Rizpah (riz'-pa, "coal", "hot stone") was the daughter ofAiah, and one ofSaul's concubines. She was the mother ofArmoni and Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 3:7;21:8–11).
After the death of Saul, according to the Bible,Abner was implicitly accused of having aspirations to the throne by taking Rizpah as his wife, resulting in a quarrel between him and Saul's son and successor,Ishbosheth. (2 Samuel 3:7–8) The quarrel led to Abner's defection toDavid, (2 Samuel 3:17–21) who was then king of the breakawayKingdom of Judah. This incident led to the downfall of Ishbosheth and the rise of David as king of a reunitedKingdom of Israel.
A famine lasting three years hit Israel during the earlier half ofDavid's reign atJerusalem. God revealed that this calamity happened because of "Saul and for his bloody house, because he slew theGibeonites." The Gibeonites were not Israelites, but the remnant of theAmorites, which Saul pursued from within Israel.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.(2 Samuel 21:1–6)
David accordingly delivered up to them the two sons of Rizpah and five of the sons ofMichal (according to theMasoretic Text; theSeptuagint has "Merab"), Saul's daughter. These the Gibeonites put to death, and hung up their bodies at the sanctuary atGibeah (2 Samuel 21:8–9). Rizpah thereupon took her place on the rock of Gibeah, and for five months watched the suspended bodies of her children, to prevent them from being devoured by the beasts and birds of prey, (2 Samuel 21:10) till they were at length taken down and buried by David (2 Samuel 21:13) in the family grave at Zelah with the bones of Saul andJonathan. Only once both restitution had been made for Saul's betrayal of the Gibeonites and an olive branch extended to Rizpah and the house of Saul by giving Saul's sons the honour of burial with their father did God respond to the plea of the land and end the famine (2 Samuel 21:14).[1]
British rabbiJonathan Magonet has described Rizpah as "every mother who sees her sons killed before their time for reasons of state, be they in time of peace or in war. All that remains is for her to preserve the dignity of their memory and live on to bear witness and call to account the rulers of the world".[2]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: "Rizpah".Easton's Bible Dictionary. 1897.
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