Unsung Heroines-Rizpah

Introduction: Rizpah is only mentioned in a couple of places in the Bible. We don’t know much about her aside from this tremendous act of love she demonstrated in this story.

Text: 2 Samuel 21:8-11, KJV: 8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: 9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest. 10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. 11 And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.

Thoughts: Some history or background needs to be explained here. Many years before, a group of at least four Canaanite cities tricked Joshua and Israel into making peace. Gibeon/Gibeah was one of these cities. The people were willing to basically become slaves, hauling wood and water for Israel, for the rest of their lives (see Joshua 9 for the whole story). How many of these Canaanites became believers in the God of Israel is never stated but it’s possible some did. And, apparently, this contract or pact was followed to the letter for many years.

That is, until Saul, Israel’s first king, slew some of these people (2 Samuel 21:1). We’re never told what happened or why he did this, but this was a severe breach of a treaty and, clearly, God was not pleased. Israel suffered a three-year famine but it seemed nobody was concerned about this until the third year. That’s when David found out, from the LORD, the famine was basically punishment for allowing Saul’s deed to go unresolved.

David, then, took action and asked the Gibeonites what he could do for them. The whole story is found in 2 Samuel 21:1-7, where the Gibeonites told David that if he had seven of Saul’s sons put to death, they would be satisfied. One can question the why’s and wherefore’s for a long time but this was David’s doing—notice, it’s never said he enquired of the LORD as to what to do.

So, David had seven of Saul’s sons executed by hanging. Sadly, five of these were in a sense related to David, as he had married Michal, Saul’s daughter (1 Sam 18:22-28), and she brought up her five nephews for her sister, Merab (text, verse 8). The other two men were sons of Rizpah, one of Saul’s concubines. The role of a concubine is difficult to explain easily in the language and customs of today; suffice it to say she bore at least two of Saul’s sons even though she was not the legal wife.

But Rizpah was about to endure even greater grief. Not only had Saul died, and probably by now all of his children were dead except Michal, leaving her without much of anything; she was also about to see her own two sons put to death. Whether or not this had anything to do with the murder of the Gibeonites, we’re never told. Sin will always affect more people than just the parties involved in the act/s alone.

And this is where Rizpah deserves mention as an unsung heroine. Even though her sons were put to death, she stayed very close to where their bodies were left in the air. Commentators have various opinions on why these bodies were left in the open but the general agreement is that this was a sign of remorse until God was moved to relieve the famine. We may never know.

Another thing we may never know is just how long Rizpah stayed by these bodies. She basically built a shelter out of sackcloth (often used as clothing to show repentance) and kept watch over the corpses for an unspecified period of time. The men had been hanged around the first of the barley harvest (usually a time for feasting and celebration, as it had been in Ruth’s day, many years before—see Ruth 3) but not this time. Barley was harvested in mid-April according to several commentators but wheat wasn’t harvested until around several weeks later. Further, if the phrase “water dropped on them” refers to the seasonal rains, Rizpah may have stayed there for six months (April to October).

So, then, what makes her a heroine? First, she was willing to sacrifice her own sons to atone for a grave misdeed (admittedly, she may not have had much of a choice). Second, she was willing to give up her own comforts to keep birds and beasts away from the bodies. One wonders how much sleep she was able to get during this time. Third, she was also willing to give up regular food and drink while she kept guard over the bodies. Finally, there is no record she sought any glory for herself; in fact, her deeds seem to be unknown until David, somehow, found out about this from an unknown source (verse 11).

There’s no record that Rizpah did anything else, except this. But what she did, showing respect and love for her own children, and others not even her own flesh and blood, makes her an unsung heroine. I mean, would anyone else be willing to do what she did for so long, and receive nothing in return for it?

Rizpah, we salute you. Mother-love knows no boundaries.

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).