2 Samuel 21:2

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;)

2 Samuel 21:2 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 21:2

And the king called the Gibeonites
Sent messengers unto them, and summoned them to come to him,

and said unto them;
what is expressed in ( 2 Samuel 21:3 ) ; for what follows is in a parenthesis:

(now the Gibeonites [were] not of the children of Israel;
originally, though they were proselyted to the Jewish religion, and were employed in the menial services of the sanctuary:

but of the remnant of the Amorites;
they were the remains of the old Canaanites, who sometimes in general were called Amorites, otherwise the Gibeonites were called Hivites; see ( Joshua 9:7 ) ( 11:19 ) ;

and the children of Israel had sworn unto them;
by their princes, as Joshua; yet,

and Saul, contrary to this oath, sought to slay them in his zeal to the
children of Israel and Judah);
pretending a great concern for them, for their honour and profit; that these men ought not to live in their cities, and take the bread out of their mouths, and be employed in the service of the sanctuary; but that they ought to be expelled, and even cut off, being the old inhabitants of the land, the Lord ordered to be destroyed; and that though the Israelites had given an oath to the contrary, they were drawn into it by guile and deceit, and therefore not binding upon them; hence he sought by all means to harass and oppress them, and slew many of them, and destroyed them out of their cities, that they might be possessed by Judah and Benjamin; see ( 2 Samuel 4:2 ) , compared with ( Joshua 9:17 ) .

2 Samuel 21:2 In-Context

1 And hunger was made in the land of Israel in the days of David, by three years continually. And David counselled the answer of the Lord, that is, asked counsel of the Lord in the answering place; and the Lord said, It is for Saul, and for his house, and for [the] blood, for he killed the men of Gibeon. (And in the days of David, there was hunger in the land of Israel, for three years without ceasing. And David counselled with the Lord; and the Lord said, It is because Saul, and his family, were guilty of the blood, or of murder, for he killed the Gibeonites.)

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.)