Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Samuel 21:1 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 1. 1Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The famine is linked to Saul's attempted destruction of the Gibeonites, preserving a treaty-violation claim while leaving major historical and theological questions open.
Three years of famine are tied to Saul and the Gibeonites
This verse is one part of that explanation in 2 Samuel 21:1–6. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 2 Samuel 21:1–6
Read 2 Samuel 21:1 with 21:1–6. The wording “Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired…” supplies one opening in the thought unit and establishes its first action or speech; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: A three-year famine is attributed to Saul's bloodguilt against the protected Gibeonites, and David asks what violent satisfaction they require.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Famine Leads David to the Gibeonites,” 2 Samuel 21:1 opens the thought unit and establishes its first action or speech through the wording “Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: The famine inquiry reaches back to Israel's protected agreement with the Gibeonites and Saul's otherwise unreported attempt to destroy them. The preceding officer list closes Sheba's revolt but does not explain this appended crisis.
Follow the Context
- Opening movement: A three-year famine is attributed to Saul's bloodguilt against the protected Gibeonites.
- Developing movement or outcome: David asks what violent satisfaction they require.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired…”
In plain language: The famine is linked to Saul's attempted destruction of the Gibeonites, preserving a treaty-violation claim while leaving major historical and theological questions open.
2 Samuel 21:1 opens the thought unit and establishes its first action or speech by recording “Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired….” This line matters because the famine is linked to Saul's attempted destruction of the Gibeonites, preserving a treaty-violation claim while leaving major historical and theological questions open.
Why it matters: This wording carries a material textual, literary, historical, royal-power, violence, consent, trauma, covenant, reception, or misuse boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
2 Samuel 21:1 does not permit the wording “Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. This verse does not authorize collective punishment, inherited execution, appeasement killing, body exposure, or the erasure of Rizpah and the people made to bear royal violence.
What Remains True
Faithful leadership is measured by truth, restraint, justice, repair, and the treatment of people with less power rather than by title, victory, popularity, or narrative prominence. In this unit, that truth is tested by the concrete movement: A three-year famine is attributed to Saul's bloodguilt against the protected Gibeonites, and David asks what violent satisfaction they require. In 2 Samuel 21:1, the concrete line “Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
Teach It Back
Explain 2 Samuel 21:1's role in 21:1–6. Paraphrase “Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired…”, name the ancient royal or household horizon, state one material uncertainty, keep one vulnerable or affected person visible, and identify one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 2 Samuel 21:1–6 — Famine Leads David to the GibeonitesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 2 Samuel 21:1-6, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Samuel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, repeated verbs, names, syntax, and the base text behind translation and textual discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Sam.xml, 21:1-6
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 2 Samuel with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Unit-bounded wording, older-English clarification, textual witnesses, syntax, names, numbers, and major historical or literary notes actually printed for these verses.
Exact location: NET Bible 2 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 574–575, translation and all translator notes attached to 21:1-6
Open source ↗