2 Samuel 21:3

3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites, "What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless ¹the inheritance of the LORD?"

2 Samuel 21:3 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 21:3

Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, what shall I do for
you
By way of satisfaction for the injuries done them:

and wherewith shall I make the atonement;
for the offences committed, that so the wrath that was gone forth against the land in a famine might be appeased:

that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord?
pray for a blessing upon the land which the Lord had chosen for his inheritance, and given as such to the people of Israel, that rain might descend upon it, and make it fruitful.

2 Samuel 21:3 In-Context

1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the LORD . And the LORD said, "It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death."

2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah ).

3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites, "What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD ?"

4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, "We have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel." And he said, "I will do for you whatever you say."

5 So they said to the king, "The man who consumed us and who planned to exterminate us from remaining within any border of Israel,

Cross References

• 1. 1 Samuel 26:19; 2 Samuel 20:19