2 Samuel 21:4

4 And Gibeonites said to him, No question is to us upon gold and silver, but against Saul, and against his house; neither we will, that a man of Israel be slain. To whom the king said, What therefore will ye, that I do to you? (And the Gibeonites said to him, No answer shall be for us in gold or silver, but rather with Saul and his family; and we do not desire that just any man of Israel be killed. To whom the king said, And so what do ye desire, that I do for you?)

2 Samuel 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.

2 Samuel 21:4 In-Context

2 Therefore when [the] Gibeonites were called, the king said to them; soothly Gibeonites be not of the sons of Israel, but they be the relics of Amorites; and the sons of Israel had sworn to them, that they should not slay them, and Saul would smite them for (his) fervent love, as for the sons of Israel and of Judah; (And so when the Gibeonites were called, the king said to them; now the Gibeonites be not Israelites, but they be the remnants of the Amorites; and the Israelites had sworn to them, that they would not kill them, but Saul did strike many of them down in his fervent love for the people of Israel and of Judah;)

3 therefore David said to Gibeonites, What shall I do to you, and what shall be your amends, that ye bless the heritage of the Lord? (and so David said to the Gibeonites, What can I do for you? and what shall be your amends, so that ye bless the Lord's inheritance, that is, his people?)

4 And Gibeonites said to him, No question is to us upon gold and silver, but against Saul, and against his house; neither we will, that a man of Israel be slain. To whom the king said, What therefore will ye, that I do to you? (And the Gibeonites said to him, No answer shall be for us in gold or silver, but rather with Saul and his family; and we do not desire that just any man of Israel be killed. To whom the king said, And so what do ye desire, that I do for you?)

5 And they said to the king, We ought so to do away the man, that defouled and oppressed us wickedly, that not one soothly be left of his generation in all the coasts of Israel. (And they said to the king, We want to completely do away the man, who defiled and wickedly oppressed us, so that truly not one of his generation be left in all the coasts of Israel.)

6 Seven men of his sons be given to us, that we crucify them to the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, sometime the chosen man of the Lord. And the king said, I shall give them to you. (Let seven of his kinsmen be given to us, so that we can hang them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was, at one time, the Lord's chosen man. And the king said, I shall give them to you.)