2 Samuel 21:4

Contemporary English Version

The Gibeonites answered, "Silver and gold from Saul and his family are not enough. On the other hand, we don't have the right to put any Israelite to death." David said, "I'll do whatever you ask."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Gibeonites said to him, “We are not asking for silver and gold from Saul or his family, and we cannot put anyone to death in Israel.”

Hebrew Names Version
The Giv`onim said to him, It is no matter of silver or gold between us and Sha'ul, or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Yisra'el. He said, What you shall say, that will I do for you.

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.

Lexham English Bible
Then the Gibeonites said to him, "It is not a matter for us of silver or gold with Saul or with his household. It is not for us to put to death anyone in Israel." He asked, "What are you saying that I should do for you all?"

English Standard Version
The 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?"

New Century Version
The Gibeonites said to David, "We cannot demand silver or gold from Saul or his family. And we don't have the right to kill anyone in Israel." Then David asked, "What do you want me to do for you?"

New English Translation
The Gibeonites said to him, "We have no claim to silver or gold from Saul or from his family, nor would we be justified in putting to death anyone in Israel." David asked, "What then are you asking me to do for you?"

Amplified Bible
The Gibeonites said to him, "We will not accept silver or gold belonging to Saul or his household (descendants); nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel." David said, "I will do for you whatever you say."

New American Standard Bible
Then the Gibeonites said to him, "For us it is not a matter of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put anyone to death in Israel." Nevertheless David said, "I will do for you whatever you say."

Geneva Bible (1587)
The Gibeonites then answered him, Wee will haue no siluer nor golde of Saul nor of his house, neither for vs shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I doe for you.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the Gibeonites said to him, "We have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel." And he said, "I will do for you whatever you say."

Complete Jewish Bible
The Giv‘onim said to him, "Our dispute with Sha'ul can't be resolved with silver or gold; and we don't have the right to put anyone in Isra'el to death." He said, "So, what do you say that I should do for you?"

Darby Translation
And the Gibeonites said to him, As to Saul and his house, it is with us no question of receiving silver or gold, neither is it for us to have any man put to death in Israel. And he said, What ye say will I do for you.

Easy-to-Read Version
The Gibeonites said to David, "There isn't enough gold and silver for Saul's family to pay for what they did. But we don't have the right to kill anyone else in Israel." David said, "Well, what can I do for you?"

George Lamsa Translation
And the Gibeonites said to him, It is not silver and gold that Saul and his house owe us; neither do we wish to kill any one in Israel. And he said to them, Whatever you shall say, that will I do for you.

Good News Translation
They answered, "Our quarrel with Saul and his family can't be settled with silver or gold, nor do we want to kill any Israelite." "What, then, do you think I should do for you?" David asked.

Literal Translation
And the Gibeonites said to him, We will have neither silver nor gold by Saul and by his house. Also, we will have no man in Israel put to death. And he said, What you say, I will do for you.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The Gibeonites sayde vnto him: It is not for golde and syluer that we haue to do wt Saul and his house, nether haue we oughte to do for to slaye eny ma in Israel. He sayde: What saye ye then, that I shal do vnto you?

American Standard Version
And the Gibeonites said unto him, It is no 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 ye shall say, that will I do for you.

Bible in Basic English
And the Gibeonites said to him, It is not a question of silver and gold between us and Saul or his family; and it is not in our power to put to death any man in Israel. And he said, Say, then, what am I to do for you?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The Gibeonites aunswered him: We will haue no siluer nor golde of Saul nor of his house, neither is it our mind that thou shouldest kil any man in Israel. He saide: What you shall say, that will I do for you.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the Gibeonites said unto him: 'It is no 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 say ye that I should do for you?'

King James Version (1611)
And the Gibeonites saide vnto him, We will haue no siluer nor golde of Saul, nor of his house, neither for vs shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What you shall say, that will I doe for you.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Gabaonites said to him, We have no question about silver or gold with Saul and with his house; and there is no man for us to put to death in Israel.

English Revised Version
And the Gibeonites said unto him, It is no 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 ye shall say, that will I do for you.

Berean Standard Bible
The Gibeonites said to him, "We need no silver or gold from Saul or his house, nor should you put to death anyone in Israel for us." "Whatever you ask, I will do for you," he replied.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Gabaonytis seiden to hym, No questioun is to vs on gold and siluer, but ayens Saul, and ayens his hows; nether we wolen, that a man of Israel be slayn. To whiche the kyng seide, What therfor wolen ye, that Y do to you?

Young's Literal Translation
And the Gibeonites say to him, `We have no silver and gold by Saul and by his house, and we have no man to put to death in Israel;' and he saith, `What ye are saying I do to you.'

Update Bible Version
And the Gibeonites said to him, It is no 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 you shall say, that I will do for you.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the Gibeonites said to 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.

World English Bible
The Gibeonites said to him, It is no 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. He said, What you shall say, that will I do for you.

New King James Version
And the Gibeonites said to him, "We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us." So he said, "Whatever you say, I will do for you."

New Living Translation
"Well, money can't settle this matter between us and the family of Saul," the Gibeonites replied. "Neither can we demand the life of anyone in Israel." "What can I do then?" David asked. "Just tell me and I will do it for you."

New Life Bible
The Gibeonites said to him, "We will take no silver or gold from Saul or his family. And it is not for us to put any man to death in Israel." David said, "I will do for you whatever you say."

New Revised Standard
The 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 anyone to death in Israel." He said, "What do you say that I should do for you?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the Gibeonites said unto him - It is not a matter with us of silver or gold, with Saul or with his house, neither would we have a man put to death in Israel. And he said, - What do ye say I should do for you?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Gabaonites said to him: We have no contest about silver and gold, but against Saul and against his house: neither do we desire that any man be slain of Israel. And the king said to them: What will you then that I should do for you?

Revised Standard Version
The Gib'eonites 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?"

THE MESSAGE
The Gibeonites replied, "We don't want any money from Saul and his family. And it's not up to us to put anyone in Israel to death." But David persisted: "What are you saying I should do for you?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the Gibeonites said to him, "We have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel." And he said, "I will do for you whatever you say."

Contextual Overview

¹ While David was king, there were three years in a row when the nation of Israel could not grow enough food. So David asked the Lord for help, and the Lord answered, "Saul and his family are guilty of murder, because he had the Gibeonites killed." ² The Gibeonites were not Israelites; they were descendants of the Amorites. The people of Israel had promised not to kill them, but Saul had tried to kill them because he wanted Israel and Judah to control all the land. David had the Gibeonites come, and he talked with them. ³ He said, "What can I do to make up for what Saul did, so that you'll ask the Lord to be kind to his people again?" ⁴ The Gibeonites answered, "Silver and gold from Saul and his family are not enough. On the other hand, we don't have the right to put any Israelite to death." David said, "I'll do whatever you ask." ⁵ They replied, "Saul tried to kill all our people so that none of us would be left in the land of Israel. ⁶ Give us seven of his descendants. We will hang these men near the place where the Lord is worshiped in Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, the Lord 's chosen king." "I'll give them to you," David said. ⁷ David had made a promise to Jonathan with the Lord as his witness, so he spared Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul. ⁸ But Saul and Rizpah the daughter of Aiah had two sons named Armoni and Mephibosheth. Saul's daughter Merab had five sons whose father was Adriel the son of Barzillai from Meholah. David took Rizpah's two sons and Merab's five sons and ⁹ turned them over to the Gibeonites, who hanged all seven of them on the mountain near the place where the Lord was worshiped. This happened right at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

We will: etc. or, It is not silver nor gold that we have to do with Saul, or his house; neither pertains it to us to kill, etc. no silver. Psalms 49:6-8, 1 Peter 1:18, 1 Peter 1:19

Reciprocal: Genesis 30:31 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 21:12
But God said, "Abraham, don't worry about your slave woman and the boy. Just do what Sarah tells you. Isaac will inherit your family name,

Genesis 21:22
About this time Abimelech and his army commander Phicol said to Abraham, "God blesses everything you do!

Genesis 21:23
Now I want you to promise in the name of God that you will always be loyal to me and my descendants, just as I have always been loyal to you in this land where you have lived as a foreigner."

Exodus 12:48
If anyone who isn't an Israelite wants to celebrate Passover with you, every man and boy in that family must first be circumcised. Then they may join in the meal, just like native Israelites. No uncircumcised man or boy may eat the Passover meal!

Leviticus 12:3
Her son must be circumcised on the eighth day,

Deuteronomy 12:32
Obey all the laws and teachings I am giving you. Don't add any, and don't take any away.

Luke 1:6
Both of them were good people and pleased the Lord God by obeying all that he had commanded.

Luke 1:59
Eight days later they did for the child what the Law of Moses commands. They were going to name him Zechariah, after his father.

Luke 2:21
Eight days later Jesus' parents did for him what the Law of Moses commands. And they named him Jesus, just as the angel had told Mary when he promised she would have a baby.

Acts 7:8
God said to Abraham, "Every son in each family must be circumcised to show that you have kept your agreement with me." So when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. Later, Isaac circumcised his son Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And, the Gibeonites said unto him,.... In reply to his motion:

we will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; this shall not be the ransom or atonement; it was not silver and gold Saul took from them, but the lives of their brethren, and therefore they insist upon life for life:

neither for us shall thou kill any man in Israel; who were not of the house of Saul; they did not desire any man should die, but who were of that family by whom they had suffered:

and he said, what you shall say, [that] will I do for you; whether by inflicting pecuniary fines, or punishing with death, which latter seems to be what they suggested, and afterwards insisted on; whatever, according to law and justice, was required, he was ready to do it for them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

No silver, nor gold ... - Money payments as a compensation for blood-guilt were very common among many nations. The law, too, in Numbers 35:31-32, presupposes the existence of the custom which it prohibits. In like manner the speech of the Gibeonites implies that such a payment as they refuse would be a not unusual proceeding.

Neither ... shalt thou kill any man in Israel - They mean that it is not against the nation of Israel, but against the individual Saul, that they cry for vengeance. The demand for Saul’s sons is exactly similar to that which dictated David’s own expression in 2 Samuel 24:17, “against me, and against my father’s house.”