John Gill Commentary


John Gill Commentary
"And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the mountain before Jehovah, and they fell [all] seven together. And they were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of barley harvest." — 2 Samuel 21:9 (ASV)
And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites
The two sons of Rizpah and the five sons of Merab, two sons of Saul and five grandsons:
and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord ;
in the hill at Gibeah, that they might be seen by all that passed by, and serve to deter from such evils, which brought on them that punishment; gibbetings or crucifixions were commonly made on hills and mountains {l}: the phrase, "before the Lord", is either the same as "unto the Lord", (2 Samuel 21:6) ; to make atonement to the Lord, and in his sight; or it denotes that it was done publicly before the sun, and in the sight of it; for it cannot mean before the ark, the symbol of the divine Presence, for that was not there:
and they fell [all] seven together ;
they were hanged together, and died at one and the same time:
and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first [days], in
the beginning of barley harvest ;
which began at the passover, the morrow after the first day of the feast, (Leviticus 23:10Leviticus 23:11) ; which was the sixteenth of Nisan, on which day, the Jews say F13 , these men were hanged, and which must be about the beginning of our April.