Shmuel Bais 21:4

4 And the Giveonim said unto him, We will have no kesef nor zahav of Sha’ul, nor of his bais; neither for us shalt thou kill any ish in Yisroel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.

Shmuel Bais 21:4 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 21:4

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.

Shmuel Bais 21:4 In-Context

2 And HaMelech called the Giveonim, and said unto them; (now the Giveonim were not of the Bnei Yisroel, but of the remnant of the Emori; and the Bnei Yisroel had sworn unto them; and Sha’ul sought to annihilate them in his kinot (zeal) for the Bnei Yisroel and Yehudah.)
3 Therefore Dovid said unto the Giveonim, What shall I do for you? And wherewith shall I make the kapporah, that ye may bless the nachalat Hashem?
4 And the Giveonim said unto him, We will have no kesef nor zahav of Sha’ul, nor of his bais; neither for us shalt thou kill any ish in Yisroel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.
5 And they answered HaMelech, The ish that consumed us, and that plotted against us that we should be made shmad from remaining in any of the territories of Yisroel,
6 Let shivah anashim of his banim be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto Hashem in Giveah of Sha’ul, whom Hashem did choose. And HaMelech said, I will give them.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.