After the execution of the seven sons of Saul, the scene becomes (if possible) even more heatbreaking, as we see the mother of two of the sons, protect the dead son’s decaying bodies from predators.

We see the impact of sin, is not just felt by the individual, but by those around.

Then as David hears of Rizpah’s actions he attempts to give a proper burial to not just Saul and Jonathan but also the executed descendants… we are reminded of the inadequacy of our human attempts to deal with sin.

And we are prompted to wonder again at the phenomenal reconciliation of Justice and Love at the cross of Jesus Christ.




2 Samuel 21:10 Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night. 11 When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, 12 he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.) 13 David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.

14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.