2 Samuel 21:3

3 and asked them, "What can I do for you? What should I [give you] to make peace with you so that you will bless what belongs to 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 In the time of David, there was a famine for three successive years, and David asked the LORD's advice about it. The LORD answered, "It's because of Saul and his family. They are guilty of murder because they killed the people of Gibeon."

2 (The Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were left over from the Amorites. Although the Israelites had sworn [to spare them], Saul, in his eagerness, tried to destroy them for Israel and Judah.) The king called the Gibeonites

3 and asked them, "What can I do for you? What should I [give you] to make peace with you so that you will bless what belongs to the LORD?"

4 "We do not want silver or gold from Saul's family," the Gibeonites answered him. "And none of us wants to kill [anyone] in Israel." The king asked, "What are you saying that I should do for you?"

5 They answered the king, "Give us seven of the male descendants of the man who wanted to finish us off. He planned to wipe us out to keep us from staying anywhere in Israel's territory.