Armoni was the son of King Saul and his concubine Rizpah, daughter of Aiah. His fate is inextricably linked to Saul's breach of covenant with the Gibeonites—a crime that, according to the biblical account, brought famine upon Israel during David's reign. When David sought an answer from the Lord, it was revealed that Saul's bloodguilt against the Gibeonites was the cause. The Gibeonites demanded seven of Saul's descendants as atonement, and Armoni was handed over along with his brother Mephibosheth (son of Rizpah) and five sons of Merab. They were executed in a ritual act on the hill before the Lord, at the beginning of the harvest. Armoni's mother Rizpah then kept a remarkable and prolonged watch over the dead bodies, protecting them from birds of prey and wild animals. This courageous act moved King David, who had their bones gathered—together with those of Saul and Jonathan—and arranged for an honorable burial in the tomb of Kish in the land of Benjamin. The account raises deep questions about collective guilt, covenant faithfulness, and atonement, and Rizpah's loyalty casts a poignant light on an otherwise brutal episode.
1In the days of David there was a famine that lasted three years, year after year, and David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, "It is because of Saul and his bloodstained house, because he put the Gibeonites to death."
2So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites but a remnant of the Amorites, and the Israelites had sworn an oath to spare them; yet Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for Israel and Judah.
4The Gibeonites answered him, "It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man in Israel to death." David said, "Then what do you say I should do for you?"
6let seven of his sons be handed over to us, and we will hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD." The king said, "I will hand them over."
Armoni was handed over to the Gibeonites along with his brother Mephibosheth and five sons of Merab. They were executed on a hill in the presence of the Lord at the beginning of the barley harvest.
8So the king took the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she had borne to Saul—Armoni and Mephibosheth—and the five sons of Michal daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. [^1]
[^1]: The Hebrew text reads *Michal*; since Adriel married Saul's daughter Merab (1 Samuel 18:19) and Michal had no children (2 Samuel 6:23), some ancient manuscripts and many interpreters read *Merab* here.
9He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who hanged them on the hill before the LORD. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Rizpah spread sackcloth on the rock and kept watch over the bodies from the start of the harvest until rain fell, preventing birds and wild animals from approaching the corpses.
10Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain poured down on the bodies from the heavens, she did not let the birds of the sky settle on them by day or the wild animals by night.
When David heard about Rizpah's actions, he retrieved the bones of Saul and Jonathan as well as those of the executed men and arranged for a dignified burial in the tomb of Kish in the land of Benjamin.
12he went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them on the day they struck Saul down at Gilboa.
14They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin, at Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father, and they did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer on behalf of the land.