Armoni אַרְמֹנִי

Male Tribe of Benjamin H0764 1 book

Son of Saul by Rizpah, killed by Gibeonites

Who is Armoni in the Bible?

Armoni was a son of King Saul of Israel, born to Saul's concubine Rizpah (2 Samuel 21:8). After Saul's death, a famine struck Israel, which David attributed to Saul's earlier attempt to destroy the Gibeonites. To end the famine, David handed over Armoni and his brother Mephibosheth to the Gibeonites, who executed them as retribution for Saul's violence. Armoni's death, along with his brother's, became a powerful symbol of the consequences of Saul's sins, particularly through the devoted mourning of his mother Rizpah, who guarded their exposed bodies until they received proper burial in the family tomb.

Biography

Armoni was one of the two sons of King Saul of Israel by his concubine Rizpah, daughter of Aiah. After Saul's death, to avert a famine, David handed over Armoni and his brother Mephibosheth to the Gibeonites, who killed them in retribution for Saul's earlier attempt to annihilate the Gibeonites. Their bodies were left exposed until Rizpah took sackcloth and spread it on a rock, keeping the birds and wild animals away, until David had their bones buried in Saul's family tomb.

Family

In Scripture

1 biblical book
2 Samuel 1 verse
  • 2 Samuel 21:8

    "But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, as well as the five sons whom Merab daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite."

Names & Aliases

Form Language Script
Named Hebrew אַרְמֹנִי
Encyclopedia Article

Armoni

ISBE 1915 (Public Domain)

nites.

ar'-mer-bar'-er (nose' keli; Greek uses a phrase, ho airon ta skeue, literally "the one carrying the armor"): One who carried the large shield and perhaps other weapons for a king (