Aiah

About Aiah

Aiah is mentioned in the Bible as the father of Rizpah, a concubine of King Saul. Rizpah had two sons with Saul, named Armoni and Mephibosheth. (2Sa.21.8)

After Saul's death, Abner, the commander of Saul's army, had relations with Rizpah, which was considered a challenge to the authority of Saul's son and successor, Ish-bosheth. This led to a conflict between Abner and Ish-bosheth. (2Sa.3.7).

Later, during the reign of King David, a famine struck Israel for three years. The Lord revealed that it was due to Saul's bloodguilt against the Gibeonites. To make amends, David handed over seven of Saul's descendants, including Rizpah's two sons, to the Gibeonites, who killed them. (2Sa.21.1-9)

Rizpah then took sackcloth and spread it on a rock, guarding the bodies of her sons and the other five men from the beginning of harvest until the rains came. She protected them from scavenger birds during the day and wild animals at night. (2Sa.21.10)

When David heard about Rizpah's actions, he was moved and ordered the retrieval of the bones of Saul, Jonathan, and the seven men who had been killed. They were buried in the tomb of Saul's father, Kish, and after that, God answered the prayers for the land. (2Sa.21.11-14)

Aiah's daughter, Rizpah, demonstrated remarkable courage, loyalty, and maternal love in her actions, which ultimately led to the proper burial of Saul and his descendants.

Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.