Rizpah is a notable figure in the Old Testament, known for her tragic yet poignant account of maternal devotion and endurance. Her narrative is primarily found in 2 Samuel 3:7 and 2 Samuel 21:1-14. Rizpah was the daughter of Aiah and a concubine of King Saul, the first king of Israel.

Background and Family

Rizpah's account is set during the tumultuous period of the early monarchy in Israel. As a concubine of Saul, she bore him two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth (not to be confused with Jonathan's son of the same name). Her position as a concubine, rather than a wife, reflects the complex social and familial structures of ancient Israel.

Conflict with Abner

Rizpah's name first appears in the biblical narrative during a power struggle following Saul's death. In 2 Samuel 3:7, Ish-bosheth, Saul's son and a rival claimant to the throne against David, accuses Abner, the commander of Saul's army, of sleeping with Rizpah. This accusation is significant because taking a king's concubine was considered a claim to the throne. Abner's indignation at the accusation leads to his defection to David's side, further destabilizing Ish-bosheth's reign.

The Gibeonite Retribution

Rizpah's most poignant account unfolds in 2 Samuel 21:1-14. During David's reign, a famine strikes Israel for three consecutive years. Seeking the LORD's guidance, David learns that the famine is a divine judgment for Saul's breach of an oath with the Gibeonites, a group that had been promised protection by the Israelites. To atone for Saul's sin, the Gibeonites demand the execution of seven of Saul's male descendants.

David consents to their request, sparing only Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, due to his covenant with Jonathan. Rizpah's two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth, are among those handed over to the Gibeonites and executed. Their bodies are exposed on a hill as a public display.

Rizpah's Vigil

In a profound act of maternal love and devotion, Rizpah takes sackcloth and spreads it on a rock, maintaining a vigil over the bodies from the beginning of the harvest until the rains fell from the heavens. Her actions prevent the birds of the air and the beasts of the field from desecrating the bodies of her sons. This period likely lasted several months, demonstrating her unwavering commitment and grief.

Rizpah's vigil eventually comes to the attention of King David. Moved by her devotion, David retrieves the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh-gilead and gathers the remains of the executed men. He ensures they receive a proper burial in the tomb of Kish, Saul's father, thus bringing closure to the tragic events and appeasing God's wrath against Israel.

Legacy

Rizpah's account is a powerful testament to the strength and resilience of a mother's love. Her actions not only highlight the personal cost of political and familial conflicts but also serve as a catalyst for justice and reconciliation in Israel. Her narrative underscores themes of loyalty, sacrifice, and the enduring impact of sin and atonement in the biblical tradition.Rizpah

bed; extension; a coal

Rizpah

concubine to King Saul, and mother of his two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth. (B.C. 1080.) The tragic story of the love and endurance with which she watched over the bodies of her two sons, who were killed by the Gibeonites, (2 Samuel 21:8-11) has made Rizpah one of the most familiar objects in the whole Bible.

Rizpah

A concubine of Saul, taken after his death by the ambitious Abner. Her two sons were afterwards hung, with five other sons of Saul, to avenge the wrongs he had inflicted on the Gibeonites. With the most devoted maternal affection, Rizpah watched over their remains day and night, apparently from May to October; and David, being informed of her painful watchings, gathered the bones of all the family of Saul and gave them an honorable burial, 2 Samuel 3:7-11; 21:1-14.

Coal; hot stone, the daughter of Aiah, and one of Saul's concubines. She was the mother of Armoni and Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 3:7; 21:8, 10, 11).

It happened that a grievous famine, which lasted for three years, fell upon the land during the earlier half of David's reign at Jerusalem. This calamity was sent "for Saul and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites." David inquired of the Gibeonites what satisfaction they demanded, and was answered that nothing would compensate for the wrong Saul had done to them but the death of seven of Saul's sons. David accordingly delivered up to them the two sons of Rizpah and five of the sons of Merab (q.v.), Saul's eldest daughter, whom she bore to Adriel. These the Gibeonites put to death, and hung up their bodies before the Lord at the sanctuary at Gibeah. Rizpah thereupon took her place on the rock of Gibeah (q.v.), and for five months watched the suspended bodies of her children, to prevent them from being devoured by the beasts and birds of prey, till they were at length taken down and buried by David.

Her marriage to Abner was the occasion of a quarrel between him and Ishbosheth, which led to Abner's going over to the side of David (2 Samuel 3:17-21).

RIZPAH

riz'-pa (ritspah, "hot stone"; Josephus, Rhaispha): In 2 Samuel 3:7 the subject of a coarse slander. 2 Samuel 21 contains the pathetic story of Rizpah's faithful watch over the bodies of her dead sons Mephibosheth and Armoni (21:10, 11). Did this story suggest Tennyson's "Rizpah"? A three years' famine had made David anxious, and in seeking a reason for the affliction he concluded that it lay in Saul's unavenged conduct to the Gibeonites (21:2). To appease Yahweh he gave up to the Gibeonites the two sons of Saul, Mephibosheth and Armoni, as well as Saul's 5 grandsons (whether by Michal or Merab; see MERAB). These seven were hanged at Gibeah. Rizpah watched 5 months over their exposed bodies, but meanwhile the famine did not abate. Word was brought to David of Rizpah's act (21:10, 11), and it is possible that her action suggested to David his next step in expiation. At any rate, he remembered the uncared-for bones of Jonathan and Saul lying in ignominy at Jabesh-gilead, whither they had been carried by stealth after the Philistines had kept them hung in the streets of Beth-shan for some time. The bones were recovered and apparently mingled with the bones Rizpah had guarded, and they were together buried in the family grave at Zelah. We are told that then "God was entreated for the land" (21:14).

Henry Wallace

7532. Ritspah -- concubine of Saul
... 7531b, 7532. Ritspah. 7533 . concubine of Saul. Transliteration: Ritspah
Phonetic Spelling: (rits-paw') Short Definition: Rizpah. ... Rizpah. ...
/hebrew/7532.htm - 6k

'de Profundis'
... God took him up, and cast him down: and there he sat all alone, astonished and
confounded, like Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, when she sat alone upon the ...
/.../kingsley/the good news of god/sermon viii de profundis.htm

The Resurrection
... ashes. Rizpah watched over the dead bodies of the sons of Saul, and guarded
them against the ravenous fowls of the air.2 Sam 21:10. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/a body of divinity/3 the resurrection.htm

Preface to Original Edition by Charles Kingsley
... deep, in the place of darkness, and of storm, while lover and friend were hid away
from them, and they sat upon the parching rock, like Rizpah, the daughter of ...
/.../preface to original edition by.htm

The Bible in the Life of To-Day
... If we go back to Tennyson again, some one has proposed the inquiry why he should
have called one of his poems "Rizpah," since there was no one of that name ...
/.../mcafee/study of the king james bible/lecture vi the bible in.htm

The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 6. <. ...
/.../chapter iiithe hebrews and the.htm

The Influence of the King James Version on English Literature
... So when he writes his poem bemoaning Poland, he needs must head it "Rizpah." At
the same time it must be said that Swinburne shows less of the influence of the ...
/.../mcafee/study of the king james bible/lecture iv the influence of.htm

Rizpah (4 Occurrences)
... David accordingly delivered up to them the two sons of Rizpah and five of the sons
of Merab (qv), Saul's eldest daughter, whom she bore to Adriel. ...RIZPAH. ...
/r/rizpah.htm - 10k

Aiah (7 Occurrences)
... (2) Father of Rizpah, a concubine of Saul, about whom Ishbosheth falsely accused
Abner (2 Samuel 3:7), and whose sons were hanged to appease the Gibeonites ...
/a/aiah.htm - 9k

Ai'ah (5 Occurrences)
... 2 Samuel 3:7 Now Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah:
and Ishbosheth said to Abner, "Why have you gone in to my father's concubine ...
/a/ai'ah.htm - 7k

Armoni (1 Occurrence)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Inhabitant of a fortress, the first-named of the
two sons of Saul and Rizpah. He was delivered up to the ...
/a/armoni.htm - 7k

Mephibosheth (13 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Exterminator of shame; ie, of idols. (1.) The name of
Saul's son by the concubine Rizpah (qv), the daughter of Aiah. ...
/m/mephibosheth.htm - 17k

Gibeon (39 Occurrences)
... The Gibeonites demanded blood for the wrong that had been done to them, and accordingly
David gave up to them the two sons of Rizpah (qv) and the five sons of ...
/g/gibeon.htm - 31k

Ish-bosheth (14 Occurrences)
... the war did not come to a close until Abner, angry on account of the rebuke he suffered
from Ish-Bosheth for his unlawful intimacy with Rizpah, Saul's concubine ...
/i/ish-bosheth.htm - 15k

Ishbosheth (13 Occurrences)
... the war did not come to a close until Abner, angry on account of the rebuke he suffered
from Ish-Bosheth for his unlawful intimacy with Rizpah, Saul's concubine ...
/i/ishbosheth.htm - 14k

Aiah's (2 Occurrences)
... 2 Samuel 21:8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom
she bore unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the ...
/a/aiah's.htm - 6k

Abner (54 Occurrences)
... Being rebuked by Ish-bosheth for the impropriety of taking to wife Rizpah, who had
been a concubine of King Saul, he found an excuse for going over to the side ...
/a/abner.htm - 30k

Who was Rizpah in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Questions about People in the Bible (All) | GotQuestions.org

Old Testament Individuals ' Article Index | GotQuestions.org

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus