What Does 2 Samuel 21:4 Mean?
And the Gibeonites said to him, We will have no silver nor gold from Saul, nor from his house; neither shall you put any man in Israel to death for us. And he said, Whatever you say, that I will do for you.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.THE KEY
Saul’s name means “asked for,” and this verse makes a request the hinge between refused payment and a remedy David agrees to carry out.
THE MEANING
The Gibeonites reject payment from Saul’s house and say they have no Israelite they would have David put to death for them. David promises to do whatever they say, giving their words the force of action. The verse holds a stated boundary against killing beside a promise that leaves the remedy’s shape to those speaking.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Declining money and refusing to have the king kill someone for them does not ensure that no one will die; the request can still name who is handed over and who carries out the killing.
THE ROOT
שָׁאוּל
Sha'ul
GROWS FROM
שאל
Ask, seek, or request.
Sha’ul is formed from the root of asking: “asked for.” Here the exchange turns on what is requested from Saul’s house and David’s promise to act on the Gibeonites’ words. The name’s echo makes the request itself visible as the force shaping what follows.
ALSO GROWS
she'elah: A question or request.
שְׁאֵלָה
It shares the root carried in Saul’s name and brings the scene’s asking into focus.
mish'al: A request or desired thing.
מִשְׁאָל
This branch shows the root extending from asking to the thing sought, the very matter David agrees to grant through action.
לְהָמִית
lehamit
GROWS FROM
מות
Die; in a causative form, cause someone to die or put someone to death.
The Hebrew word for “put to death” is a causative form of the same root that means “die”: the action is named by the death it causes. The verse’s boundary is specifically that David not cause a man’s death for them; the next verse names a different agent for the hanging.
ALSO GROWS
māvet: Death.
מָוֶת
The branch names the outcome contained in the causative verb used for killing.
met: One who is dead.
מֵת
It keeps the person who bears the result of the act in view.
THE PATTERN
When someone with authority invites a request and promises to act, spoken words take on the force of action.
In Gibeon the LORD showed himself to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall give you.And the king said to Esther at the drinking of wine, What is your asking? It shall be given you. And what is your seeking? Even to half the governance it shall be done.Jesus answered and said to him, What do you want me to do for you? The blind man said to him, My teacher, that I might look up again.THE THREAD
Let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them out before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD. And the king said, I will give them.This next request names seven men of Saul’s house to be handed over for hanging, and David gives them. The Gibeonites have said they will not have David kill anyone for them; now they name the men and say they will hang them themselves.
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