Commento su II Samuele 21:1

On account of Shaul. On account of the sin regarding Shaul who was buried immediately and secretly as the men of Yovish Gilod stole his body and buried him. [Consequently] he was not eulogized with the respect due him.

(1-14) The questions: When did Shaul kill the Giv'onim? First it says "that he killed," and afterward it says "and Shaul sought to strike them," implying that Shaul only sought to do and and didn't [actually] do [so]. Why does [the text] not say "because he killed Nov the city of Kohanim," which is a graver sin? Why did the punishment not come during the days of Shaul, who was the one who sinned, and why was it delayed until the generation of David? Should it be that one man would sin and He would be angry regarding the entire congregation - for [in] what did [the nation of] Israel sin? What would the Giv'onim gain from striking the children of Shaul, who did not sin against them at all? How could such things be done that go against the laws of the Torah in three ways: 1) that they killed the children for the transgression of their fathers, 2) that they killed seven [individuals] in one day, and 3) that they hung their carcasses on the tree/gallows for many days in contradiction to the law of the Torah of Moses? That which is written, "We have no [claim of] silver... with Shaul, and we have no [claim on a] man to kill [him] within Israel": what did they want with this? Behold, it was explained that [the nation of] Israel did not sin with respect to their lives! Why did David then go and take the bones of Shaul and his sons and buried them in the Grave of Kish and had not done this until then? And why does [the text] double its words [as follows]: "And David went and took..." (21:12), and then it says a second time, "And he brought up from there..." (21:13)? And what is this that is written, "and they did everything that the king commanded" (21:14) [after which Gd responded to the plea of the land, i.e., the famine came to an end

And his bloody House. Because he killed out Nov, the city of Kohanim.

..."And there was a famine": The verses teach in accordance with that which Rabbi Saadiah said, and the Maha"ri later strengthened in Tosefet Devarim, that at the time Shaul killed Nov the city of Kohahim, Giv'onim were also found there and were also killed [together] with them. And the Maha"ri says that Shaul was punished with three punishments: 1) for not having kept the word of Hashem in Gilgal, he was punished such that his kingship would not continue to his sons after him, 2) for having had compassion on Agag, he was punished such that his kingship was torn [from him] during his lifetime and that his days would be cut short such that David would be anointed in his stead, and 3) for having killed the Kohanim of G-d that were in Nov he was punished such that he and his sons would die in battle and not be buried and eulogized as would be befitting. And due to Israel not having protested his actions, many among Israel were also killed with him; and, regarding the killing of the Giv'onim, he did not pay for it with his life because his killing of them was not so severe/excessive, and (this action) was accounted for after his death and through his young sons through the sons of his concubine [...]; And Israel was also punished with a famine because they did not protest, and the fact that the punishment was delayed 22 years is due to it being from [among] the deep judgments of G-d and His thoughts, and just as children are punished for the sin of their fathers because, with respect to the judgments of Heaven, such is conceivable if they hold onto the act of their fathers in their hands; these are his words in summary. And I say: since, after the Giv'onim that were found at that time in the city of Nov were killed, regarding which this [the text] said "that he killed the Giv'onim," Shaul spilled like fire his anger also on the rest of the Giv'onim that were found in the [other] cities of Israel, and commanded to destroy them or to expel them from the land, since he held them in suspicion, because their hands had been with the rebellious Kohanim, because [the Giv'onim] were among those who served the Altar and the Kohanim of G-d; and even though Yehoshua had sworn to them to leave them alive, [Shaul] thought that they had violated the covenant [that Yehoshua and the Giv'onim had entered into] due to the fact they had rebelled against the king since they were remnants of the Emorites and enemies of Israel and were thorns in the vinyard of the Lord of Hosts; and it is on this that [the verse] stated "and Shaul wished to strike them with his zealousness for the Children of Israel and Yehudah"; and even though his wish was not turned to reality, through all this [the Giv'onim] were given over to anarchy [i.e., absence of protection by the law], and each man treated them as was fitting in his own eyes, and they were given over to plunder and there was no rescue, to be exiled and deported, for on this [the verse] stated (II Samuel 21:5): "and planned to exterminate us, so that we should not survive in all the territory of Israel," and also after the death of Shaul when Ishboshet ruled after him, and also the Children of Israel, who embittered [the Giv'onim because of] the enmity of their fathers and there was no pardon or mercy on the unfortunate ones; and also, during the time that David ruled, he did not place it on his heart to repair this distortion because they were contemptible and despicable in their eyes; despite the fact that the Kohanim of G-d had been returned to their [place of] honor and greatness, these converts, who endeavored [merely] through their [i.e., the Kohanim's] endeavors of strength, had no respite to their tears; And therefore G-d's anger flared up on His people in the days of David. And, according to the words of our Sages of blessed memory, this was before the actions of Avshalom, near the beginning of his reign, and G-d saw [this] and it was evil in his eyes because there was no justice, and a famine came upon the land [...], just as these miserable ones (i.e., the Giv'onim) were broken and were dying of hunger; and the famine was for three consecutive years because, during the first two years, [King David] and hung the matter (i.e., judged it to be dependent) on other sins, from idol worship, sexual impropriety, and bloodshed, as our Sages of blessed memory had said, and this sin did not arise in anybody's heart (i.e., awareness) to fix it; and in the third year, since he had not found any sin that had been transgressed, David sought the Face of G-D and inquired of the Urim and Tumim [as to what national sin was responsible for the famine].

And because he killed the Givonim. When he killed out Nov, the city of Kohanim, he killed seven people from among them [the Givonim]. Two wood cutters, two water drawers, the sexton, the announcer and the scribe. This is what is explained in Yerushalmi Talmud, in Maseches Sanhedrin.¹Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 29a. [But] our Rabbis said,²Yevomos 78b. On account that he [Shaul] killed the Kohanim [of Nov] that provided food for them [the Givonim], consequently Scripture considers it as if he killed them [as well]. Do not wonder that God demanded retribution for the lack of respect given to him³i.e., the proper eulogy due him. and simultaneously demanded retribution for his sin,⁴of killing out Nov. because this what is what it is written, "Who has done His work,"⁵Tsafanyoh 2:3. when the person is being judged his good works [are remembered] this what we are taught in Maseches Yevomos.⁶Yevomos ibid, See Rashi there.