2Sa 21:6 | TNotes | STEP | 21:6 seven of Saul’s sons: Although 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, Deut 24:16 prohibited such punishment among the Israelites. This penalty was God’s prerogative alone (Deut 5:9 ). The few instances in the Bible when offspring were punished were not regular criminal cases. Rather, they involved offenses against God, such as violation of the kherem (the taboo on goods in wars of total destruction ordered by God; Josh 7:24-25 ) or of national oaths (as here). • at Gibeon, on the mountain of the Lord : This probably refers to the high place at Gibeon that Solomon later visited (1 Kgs 3:3-4 ; 2 Chr 1:3 ). If the Hebrew reading is correct (see NLT note), the Gibeonites were sarcastically referring to Saul as “the chosen of the Lord .”

bDeut 24:16►

cDeut 5:9►

dJosh 7:24-25►

e1 Kgs 3:3-4►

f2 Chr 1:3►

‏ 2 Samuel 21:6

21:6 ^a seven of Saul’s sons: Although 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, Deut 24:16 ^b prohibited such punishment among the Israelites. This penalty was God’s prerogative alone (Deut 5:9 ^c). The few instances in the Bible when offspring were punished were not regular criminal cases. Rather, they involved offenses against God, such as violation of the kherem (the taboo on goods in wars of total destruction ordered by God; Josh 7:24-25 ^d) or of national oaths (as here).

• at Gibeon, on the mountain of the Lord: This probably refers to the high place at Gibeon that Solomon later visited (1 Kgs 3:3-4 ^e; 2 Chr 1:3 ^f). If the Hebrew reading is correct (see NLT note), the Gibeonites were sarcastically referring to Saul as “the chosen of the Lord.”