Halakhah zu Schemuel II 21:1

Indeed, condoning the act may well be an even worse infraction than the deed itself. II Samuel 21 reports that in the time of King David there was a famine which lasted for three consecutive years. David recognized that the famine must be a punishment for some transgression. Accordingly, he approached the urim ve-tumim and inquired of God what the infraction might be. There came the response, "And the Lord said: 'It is for Saul and for [his] house of blood because he put the Gibeonites to death' " (II Samuel 21:1). The Gemara, Yevamot 78b, quite cogently poses the question: Where is it related that Saul killed the Gibeonites? In point of fact, Saul committed no untoward act against the Gibeonites. The Gemara replies that although Saul did not kill the Gibeonites, he did annihilate the priests who were the inhabitants of the city of Nob. The Gemara further indicates that the Gibeonites were servants of the priests and, in return for their labor, they received their sustenance from the priests. Subsequent to the destruction of Nob, the Gibeonites who were dependent upon the priests for food and drink, no longer had a source of sustenance and consequently a number of them perished. Since Saul was, at least indirectly, responsible for their death, Scripture regards him as culpable for the demise of the Gibeonites.