As King Saul’s concubine, Rizpah lived largely as less than—less than the wives, less than any bona fide member of the royal family. Her children, though considered legitimate, were unlikely to ascend to the throne. Acquired for their beauty or political connections, concubines were unseen and unheard.

Such was Rizpah.

Scripture doesn’t record a single word that Rizpah says. But her courage, loyalty, grief and demand for dignity still speak loudly to us today.

A Pawn in a Power Struggle

We first read about Rizpah following the death of Saul and his son Jonathan in battle. David led the southern part of the kingdom while Saul’s army commander-in-chief Abner vied for power in the northern kingdom.

Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?”—2 Samuel 3:7 (ESV)

Did Abner go in to Rizpah? Did Rizpah support the overthrow of Saul’s house? We don’t know. But what we do know is Rizpah was a pawn in a power struggle. And that’s a position in which no woman—no person—should ever be.

The Price of Revenge

Saul’s death painted targets on the backs of his survivors, including Rizpah’s two sons. Tensions were high enough as David rose to power and Saul’s family fought to sustain influence, but a plague on the land ratcheted up the tensions.

David asked the Lord whether the plague was His judgment on the land. Sure enough, God said it was a result of Saul breaching a covenant of protection with the Gibeonites, resulting in the slaughter of many of them. (See 2 Samuel 21:1-3.)

So David went to the Gibeonites and asked how he could make it right.

They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel, let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”—2 Samuel 21:5-6 (ESV)

David agreed to their terms, making Rizpah’s two sons among those killed. But the king spared Mephibosheth, the disabled son of his best friend Jonathan.

Silence That Roared Across the Land

The Gibeonites hung the seven bodies on a hill in a public display of shame and indignity. There they are believed to have hung for five or six months.

All that while, a grieving mother maintained vigil by their bodies.

Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.—2 Samuel 21:9-10 (ESV)

Can you imagine a more heartbreaking scene?

Her vigil of grief was a silent cry for dignity and a monument to the unseen, unheard and unloved. Her silence roared, making its way to David’s throne room.

The Tears Dry, the Rains Fall

Moved and perhaps ashamed by the overall lack of compassion, David brought the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh-gilead. He gave them, along with the seven men killed by the Gibeonites, a proper burial in the tomb of Saul’s father, Kish. (See 2 Samuel 21:11-14.)

The Lord lifted the plague. Rizpah’s sons received the dignity befitting the family of a fallen king. The concubine’s vigil ended. Her silence was heard. Her mission was complete.

What We Can Learn from Her

So much ugliness surrounds Rizpah’s story. We see the depth of injustice, the hunger for power, the extent to which people will go to seek revenge.

We see unbridled grief on full display.

But we also see beauty in Rizpah’s loyalty, her love and her determination to receive dignity for her sons.

Her months-long vigil reminded David, who had honored Saul in life, that he owed his onetime mentor and his family compassion and respect in death.

We also can be confident of this: Though Rizpah grieved alone, seemingly unseen and unheard for months, Someone did see her tears. Someone did hear her unspoken cries. The same Someone sees your tears and hears your cries. The same Someone is working in ways you may not see to make all things right and new.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
    and saves the crushed in spirit.—Psalm 34:18

He was near to Rizpah. He is near to you. Believe on Him, and hold tightly to Him in your grief.

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This is Part 21 in a series about biblical women—some named, some not, some honorable, some less so. But all have earned a place in scripture, and all have important lessons to teach us.