On the culpability of Saul's sons

6 let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them up to YHWH in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of YHWH.” The king said, “I will give them.” 2 Samuel 21:6WEB

Given the lack of information about the crime that was perpetrated on the Gibeonites, we can assume that Saul's sons were accessories in the act of murder, and that David knew this. Verse 1 states explicitly that Saul's "house," or "household," was guilty.

Biblical law explicitly teaches against the authority of human civil governments to use vicarious punishment:

16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin. Deuteronomy 24:16WEB

This prohibition is one of the things which distinguishes Biblical law from other ancient Near East law systems.

Greg Bahnsen:

What we have is a case parallel to that of Achan in Joshua 7. There the nation was afflicted for an individual's sin, and ultimately the family of the individual was executed along with him (for they could hardly have failed to detect Achan's burying money and keeping war spoil in his tent). They were guilty, at least, of complicity with him.

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