Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell on 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 — Rizpah, the mother of two of the executed men, performs an act of devotion and protest. She spreads sackcloth on a rock and maintains a vigil, protecting the bodies from desecration by birds and beasts. Her vigil continues from the beginning of harvest until rain falls, a period of months. Her action is one of mourning, honor, and implicit reproach against the executions.

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