2 Samuel 21:5

5 They answered, "Saul wanted to destroy us and leave none of us alive anywhere in Israel.

2 Samuel 21:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 21:5

And they answered the king
Declaring expressly what they would have done: the man that consumed us; meaning Saul, who lessened their number by cruel oppressions of some, and by taking away the lives of others:

and that devised against us, [that] we should be destroyed from
remaining in any of the coasts of Israel;
who had formed schemes, and published edicts, for banishing them out of the land; perhaps at the same time that he put away wizards and those that had familiar spirits out of the land, under the same pretence for zeal for the glory of God, and the good of the people of the land, ( 1 Samuel 28:3-9 ) .

2 Samuel 21:5 In-Context

3 So David summoned the people of Gibeon and said to them, "What can I do for you? I want to make up for the wrong that was done to you, so that you will bless the Lord's people."

4 They answered, "Our quarrel with Saul and his family can't be settled with silver or gold, nor do we want to kill any Israelite." "What, then, do you think I should do for you?" David asked.

5 They answered, "Saul wanted to destroy us and leave none of us alive anywhere in Israel.

6 So hand over seven of his male descendants, and we will hang them before the Lord at Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, the Lord's chosen king." "I will hand them over," the king answered.

7 But because of the sacred promise that he and Jonathan had made to each other, David spared Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul.