Armoni and Mephibosheth

Depiction by Gustave Doré of Rizpah guarding the bodies of Armoni and Mephibosheth.

Armoni and Mephibosheth^[1] are the two sons of Saul, by his concubine Rizpah daughter of Aiah,^[2] in Second Samuel chapter 21. They were among the seven descendants of Saul that David gave to the Gibeonites to atone for Saul’s attempt to annihilate them. The Gibeonites exposed Mephibosheth and the six others of Saul’s household, hanged^[3] on "the mountain before Jehovah," after putting them to death "in the first days of harvest, at the start of the Grain harvest^[4]". However, Rizpah acted to keep the fowls and wild beasts away from them. David later had their bones gathered and buried with those of Saul and Jonathan in the burial place of Kish (2 Sam. 21:1-14).^[5]

Footnotes

1. Bib Heb: מְפִיבֹשֶׁת, Trans: Mefivoshet (Məp̄îḇṓšeṯ)
2. Easton 1894, p. 457: 2 Sam. 21:8.
3. Easton 1894, p. 457: "their bodies exposed in the sun for five months".
4. Insight 1988, p. 372: cf Num. 25:4.
5. Insight 1988, p. 372.

References

• Easton, Matthew George (1894). Easton's Bible Dictionary (Extended Annotated ed.). Altenmünster: T. Nelson. p. 457. ISBN 9783849621865.
• Insight (1988). Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. 2. Pennsylvania: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. pp. 372–373.