English Standard Version
2 Samuel 21:6
6let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord." And the king said, "I will give them."
2 Samuel 21:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them.
- New International Version (NIV)let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord’s chosen one.” So the king said, “I will give them to you.”
- New King James Version (NKJV)let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us, and we will hang them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord chose.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)So let seven of Saul’s sons be handed over to us, and we will execute them before the Lord at Gibeon, on the mountain of the Lord.” “All right,” the king said, “I will do it.”
Context of 2 Samuel 21:6
4The Gibeonites said to him, "It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel." And he said, "What do you say that I shall do for you?" 5They said to the king, "The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel, let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord." And the king said, "I will give them." 7But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8The king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;
Read all of 2 Samuel 212 Samuel 21:6 word by word
יֻתַּן לָ֜נוּ שִׁבְעָ֤ה אֲנָשִׁים֙ מִבָּנָ֔יו וְהוֹקַֽעֲנוּם֙ לַֽיהוָ֔ה בְּגִבְעַ֥ת שָׁא֖וּל בְּחִ֣יר יְהוָ֑ה ס וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ אֲנִ֥י אֶתֵּֽן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Let sevenשֶׁ֫בַעsheba‛ shib‛âh · sevenH7651
- menאֱנוֹשׁ'ĕnôsh · humanH582
- of his sonsבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
- be deliveredנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- unto us, and we will hang them upיָקַעyâqa‛ · to dislocate/hangH3363
- unto the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- in Gibeahגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · GibeahH1390
- of Saulשָׁאוּלshâ'ûl · SaulH7586
- did chooseבָּחִירbâchîyr · chosenH972
- And the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
Cross-references for 2 Samuel 21:6
- 2 Samuel 17:23When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city. He set his house in order and hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.
- 2 Samuel 18:10And a certain man saw it and told Joab, "Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak."
- Genesis 40:19In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you."
- Numbers 25:4And the Lord said to Moses, "Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel."
- Deuteronomy 21:22"And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
- Joshua 8:29And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.
- Joshua 10:26And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the trees until evening.
- Ezra 6:11Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill.
- Esther 9:10the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they laid no hand on the plunder.
- Matthew 27:5And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.
- 1 Samuel 10:26Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched.
- 1 Samuel 11:4When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud.
- 1 Samuel 9:16"Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me."
- 1 Samuel 10:1Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, "Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.
- Acts 13:21Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
Commentaries on 2 Samuel 21:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6Seven men of his sons - Meaning sons, grandsons, or other near branches of his family. It is supposed that the persons chosen were principal in assisting Saul to exterminate the Gibeonites. But where is the proof of this?Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Seven men - Seven was a sacred number not only with the Hebrews but with other Oriental nations Numbers 23:1, Numbers 23:29, and is therefore brought in on this occasion when the judicial death of the sons of Saul was a religious act intended to appease the wrath of God for the violation of an oath Numbers 25:4. Whom the Lord did choose - Rather, “the Lord‘s chosen,” or elect. The same phrase is applied to Moses Psalm 106:23, to the Israelites Isaiah…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6seven of his male descendants: The law codes of other ancient Near Eastern nations sometimes permitted members of a family to be punished for crimes a guilty individual had committed. But Deuteronomy 24:16 did not allow this practice among the Israelites. Only God could impose such penalties (Deuteronomy 5:9). The few instances in the Bible when offspring were punished were not regular criminal cases. Instead, they involved offenses against God, such as…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul--The practice of the Hebrews, as of most Oriental nations, was to slay first, and afterwards to suspend on a gibbet, the body not being left hanging after sunset. The king could not refuse this demand of the Gibeonites, who, in making it, were only exercising their right as blood-avengers; and, although through fear and a sense of weakness they had…Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Samuel 21:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Samuel 21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries