דברי הימים ב, פרק כ״ח, פסוק י״ג

The men of Israel intercept their own army to prevent them from bringing captives from Judah into the city of Samaria [מצודת דוד]. This intervention stems from a profound awareness of their fragile spiritual condition. They recognize that holding their brothers as captives and slaves is a grave offense, and they deeply fear the divine punishment that would follow. Their words reveal that at least a portion of the nation understood that their current way of life was neither right nor good [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The leaders argue that bringing the captives inside will result in a severe offense in the eyes of God [מצודת דוד], or bring about a direct punishment from Him [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Addressing the soldiers, they recall the prophet's warning that the nation already carries a heavy burden of wrongdoing and is deserving of punishment. Therefore, it would be utterly foolish to pile new offenses on top of the existing ones. A careful distinction is made regarding their actions: the plea not to add to their sins refers to increasing the actual number of bad deeds, while the fear of adding to their guilt reflects the dread of increasing the liability and the resulting penalty for those deeds [מלבי״ם].

Beyond a basic fear of consequences, the speakers display a deep grasp of their reality. They understand that the very reason they were allowed to strike down their brothers was a result of their own overwhelming guilt. The situation presented them with the opportunity to be the attackers, but they know that if they cruelly exploit this chance and enslave the captives, God will ultimately punish them for the acts of murder and captivity [מלבי״ם]. Consequently, they conclude that this specific act of keeping the captives would generate an exceptionally massive amount of guilt, inevitably awakening God's fierce anger against Israel [מצודת דוד].