Verse Lens · Concise explanation
2 Samuel 21:5 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 5. 5And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
2 Samuel 21:5 contributes this particular line to the movement: “And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should…”.
Read It With
- 2 Samuel 21:1–6
Read 2 Samuel 21:5 with 21:1–6. 2 Samuel 21:5 advances “Famine Leads David to the Gibeonites” through the concrete textual step “And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should…”. The complete unit establishes this movement: 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
Keeping “Famine Leads David to the Gibeonites” as its own unit preserves its agents, moral stakes, and narrative turn before the next movement begins. At 2 Samuel 21:5, “And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should…” supplies this verse's distinct action, speech, image, or interpretive turn.
What Remains True
Covenant hope and truthful memory require accountable power, grief that names loss, protection for vulnerable people, and refusal to call political success innocence. In 2 Samuel 21:5, the concrete line “And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- Evaluate leadership by truth, consent, restraint, repair, and the treatment of people with less power; preserve evidence and survivor voices instead of protecting a celebrated reputation. Keep 2 Samuel 21:5 inside 21:1–6, preserve the people and costs it names or obscures, and do not convert its wording into royal immunity or a modern political mandate.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Samuel 21:1–6 — Famine Leads David to the GibeonitesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
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 ↗