Rizpah רִצְפָּה
Concubine of Saul; mother of Armoni and Mephibosheth
Biography
Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, was a concubine of King Saul (2Sa.3.7). She bore Saul two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth (2Sa.21.8). After Saul's death, Abner, the commander of Saul's army, had relations with Rizpah, which was seen as a challenge to the authority of Saul's son and successor, Ish-bosheth (2Sa.3.7). Years later, during the reign of King David, a famine struck Israel for three years (2Sa.21.1). The Lord revealed that the famine was a consequence of Saul's attempt to kill the Gibeonites, with whom Israel had made a treaty (2Sa.21.1-2; Jos.9.3-27). To make atonement, the Gibeonites demanded the execution of seven of Saul's male descendants, including Rizpah's sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth (2Sa.21.5-9). Rizpah displayed great devotion and grief by protecting the bodies of her sons from birds and wild animals, staying with them from the beginning of the harvest until the rains came (2Sa.21.10). When David heard of Rizpah's actions, he ordered the proper burial of the bones of Saul, Jonathan, and the seven executed men (2Sa.21.11-14). Rizpah's story highlights the tragic consequences of Saul's disobedience and the depths of a mother's love and grief in the face of loss.
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In Scripture
1 biblical book2 Samuel 4 verses
- 2 Samuel 3:7
"Now Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and Ishbosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?”"
- 2 Samuel 21:8
"But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite."
- 2 Samuel 21:10
"Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water poured on them from the sky. She allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day, nor the animals of the field by night."
- 2 Samuel 21:11
"David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done."
Names & Aliases
| Form | Language | Script | Strong's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Named | Hebrew | רִצְפָּה | H7532 |
Rizpah
Rizpah's faithful watch over the bodies of her dead sons Mephibosheth and Armoni (21:10,11). Did this story suggest Tennyson's "Rizpah"? A three years' famine had made David anxious, and in seeking a reason for the affliction he concluded that it lay in Saul's unavenged conduct to the Gibeonites (21:2). To appease Yahweh he gave up to the Gibeonites the two sons of Saul, Mephibosheth and Armoni, as well as Saul's 5 grandsons (whether by Michal or Merab; see MERAB). These seven were hanged at Gibeah. Rizpah watched 5 months over their exposed bodies, but meanwhile the famine did not abate. Word was brought to David of Rizpah's act (21:10,11), and it is possible that her action suggested to David his next step in expiation. At any rate, he remembered the uncared-for bones of Jonathan and Saul lying in ignominy at Jabesh-gilead, whither they had been carried by stealth after the Philistines had kept them hung in the streets of Beth-shan for some time. The bones were recovered and apparently mingled with the bones Rizpah had guarded, and they were together buried in the family grave at Zelah. We are told that then "God was entreated for the land" (21:14).
Henry Wallace
rod the King James Version (1Sa 27:10; compare 1Sa 23:27).
See RAID.
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