2-Samuel - 21:4



4 The Gibeonites said to him, "It is no matter of silver or gold between us and Saul, or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel." He said, "Whatever you say, that will I do for you."

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of 2-Samuel 21:4.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.
And the Gabaonites said to him: We have no contest about silver and gold, but against Saul and against his house: neither do we desire that any man be slain of Israel. And the king said to them: What will you then that I should do for you?
And the Gibeonites said to him, As to Saul and his house, it is with us no question of receiving silver or gold, neither is it for us to have any man put to death in Israel. And he said, What ye say will I do for you.
And the Gibeonites say to him, 'We have no silver and gold by Saul and by his house, and we have no man to put to death in Israel;' and he saith, 'What ye are saying I do to you.'
And the Gibeonites said to him, It is not a question of silver and gold between us and Saul or his family; and it is not in our power to put to death any man in Israel. And he said, Say, then, what am I to do for you?
And the Gibeonites said to him: "There is no quarrel for us over silver or gold, but against Saul and against his house. And we do not desire that any man of Israel be put to death." The king said to them, "Then what do you wish that I should do for you?"

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

No silver, nor gold - Money payments as a compensation for blood-guilt were very common among many nations. The law, too, in Numbers 35:31-32, presupposes the existence of the custom which it prohibits. In like manner the speech of the Gibeonites implies that such a payment as they refuse would be a not unusual proceeding.
Neither shalt thou kill any man in Israel - They mean that it is not against the nation of Israel, but against the individual Saul, that they cry for vengeance. The demand for Saul's sons is exactly similar to that which dictated David's own expression in 2-Samuel 24:17, "against me, and against my father's house."

And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill (c) any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, [that] will I do for you.
(c) Save only of Saul's stock.

And, the Gibeonites said unto him,.... In reply to his motion:
we will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; this shall not be the ransom or atonement; it was not silver and gold Saul took from them, but the lives of their brethren, and therefore they insist upon life for life:
neither for us shall thou kill any man in Israel; who were not of the house of Saul; they did not desire any man should die, but who were of that family by whom they had suffered:
and he said, what you shall say, that will I do for you; whether by inflicting pecuniary fines, or punishing with death, which latter seems to be what they suggested, and afterwards insisted on; whatever, according to law and justice, was required, he was ready to do it for them.

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