2 Samuel 21:6

let seven of his male descendants be turned over to us, and we will execute ¹  them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was the Lord’s chosen one.” ²  The king replied, “I will turn them over.”

Ge 40:19,22; Nu 25:4,5; De 21:22; Jos 8:29; Jos 10:26; 1Sa 9:16,17; 1Sa 10:1,24; 1Sa 10:26; 1Sa 11:4; 2Sa 17:23; 2Sa 18:10; Ezr 6:11; Es 9:10,13,14; Mt 27:5; Ac 13:21

¹ tn The exact nature of this execution is not altogether clear. The verb יָקַע (yaqa’) basically means “to dislocate” or “alienate.” In Gen 32:26 it is used of the dislocation of Jacob’s thigh. Figuratively it can refer to the removal of an individual from a group (e.g., Jer 6:8; Ezek 23:17) or to a type of punishment the specific identity of which is uncertain (e.g., here and Num 25:4); cf. NAB “dismember them”; NIV “to be killed and exposed.”

² tc The LXX reads “at Gibeon on the mountain of the Lord” (cf. 21:9). The present translation follows the MT, although a number of recent English translations follow the LXX reading here (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).