in his holy law declare that he would by no means clear the guilty, but visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him? Exodus 20:5; Exodus 34:7.

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Side of the mountain, or in distinct cavities. (Calmet) --- Many suppose that Tsela, or Sela, is the name of a place (Menochius) not far from Gabaa, Josue xviii. 28. (Calmet) --- Many proper names are thus translated. (Du Hamel)

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

and Jonathan. Some codices, with two early printed editions, and Septuagint, read "the bones of Jonathan".

all. Some codices, with one early printed edition, read "according to all".

God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.

After that God was entreated for the land. It has been conjectured, from various circumstances recorded in the course of this book, that the surrender of seven of Saul's descendants, as compensation for the blood of the Gibeonites, took place at an earlier period in David's reign over Israel than appears from the position which the incident holds in the inspired record. The allusion to Saul's violent rapacity toward the Gibeonites as recent (2 Samuel 21:1), the execration which the execution of Saul's family excited against David among the Benjamites, and which was embodied in the insults which Shimei poured upon him in the time of his flight (2 Samuel 16:7-8), together with the significant language of Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 19:28) concerning the violent extinction of all his family, all seem to indicate the date of the transaction to have been not long after the establishment of David at Jerusalem. Some have hinted the suspicion that his ready consent to deliver up the seven victim for execution arose from his secret wish and policy to rid himself, by the extirpation of the Sauline dynasty, of all rivals who might disturb his peaceful occupation of the throne. But such a suspicion is injurious to the memory of David, and totally inconsistent with his spontaneous act of generous kindness in removing the bones of Saul and Jonathan to the ancestral grave at Zelah.

The fact is, that the consignment of Saul's grandchildren to execution was a painful but inevitable necessity. According to the state of society and the customs of the age and country, David could not have withheld the persons of the youths, seeing that the Gibeonites had refused 'the price of blood.' The record of the severe punishment on the posterity of Saul, on account of the slaughter of the Gibeonites, affords a minute but interesting evidence of the truth of the narrative respecting the national league which was formed by Israel with that people. It must have led the ancient Israelites to inquire, if they had any doubt upon the subject, whether, and in what circumstances, such a league a was formed; and the undesigned coincidence between this passage and the relation given in the ninth chapter of Joshua should be sufficient to remove scepticism from the mind of the modern reader.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) In Zelah.—According to Joshua 18:28 a town of Benjamin. It has not been identified, but was probably near Gibeah.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.

buried

3:32; 4:12

Zelah

Joshua 18:28; 1 Samuel 10:2

Zelzah

God.

24:25; Exodus 32:27-29; Numbers 25:13; Joshua 7:26; 1 Kings 18:40,41; Jeremiah 14:1-7; Joel 2:18,19; Amos 7:1-6; Jonah 1:15; Zechariah 6:8

Reciprocal: Numbers 25:11 - turned my;  Deuteronomy 19:13 - but thou;  1 Kings 18:45 - there was;  1 Chronicles 21:7 - he smote;  Job 37:13 - for mercy;  Ezekiel 16:42 - will I