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.
Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord. The practice of the Hebrews, as of most Oriental nations, was to slay first, and afterward to suspend on a gibbet х wªhowqa`anuwm (H3363), we shall suspend on is stake or low cross, we shall impale them, the body being not left hanging after sunset (Deuteronomy 21:22-23)]. 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 not chimed satisfaction, yet, now that David had been apprised by the oracle of the cause of the long-prevailing calamity, he felt it his duty to give the Gibeonites full satisfaction; hence, their specifying the number seven, which was reckoned full and complete. And if it should seem unjust to make the descendants suffer for a crime which in all probability originated with Saul himself, yet his sons and grandsons might have been the instruments of his cruelty, the willing and zealous executioners of this bloody raid.
In Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. Gibeah was Saul's place of residence, and consequently the capital of the kingdom during his reign (1 Samuel 10:26; 1 Samuel 11:4). It was situated on or near a round hill, as the term imports (cf. 2 Samuel 21:9) (now Tuleil el-Ful). The selection of this place, which had been the seat of his majesty, to be the scene of execution of his descendants, would be a public and indelible stigma on his memory and house. х Shaa'uwl (H7586) bªchiyr (H972) Yahweh (H3069), Saul chosen of Yahweh.] This seems to have been added by the Gibeonites as an aggravation of the offence committed against them, that he, 'the Lord's anointed,' to whose kind providence and special arrangement he owed his royal elevation, had broken the divine law, and stained the honour of the Israelite nation by perjury. [The Septuagint considers 'the Lord's choosing' to refer to the victims surrendered to the Gibeonites:-exeeliasoomen autous too kurioo en too Gabaoon Saoul eklektous kurion, we shall hang them up in Gibeah of Saul, who are selected by the Lord]. "Unto the Lord" - in vindication of His honour and law. But this is contrary to the grammatical construction х bªchiyr (H972)], chosen being in the singular. Grove (Smith's 'Dictionary') and others apply the epithet to Gibeah, the hill on which it stood being supposed consecrated to God, from the fact of Ahiah the priest there depositing the ark (1 Samuel 14:18: cf. 2 Samuel 6:3-4). But it is an objection to this view that Gibeah is nowhere depositing the ark (1 Samuel 14:18: cf. 2 Samuel 6:3-4). But it is an objection to this view that Gibeah is nowhere said to be a place which the Lord chose.
The king said, I will give them. David cannot be charged with doing this as an indirect way of ridding himself of rival competitors for the throne, for those delivered up were only collateral branches of Saul's family, and never set up any claim to the sovereignty. Moreover, David was only granting the request of the Gibeonites as God had bidden him do.