2 Samuel 21:1

Bible in Basic English (1941)

In the days of David they were short of food for three years, year after year; and David went before the Lord for directions. And the Lord said, On Saul and on his family there is blood, because he put the Gibeonites to death.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיְהִ֣י רָעָב֩ בִּימֵ֨י דָוִ֜ד שָׁלֹ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֗ים שָׁנָה֙ אַחֲרֵ֣י שָׁנָ֔ה וַיְבַקֵּ֥שׁ דָּוִ֖ד אֶת־פְּנֵ֣י יְהוָ֑ה ס וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֗ה אֶל־שָׁאוּל֙ וְאֶל־בֵּ֣ית הַדָּמִ֔ים עַֽל־אֲשֶׁר־הֵמִ֖ית אֶת־הַגִּבְעֹנִֽים

Transliteration

And wayĕhî rāʿāb in yĕmê Dāwid three šānîm, šānâ after šānâ, and wayĕbaqqêš Dāwid ʾet-face of YHWH; and wayyōʾmer YHWH, "To-Šāʾûl and to-bêt the-dāmîm, because that-he-hēmît ʾet-the-Gibʿōnîm."

Grammar Details

• *wayĕhî*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 3ms - and it was/came to pass
• *rāʿāb*: noun, masculine singular - famine/hunger
• *yĕmê*: construct plural of *yôm* - days of
• *Dāwid*: proper noun - David
• *šānîm*: noun, feminine plural - years
• *šānâ*: noun, feminine singular - year
• *wayĕbaqqêš*: waw-consecutive + piel imperfect 3ms - and he sought
• *ʾet*: direct object marker
• *YHWH*: proper noun - divine name
• *wayyōʾmer*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 3ms - and he said
• *Šāʾûl*: proper noun - Saul
• *bêt*: noun, masculine singular construct - house of
• *dāmîm*: noun, masculine plural - bloods
• *hēmît*: hiphil perfect 3ms - he killed/caused to die
• *Gibʿōnîm*: proper noun, plural - Gibeonites

Word Meanings

• *wayĕhî*: it happened/there was/came to pass
• *rāʿāb*: famine/hunger
• *bêt* *dāmîm*: house of blood/bloodshed/bloodguilt
• *wayĕbaqqêš*: sought/inquired of/consulted

Referenced Verses

• Num 27:21 : 21 He will take his place before Eleazar the priest, so that he may get directions from the Lord for him, with the Urim: at his word they will go out, and at his word they will come in, he and all the children of Israel.
• Gen 12:10 : 10 And because there was little food to be had in that land, he went down into Egypt.
• Gen 26:1 : 1 Then came a time of great need in the land, like that which had been before in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.
• Gen 41:57-42:1 : 57 And all lands sent to Egypt, to Joseph, to get grain, for the need was great over all the earth. 1 Now Jacob, hearing that there was grain in Egypt, said to his sons, Why are you looking at one another?
• Gen 43:1 : 1 And when the grain which they had got in Egypt was all used up, their father said to them, Go again and get us a little food.
• Lev 26:19-20 : 19 And the pride of your strength will be broken, and I will make your heaven as iron and your earth as brass; 20 And your strength will be used up without profit; for your land will not give her increase and the trees of the field will not give their fruit.
• Lev 26:26 : 26 When I take away your bread of life, ten women will be cooking bread in one oven, and your bread will be measured out by weight; you will have food but never enough.
• Josh 7:1 : 1 But the children of Israel did wrong about the cursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the family of Judah, took of the cursed thing, moving the Lord to wrath against the children of Israel.
• Josh 7:11-12 : 11 Israel has done wrong, sinning against the agreement which I made with them: they have even taken of the cursed thing; acting falsely like thieves they have put it among their goods. 12 For this reason the children of Israel have given way, turning their backs in flight before their attackers, because they are cursed: I will no longer be with you, if you do not put the cursed thing away from among you.
• 1 Sam 22:17-19 : 17 Then the king said to the runners who were waiting near him, Put the priests of the Lord to death; because they are on David's side, and having knowledge of his flight, did not give me word of it. But the king's servants would not put out their hands to make an attack on the Lord's priests. 18 Then the king said to Doeg, You are to put the priests to death. And Doeg the Edomite, turning on the priests and attacking them, put to death that day eighty-five men who took up the ephod. 19 And Nob, the town of the priests, he put to the sword, all the men and women, children and babies at the breast, and oxen and asses and sheep.
• 1 Sam 23:2 : 2 So David, questioning the Lord, said, Am I to go and make an attack on these Philistines? And the Lord said to David, Go and make an attack on the Philistines so that Keilah may be kept from falling into their hands.
• 1 Sam 23:4 : 4 Then David put the question to the Lord again, and the Lord answering said, Up! go down to Keilah; for I will give the Philistines into your hands.
• 1 Sam 23:11 : 11 And now, is it true, as they have said to me, that Saul is coming? O Lord, the God of Israel, give ear to your servant, and say if these things are so. And the Lord said, He is coming down.
• 2 Sam 5:19 : 19 And David, desiring directions from the Lord, said, Am I to go up against the Philistines? will you give them up into my hands? And the Lord said, Go up, for I will certainly give up the Philistines into your hands.
• 2 Sam 5:23 : 23 And when David went for directions to the Lord, he said, You are not to go up against them in front; but make a circle round them from the back and come on them opposite the spice-trees.
• 1 Kgs 17:1 : 1 And Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, By the living Lord, the God of Israel, whose servant I am, there will be no dew or rain in these years, but only at my word.
• 1 Kgs 18:2 : 2 So Elijah went to let Ahab see him. Now there was no food to be had in Samaria.
• 2 Kgs 6:25 : 25 And they became very short of food in Samaria; for they kept it shut in till the price of an ass's head was eighty shekels of silver, and a small measure of doves' droppings was five shekels of silver.
• 2 Kgs 8:1 : 1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had given back to life, Go now, with all the people of your house, and get a living-place for yourselves wherever you are able; for by the word of the Lord, there will be great need of food in the land; and this will go on for seven years.
• Job 5:8-9 : 8 But as for me, I would make my prayer to God, and I would put my cause before him: 9 Who does great things outside our knowledge, wonders without number: 10 Who gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields:
• Job 10:2 : 2 I will say to God, Do not put me down as a sinner; make clear to me what you have against me.
• Ps 50:15 : 15 Let your voice come up to me in the day of trouble; I will be your saviour, so that you may give glory to me.
• Ps 91:15 : 15 When his cry comes up to me, I will give him an answer: I will be with him in trouble; I will make him free from danger and give him honour.
• Jer 14:1-9 : 1 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah when there was no water. 2 Judah is weeping and its doors are dark with sorrow, and people are seated on the earth clothed in black; and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. 3 Their great men have sent their servants for water: they come to the holes and there is no water to be seen; they come back with nothing in their vessels; they are overcome with shame and fear, covering their heads. 4 Those who do work on the land are in fear, for there has been no rain on the land, and the farmers are shamed, covering their heads. 5 And the roe, giving birth in the field, lets her young one be uncared for, because there is no grass. 6 And the asses of the field on the open hilltops are opening their mouths wide like jackals to get air; their eyes are hollow because there is no grass. 7 Though our sins give witness against us, do something, O Lord, for the honour of your name: for again and again we have been turned away from you, we have done evil against you. 8 O you hope of Israel, its saviour in time of trouble, why are you like one who is strange in the land, and like a traveller putting up his tent for a night? 9 Why are you like a man surprised, like a man of war who is not able to give help? but you, O Lord, are with us, and we are named by your name; do not go away from us. 10 This is what the Lord has said about this people: Even so they have been glad to go from the right way; they have not kept their feet from wandering, so the Lord has no pleasure in them; now he will keep their wrongdoing in mind and send punishment for their sins. 11 And the Lord said to me, Make no prayer for this people for their good. 12 When they go without food, I will not give ear to their cry; when they give burned offerings and meal offerings, I will not take pleasure in them: but I will put an end to them by the sword and by need of food and by disease. 13 Then I said, Ah, Lord God! see, the prophets say to them, You will not see the sword or be short of food; but I will give you certain peace in this place. 14 Then the Lord said to me, The prophets say false words in my name, and I gave them no orders, and I said nothing to them: what they say to you is a false vision and wonder-working words without substance, the deceit of their hearts. 15 So this is what the Lord has said about the prophets who make use of my name, though I sent them not, and say, The sword and need of food will not be in this land: the sword and need of food will put an end to those prophets. 16 And the people to whom they are prophets will be pushed out dead into the streets of Jerusalem, because there is no food, and because of the sword; and they will have no one to put their bodies into the earth, them or their wives or their sons or their daughters: for I will let loose their evil-doing on them. 17 And you are to say this word to them, Let my eyes be streaming with water night and day, and let it not be stopped; for the virgin daughter of my people is wounded with a great wound, with a very bitter blow. 18 If I go out into the open country, there are those put to death by the sword! and if I go into the town, there are those who are diseased from need of food! for the prophet and the priest go about in the land and have no knowledge.