The story of David and the Gibeonites in II Sam 21,1–14 has long presented scholars with a curious puzzle about its literary and compositional character and how it is to be related to the rest of the David story. Is it an ancient tradition that includes historical information about the reigns of Saul and David? Or does it belong to a collection of late additions in the »appendix« of chaps. 21–24? In response to recent studies that seek to remove additions to the story in order to recover an old historical tradition, It is argued that it is a late composition made up of narrative elements drawn from earlier biblical stories to produce the present tale. The result is a totally confusing composition with no historical usefulness and little literary or artistic merit. It was never part of the DtrH or one of his sources, nor of the David Saga (»Succession Narrative«), but only a late addition to the present collection of David stories.
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