Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Samuel 21:14 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 14. 14And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Burial precedes the report that prayer for the land is received, making care for the dead part of the narrative movement without resolving every ethical objection.
Read It With
- 2 Samuel 21:10–14
Read 2 Samuel 21:14 with 21:10–14. The wording “And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah…” supplies one closing in the thought unit with its stated result or transition; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Rizpah guards the bodies through harvest and rain, David gathers Saul and Jonathan with the seven, buries them, and the narrative says prayer for the land is then received.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Rizpah's Vigil Moves David toward Burial,” 2 Samuel 21:14 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition through the wording “And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 2 Samuel 21:7–9 establishes this prior movement: David spares Mephibosheth because of his oath to Jonathan but selects seven other descendants, whom the Gibeonites kill and expose. 2 Samuel 21:10–14 brings the preceding movement toward a consequence or close; that demonstrated relationship, rather than sequence alone, explains its placement.
Follow the Context
- Opening movement: Rizpah guards the bodies through harvest and rain, David gathers Saul and Jonathan with the seven, buries them.
- Developing movement or outcome: the narrative says prayer for the land is then received.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah…”
In plain language: Burial precedes the report that prayer for the land is received, making care for the dead part of the narrative movement without resolving every ethical objection.
2 Samuel 21:14 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition by recording “And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah….” This line matters because Burial precedes the report that prayer for the land is received, making care for the dead part of the narrative movement without resolving every ethical objection.
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 21:14 does not permit the wording “And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah…” 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: Rizpah guards the bodies through harvest and rain, David gathers Saul and Jonathan with the seven, buries them, and the narrative says prayer for the land is then received. In 2 Samuel 21:14, the concrete line “And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah….” Use authority to increase truthful access, protect people with less power, preserve meaningful dissent, and repair concrete harm instead of defending reputation or control. This response follows from the unit's own pattern—Rizpah guards the bodies through harvest and rain, David gathers Saul and Jonathan with the seven, buries them, and the narrative says prayer for the land is then received.
Teach It Back
Explain 2 Samuel 21:14's role in 21:10–14. Paraphrase “And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah…”, 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
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Samuel 21:10–14 — Rizpah's Vigil Moves David toward BurialSources 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 21:10-14, 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, 21:10-14
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 21:10-14
Open source ↗