Armoni

Biblical Account

Armoni appears only in 2 Samuel 21. His father was Saul, the first king of Israel, and his mother was Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Saul's concubine (2 Samuel 3:7; 21:8). His full brother, also named Mephibosheth, is a different person from Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, who bore the same name.

During the reign of David, a famine lasted for three years. When David inquired of the LORD, he was told that it was "for Saul, and for his bloody house" (21:1). The cause was that Saul had slain the Gibeonites, a people whom Israel had sworn by oath to spare in the days of Joshua (21:2; Joshua 9). Saul's killing of the Gibeonites is not described in detail anywhere else in Scripture.

The Gibeonites demanded seven of Saul's descendants (21:5–6). Because of his oath with Jonathan, David spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan (21:7). Instead, he handed over Rizpah's two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth, together with the five sons borne by Saul's daughter Merab (21:8). The Gibeonites executed them on the hill before the LORD at the beginning of the barley harvest (21:9).

Rizpah spread sackcloth on a rock and guarded the bodies from the birds and wild beasts from the beginning of harvest until the rain fell (21:10). When David heard of this, he brought the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh-gilead. He then buried them, together with the bones of those who had been executed, in the tomb of Kish at Zelah in the land of Benjamin. The text records that afterward God heard the prayers for the land (21:12–14).

Significance Within the Bible

The text says nothing about Armoni's age, character, or deeds. He is named only as a member of Saul's house in connection with this event. He is not mentioned in the New Testament.

The narrative is generally read as concerning the keeping of oaths and covenants, since it shows both that the oath made in Joshua's time remained binding into the monarchic period and that David kept his oath to Jonathan. Many scholars regard 2 Samuel 21–24 as a section of appendix-like character that does not follow chronological order, so it is unclear when during David's reign this event took place.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• The father's sin and the execution of descendants: Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:19–20 forbid putting children to death for the sins of their fathers. The tension between these provisions and this passage is a long-standing interpretive problem.
• Many conservative commentators regard the Deuteronomic provision as a rule for judicial cases between individuals, and explain this incident instead as a communal matter in which blood shed in violation of a covenant had polluted the land (compare Numbers 35:33).
• On the basis of the phrase "his bloody house" in 21:1, some interpreters suppose that members of Saul's household took part in the massacre. The text, however, does not say that Armoni himself participated.
• Some critical scholars point out that the incident had the effect of eliminating the male members of a rival royal house.
• Method of execution: The Korean Revised Version renders the act as hanging. Scholars disagree, however, about exactly what form of execution or treatment of the bodies the Hebrew verb denotes.
• Merab and Michal: Korean Bibles read "Merab" in 21:8, but the Hebrew Masoretic Text has Michal. Some manuscripts and translations read Merab. Because 1 Samuel 18:19 identifies Merab as the wife of Adriel, Korean Bibles follow the reading Merab.
• Meaning of the name: The name is sometimes explained as meaning something like "one belonging to the palace," but this explanation is not certain.

In the Korean Church

Armoni himself is rarely the subject of sermons or Sunday school lessons. The text of 2 Samuel 21 is cited mainly in discussions of Rizpah's mourning and vigil or of the covenant issue between David and the Gibeonites, and Armoni's name comes up only incidentally in that context.