Bible Commentary


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1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag;

2 It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth on his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.

3 And David said to him, From where come you? And he said to him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.

4 And David said to him, How went the matter? I pray you, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.

5 And David said to the young man that told him, How know you that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead?

6 And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance on mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned on his spear; and, see, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.

7 And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, Here am I.

8 And he said to me, Who are you? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.

9 He said to me again, Stand, I pray you, on me, and slay me: for anguish is come on me, because my life is yet whole in me.

10 So I stood on him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was on his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.

11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him:

12 And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.

13 And David said to the young man that told him, From where are you? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.

14 And David said to him, How were you not afraid to stretch forth your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?

15 And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall on him. And he smote him that he died.

16 And David said to him, Your blood be on your head; for your mouth has testified against you, saying, I have slain the LORD's anointed.

17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son:

18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)

19 The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places: how are the mighty fallen!

20 Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

21 You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, on you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.

22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.

23 Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

24 You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold on your apparel.

25 How are the mighty fallen in the middle of the battle! O Jonathan, you were slain in your high places.

26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant have you been to me: your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.

27 How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!


David Receives the News of Saul's Death. The account of the death of Saul told by the fugitive here is different from that in 1 Samuel 31. A common explanation is that the fugitive falsely represented himself as the slayer of Saul, in the hope of receiving a reward from David. But it is now widely held that here also we have a blending of two documents: 2Sa 1:1-4; 2Sa 1:11 f. are from the same document (J) as the bulk of 1 Samuel 25-31; 2Sa 1:6-10; 1Sa 1:13-16 are from another source which may be fairly early. 1Sa 1:5 is inserted by an editor to combine the two accounts.

2Sa 1:1-5. A fugitive Israelite (?) from Saul's camp brings David the news of the disaster.

2Sa 1:6-10. An Amalekite tells how, seeing Saul closely pursued by chariots and horsemen, he slew him at his own request, and took his crown and armlet, and brought them to David.

2Sa 1:11 f. David and his men rend their clothes and fast till evening.

2Sa 1:12. and for the people of Yahweh: possibly, the army. LXX, people of Judah. The clause may be an editorial insertion.

2Sa 1:13-16. David asks the messenger who he is. He replies: an Amalekite, the son of a ger, or foreigner settled as a dependent among the Israelites ( Lev 17:8 f.*, Deu 1:16 *, p 110). David has him executed (cf. 2Sa 4:9).

David's Lament over Saul and Jonathan. This poem is almost universally accepted as the work of David. It was included in the Book of Jashar ( Jos 10:12 ff., p. 45), and probably borrowed from that book by the author of one of the documents from which Samuel was composed (p. 273).

Let the evil tidings be kept from the Philistines, lest they triumph over Israel. May Gilboa be accursed. Saul and Jonathan were mighty warriors, united in life and death. Let the Israelite women lament them. Alas for Jonathan.

2Sa 1:18. he bade them... bow: the RV insertion of the song of represents a theory that The Bow was the title of the poem: this is hardly likely to be correct. Probably the text is corrupt. The favourite explanation is that 2Sa 1:18 a contains a corruption of the opening words of the poem. Eg., SBOT proposes the following reconstruction of 2Sa 1:18 f.:

Behold it is written in the Book of Jashar. And he said:

Think on calamity, O Judah!

Grieve, O Israel!

On thy heights are the slain;

How are the mighty fallen!

2Sa 1:21. not anointed with oil: i.e. uncared for.

2Sa 1:25. Jonathan is slain upon thy high places: the text and rendering are uncertain; Cent.B, following Budde, proposes to restore 2Sa 1:25 thus:

How are the mighty fallen

In the midst of the battle!

Jonathan, my heart (?) by thy death

Is pierced through.