Discovery Box2 Samuel 21:8-11 
Context21:8 So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah whom she had born to Saul, and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab 1 whom she had born to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 21:9 He turned them over to the Gibeonites, and they executed them on a hill before the Lord. The seven of them 2 died 3 together; they were put to death during harvest time – during the first days of the beginning 4 of the barley harvest.
21:10 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on them, 5 she did not allow the birds of the air to feed 6 on them by day, nor the wild animals 7 by night. 21:11 When David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, Saul’s concubine, had done,
1 tc The MT reads “Michal” here, but two Hebrew manuscripts read “Merab,” along with some LXX manuscripts. Cf. 1 Sam 18:19.
2 tc The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew
3 tn Heb “fell.”
4 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
5 tn Heb “until water was poured on them from the sky.”
6 tn Heb “rest.”
7 tn Heb “the beasts of the field.”
