2 Samuel 1 commentary

The blow which opened David's way to the throne was given about the time he had been sorely distressed. Those who commit their concerns to the Lord, will quietly abide his will. It shows that he desired not Saul's death, and he was not impatient to come to the throne.

David was sincere in his mourning for Saul; and all with him humbled themselves under the hand of God, laid so heavily upon Israel by this defeat. The man who brought the tidings, David put to death, as a murderer of his prince. David herein did not do unjustly; the Amalekite confessed the crime. If he did as he said, he deserved to die for treason; and his lying to David, if indeed it were a lie, proved, as sooner or later that sin will prove, lying against himself. Hereby David showed himself zealous for public justice, without regard to his own private interest.

Kasheth, or “the bow,” probably was the title of this mournful, funeral song. David does not commend Saul for what he was not; and says nothing of his piety or goodness. Jonathan was a dutiful son, Saul an affectionate father, therefore dear to each other. David had reason to say, that Jonathan's love to him was wonderful. Next to the love between Christ and his people, that affection which springs form it, produces the strongest friendship. The trouble of the Lord's people, and triumphs of his enemies, will always grieve true believers, whatever advantages they may obtain by them.

THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL, OTHERWISE CALLED THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS.

Commentary by Robert Jamieson

CHAPTER 1

2Sa 1:1-16. An Amalekite Brings Tidings of Saul's Death.

1. David had abode two days in Ziklag--Though greatly reduced by the Amalekite incendiaries, that town was not so completely sacked and destroyed, but David and his six hundred followers, with their families, could still find some accommodation.

2-12. a man came out of the camp from Saul--As the narrative of Saul's death, given in the last chapter, is inspired, it must be considered the true account, and the Amalekite's story a fiction of his own, invented to ingratiate himself with David, the presumptive successor to the throne. David's question, "How went the matter?" evinces the deep interest he took in the war, an interest that sprang from feelings of high and generous patriotism, not from views of ambition. The Amalekite, however, judging him to be actuated by a selfish principle, fabricated a story improbable and inconsistent, which he thought would procure him a reward. Having probably witnessed the suicidal act of Saul, he thought of turning it to his own account, and suffered the penalty of his grievously mistaken calculation (compare 2Sa 1:9 with 1Sa 31:4, 5).

13-15. David said unto the young man ... Whence art thou?--The man had at the outset stated who he was. But the question was now formally and judicially put. The punishment inflicted on the Amalekite may seem too severe, but the respect paid to kings in the West must not be regarded as the standard for that which the East may think due to royal station. David's reverence for Saul, as the Lord's anointed, was in his mind a principle on which he had faithfully acted on several occasions of great temptation. In present circumstances it was especially important that his principle should be publicly known; and to free himself from the imputation of being in any way accessory to the execrable crime of regicide was the part of a righteous judge, no less than of a good politician.

2Sa 1:17-27. David Laments Saul and Jonathan.

17-18. David lamented with this lamentation--It has always been customary for Eastern people, on the death of great kings and warriors, to celebrate their qualities and deeds in funeral songs. This inimitable pathetic elegy is supposed by many writers to have become a national war song, and to have been taught to the young Israelites under the name of "The Bow," in conformity with the practice of Hebrew and many classical writers in giving titles to their songs from the principal theme (Psa 22:1; 56:1; 60:1; 80:1; 100:1). Although the words "the use of" are a supplement by our translators, they may be rightly introduced, for the natural sense of this parenthetical verse is, that David took immediate measures for instructing the people in the knowledge and practice of archery, their great inferiority to the enemy in this military arm having been the main cause of the late national disaster.

19. The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places--literally, "the gazelle" or "antelope of Israel." In Eastern countries, that animal is the chosen type of beauty and symmetrical elegance of form.

how are the mighty fallen!--This forms the chorus.

21. let there be no dew, neither let there be rain--To be deprived of the genial atmospheric influences which, in those anciently cultivated hills, seem to have reared plenty of first-fruits in the corn harvests, was specified as the greatest calamity the lacerated feelings of the poet could imagine. The curse seems still to lie upon them; for the mountains of Gilboa are naked and sterile.

the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away--To cast away the shield was counted a national disgrace. Yet, on that fatal battle of Gilboa, many of the Jewish soldiers, who had displayed unflinching valor in former battles, forgetful of their own reputation and their country's honor, threw away their shields and fled from the field. This dishonorable and cowardly conduct is alluded to with exquisitely touching pathos.

24-27. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, &c.--The fondness for dress, which anciently distinguished Oriental women, is their characteristic still. It appears in their love of bright, gay, and divers colors, in profuse display of ornaments, and in various other forms. The inmost depths of the poet's feeling are stirred, and his amiable disposition appears in the strong desire to celebrate the good qualities of Saul, as well as Jonathan. But the praises of the latter form the burden of the poem, which begins and ends with that excellent prince.

A man came out of the camp - The whole account which this young man gives is a fabrication: in many of the particulars it is grossly self-contradictory. There is no fact in the case but the bringing of the crown, or diadem, and bracelets of Saul; which, as he appears to have been a plunderer of the slain, he found on the field of battle; and he brought them to David, and told the lie of having despatched Saul, merely to ingratiate himself with David.

I am an Amalekite - Dr. Delaney remarks that an Amalekite took that crown from off the head of Saul, which he had forfeited by his disobedience in the case of Amalek.

The crown - and the bracelet - The crown was probably no more than a royal fillet or diadem, both being the ensigns of royalty. It is sometimes customary in the East for a sovereign prince to give a crown and bracelets, when investing others with dominion or authority over certain provinces. Had Saul these in token of his being God's vicegerent, and that he held the kingdom from him alone?

Thy blood be upon thy head - If he killed Saul, as he said he did, then he deserved death; at that time it was not known to the contrary, and this man was executed on his own confession.

David lamented - See this lamentation, and the notes on it at the end of this chapter, 2Sam 1:21 (note).

The use of the bow - The use of is not in the Hebrew; it is simply the bow, that is, a song thus entitled. See the observations at the end, 2Sam 1:21 (note).

As though he had not been - In stead of בלי beli, Not, I read כלי keley, Instruments.

Anointed with oil - See the observations at the end. 2Sam 1:18, etc.: He bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow, קשת kasheth.

The word kasheth is to be understood of the title of the song which immediately follows, and not of the use of the bow, as our translation intimates.

Many of David's Psalms have titles prefixed to them; some are termed Shosannim, some Maschil, Nehiloth, Neginoth, etc., and this one here, Kadesh or The Bow, because it was occasioned by the Philistine archers. 1Sam 31:3 : "And the archers hit him."

But especially respecting the bow of Jonathan, "which returned not back from the blood of the slain," as the song itself expresses. And David could not but remember the bow of Jonathan, out of which "the arrow was shot beyond the lad," 1Sam 20:36. It was the time when that covenant was made, and that affection expressed between them "which was greater than the love of women."

On these accounts the song was entitled Kasheth, or The song of the Bow, and David commanded the chief musicians, Ethan, Heman, and Jeduthun, to teach the children of Judah to sing it. "It is written in the book of Jasher." Sept., επι βιβλιου του ευθους, "in the book of the upright." ספרא דאוריתא siphra deoraitha, "The book of the Law." - Jonathan.

The Arabic says, "Behold it is written in the book of Ashee; this is the book of Samuel;" the interpretation of which is, "book of songs or canticles."

This lamentation is justly admired as a picture of distress the most tender and the most striking; unequally divided by grief into longer and shorter breaks, as nature could pour them forth from a mind interrupted by the alternate recurrence of the most lively images of love and greatness.

His reverence for Saul and his love for Jonathan have their strongest colourings; but their greatness and bravery come full upon him, and are expressed with peculiar energy.

Being himself a warrior, it is in that character he sees their greatest excellence; and though his imagination hurries from one point of recollection to another, yet we hear him - at first, at last, everywhere - lamenting, How are the mighty fallen!

It is almost impossible to read the noble original without finding every word swollen with a sigh or broken with a sob. A heart pregnant with distress, and striving to utter expressions descriptive of its feelings, which are repeatedly interrupted by an excess of grief, is most sensibly painted throughout the whole. Even an English reader may be convinced of this, from the following specimen in European characters: -

19. Hatstsebi Yishrael al bamotheycha chalal; Eych naphelu gibborim;

20. Al taggidu begath, Al tebasseru bechutsoth Ashkelon; Pen tismachnah benoth Pelishtim, Pen taalozenah benoth haarelim.

21. Harey baggilboa al tal, Veal matar aleychem usedey terumoth; Ki sham nigal magen Gibborim. Magen Shaul keley Mashiach bashshamen!

22. Middam chalalim, mecheleb gibborim, Kesheth Yehonathan lo nashog achor; Vechereb Shaul lo thashub reykam.

23. Shaul Vihonathan, Hannee habim vehanneimim bechaiyeyhem, Ubemotham lo niphradu. Minnesharim kallu, mearayoth gaberu!

24. Benoth Yishrael el Shaul becheynah; Hammalbishchem shani im adanim, Hammaaleh adi zahab al lebushechen.

25. Eych naphelu gibborim bethoch hammilchamah! Yehonathan al bamotheycha chalal!

26. Tsar li aleycha achi Yehonathan, naamta li meod Niphleathah ahabathecha li meahabath nashim!

27. Eych naphelu gibborim, Vaiyobedu keley milchamah!

The three last verses in this sublime lamentation have sense and sound so connected as to strike every reader.

Dr. Kennicott, from whom I have taken several of the preceding remarks, gives a fine Latin version of this song, which I here subjoin: -

O decus Israelis, super excelsa tua Miles!

Quomodo ceciderunt Fortes!

Nolite indicare in Gatho,

Nolite indicare in plateis Ascalonis:

Ne laetentur filiae Philistaeorum,

Ne exultent filiae incircumcisorum.

Montes Gilboani super vos

Nec ros, nec pluvia, neque agri primitiarum;

Ibi enim abjectus fuit clypeus fortium.

Clypeus Saulis, arma inuncti olec!

Sine sanguine Militum,

Sine adipe Fortium.

Arcus Jonathanis non retrocesserat;

Gladiusque Saulis non redierat incassum.

Saul et Jonathan

Amabiles erant et jucundi in vitis suis,

Et in morte sua non separati.

Prae aquilis veloces!

Prae leonibus fortes!

Filiae Israelis deflete Saulem;

Qui coccino cum deliciis vos vestivit,

Qui vestibus vestris ornamenta imposuit aurea!

Quomodo ceciderunt Fortes, in medio belli!

O Jonathan, super excelsa tua Miles!

Versor in angustiis, tui causa, Frater mi, Jonathan!

Mihi fuisti admodum jucundus!

Mihi tuus amor admodum mirabilis,

Mulierum exuperans amorem!

Quomodo ceciderunt fortes,

Et perierunt arma belli!

Dissertation I., p. 122.

In 2Sam 1:21 I have inserted כלי keley for בלי beli. Dr. Delaney rightly observes that the particle בלי beli is not used in any part of the Bible in the sense of quasi non, as though not, in which sense it must be used here if it be retained as a genuine reading: The shield of Saul as though it had not been anointed with oil.

In a MS. written about the year 1200, numbered 30 in Kennicott's Bible, כלי keley is found; and also in the first edition of the whole Hebrew Bible, printed Soncini 1488. Neither the Syriac nor Arabic versions, nor the Chaldee paraphrase, acknowledge the negative particle בלי beli, which they would have done had it been in the copies from which they translated. It was easy to make the mistake, as there is such a similarity between ב beth and כ caph; the line therefore should be read thus: The shield of Saul, weapons anointed with oil.

In 2Sam 1:22 נשוג nashog, to obtain, attain, seems to have been written for נסוג nasog, to recede, return. The former destroys the sense, the latter, which our translation has followed, and which is supported by the authority of 30 MSS., makes it not only intelligible but beautiful.

In 2Sam 1:19, 2Sam 1:22, and 2Sam 1:25, חלל and חללים chalal and chalalim occur, which we translate the Slain, but which Dr. Kennicott, I think from good authority, renders soldier and soldiers; and thus the version is made more consistent and beautiful. חלל chalal signifies to bore or pierce through; and this epithet might be well given to a soldier, q.d., the Piercer, because his business is to transfix or pierce his enemies with sword, spear, and arrows.

If it be translated soldiers in the several places of the Old Testament, where we translate it Slain or Wounded, the sense will be much mended; see Jdg 20:31, Jdg 20:39; Psa 89:11; Pro 7:26; Jer 51:4, Jer 51:47, Jer 51:49; Eze 11:6, Eze 11:7; Eze 21:14. In several others it retains its radical signification of piercing, wounding, etc.

After these general observations I leave the particular beauties of this inimitable song to be sought out by the intelligent reader. Much has been written upon this, which cannot, consistently with the plan of these notes, be admitted here. See Delaney, Kennicott, Lowth, etc.; and, above all, let the reader examine the Hebrew text.

Ziklag - Which though burnt, yet was not so consumed by the fire, that David and his men could not lodge in it.

Third day - From David's return to Ziklag. With his clothes rent, &c. - As a mourner.

Judah - These he more particularly teacheth, because they were the chief, and now the royal tribe, and likely to be the great bulwark to all Israel against the Philistines, upon whose land they bordered; and withal, to be the most true to him, and to his interest. The bow - That is, of their arms, expressed, under the name of the bow, which then was one of the chief weapons; and for the dextrous use whereof Jonathan is commended in the following song: which may be one reason, why he now gives forth this order, that so they might strive to imitate Jonathan in military skill, and to excel in it, as he did. Jasher - It is more largely and particularly described in the book of Jasher.

Beauty - Their flower and glory. Saul and Jonathan, and their army. High places - Heb. upon thy high places; that is, those which belong to thee, O land of Israel. How - How strangely! How suddenly! How universally!

Tell it not - This is not a precept, but a poetical wish; whereby he doth not so much desire, that this might not be done, which he knew to be impossible; as, express his great sorrow, because it would be done, to the dishonour of God, and of his people. The daughters - He mentions these, because it was the custom of women in those times and places to celebrate those victories which their men obtained, with triumphant songs and dances.

Let there be, &c. - This is no proper imprecation; but a passionate representation of the horror which he conceived at this publick loss; which was such, as if he thought every person or thing which contributed to it, were fit to bear the tokens of divine displeasure, such as this is, when the earth wants the necessary influences of dew and rain. Fields of offerings - That is, fruitful fields, which may produce fair and goodly fruits fit to be offered to God. Vilely - Dishonourably: for it was a great reproach to any soldier, to cast away or lose his shield. Cast away - By themselves, that they might flee more swiftly as the Israelites did, and Saul with the rest. As though, &c. - As if he had been no more, than a common soldier: he was exposed to the same kind of death and reproach as they were.

Not back - Without effect: their arrows shot from their bow, and their swords did seldom miss, and commonly pierced fat, and flesh, and blood, and reached even to the heart and bowels. Returned not, &c. - But filled and glutted with blood: for the sword is metaphorically said to have a mouth, which we translate an edge; and to devour. And this their former successfulness is mentioned as an aggravation of their last infelicity.

Lovely - Amiable, and obliging in their carriage and conversation, both towards one another, and towards their people: for, as for Saul's fierce behaviour towards Jonathan, it was only a sudden passion, by which his ordinary temper was not to be measured; and for his carriage towards David, that was from that jealousy and reason of state which usually engageth even well - natured princes, to the same hostilities. But it is observable, that David speaks not a word here of his piety; but only commends him for those things which were truly in him. A fit pattern for all preachers in their funeral commendations. Swifter, &c. - Expeditious in pursuing their enemies, and executing their designs; which is a great commendation in a prince, and in a soldier. Stronger, &c. - In regard of their bodily strength, and the courage of their mind.

Daughters - These he mentions; because the women then used to make songs both of triumph, and of lamentation, and, because they usually are most delighted with the ornaments of the body here following. Clothed you - This he did, because he procured them so much peace as gave them opportunity of enriching themselves: and, because he took these things as spoils from the enemies, and clothed his own people with them.

Thine - Which were in thy country, and (had not thy father disinherited thee by his sins) in thy dominions.

Distressed - That is, for the loss of thee. For, besides the loss of a true friend, which is inestimable; he lost him who both could, and undoubtedly would have given him a speedy, and quiet, and sure possession of the kingdom, whereas now, he met with long and troublesome interruptions. Of women - That is, that love wherewith they love their husbands, or children for their affections are usually more ardent than mens.

NOW it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag .

Which though burnt, yet was not so consumed by the Fire, that David and his men could not lodge in it.

Marginal references: 1 Sam. 30. 17.

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 upon his head : and so it was when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.

From David's return to Ziklag, as the foregoing words manifest.

Pretending sorrow for the loss of Gods People, in compliance with David's humour.

4 And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battel, and many of the people also are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his [illegible: 1+ letters]on are dead also.

He mentions onely these two, as those who seemed most to obstruct David's coming to the Crown.

Marginal references: Heb. what was, &c.

5 And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead ?

For the knowledge of this did most concern both David and the whole Commonwealth of Israel.

9 He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me , and slay me: for anguish is come upon me , because my life is yet whole within me .

i. e. Lean upon me with thy weight and force, that the Spea[illegible: 1+ letters] may come through me: Or, stay by me: i. e. Stop thy flight, and tarry so long with me till thou hast killed me.

i. e. I am in great pain of Body, and anguish of Mind. Or thus, my coat of mail: or, embroydered coat, hath hindred me, that the Spear could not pierce into me. Thus divers both Hebrew and other Learned Expositors understand it.

I am heart-whole, and not likely to die, as well as not willing to live.

Marginal references: Or, my coat of Mail; (or, my embroidered coat) hindereth me, that my, &c.

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

It is most probable this was a Lye, devised to gain David's favour, as he supposed. For, 1. Saul was not killed by a Spear, as he pretends, but by his Sword, 1 Sam. 31. 4. 2. It is expresly said, That Saul's Armour-bearer being yet living, saw that Saul was dead, 1 Sam. 31. 5. which doubtless he would very thoroughly examine and know, before he would kill himself upon that account, as he did. 3. Saul's death is manifestly ascribed to his own action, even to his falling upon his Sword, v. 4, 5.

Not that he then wore it; which would have exposed him too much, and that unnecessarily, to the Rage of the Philistines; but that he used to wear it. It is not likely that he found it now actually upon Saul's Head, but that he met with it in some part of the Camp, whithe[illegible: 1+ letters] Saul had brought it to wear it when he saw fit.

Unto thee, whom, now Saul is dead, I own for my Lord and King.

k This he addeth by way of caution and excuse, that it might be thought an act of necessity and kindness, and not of choice or ill-will that he killed Saul. But here also he betrays himself: for how could this be true, when Saul's life was whole within him, as he had now said, v. 9?

13 ¶ And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou ? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.

David heard and knew before what he was, but he asked it again judicially, in order to his Tryal and Punishment.

14 And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORDS anointed ?

Why didst not thou refuse to kill him, as his Armourbearer had done? For notwithstanding his great danger, something might have fallen out through Gods All-disposing Providence, whereby his Life might have been preserved.

Marginal references: Psal▪ 105. 15.

16 And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head : for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORDS anointed .

The guilt of thy blood-shed or death lies upon thy self, not upon me.

Thy free and voluntary Confe[illegible: 1+ letters]sion is sufficient proof of thy guilt in killing the King.

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

Having mentioned David's Lamentation in general, before he comes to the particular description of it, he interposeth poseth this Verse by way of Parenthesis; to signifie, That David did not so give up himself to Lamentation, as to neglect his great business, the care of the Commonwealth, which now lay upon him; but took particular care to fortifie them against such further Losses and Calamities as he bewails in the following Song; and by his example, and this counsel, to instruct the People, that they should not give up themselves to sorrow and despondency for their great and general Loss; but should raise up their Spirits, and betake themselves to Action.

David being now Actually King upon Saul's Death, takes his Power upon him, and gives forth his Commands.

These he more particularly teacheth, because they were the Chief, and now the Royal Tribe, and likely to be the great Bulwark to all Israel against the Philistines, upon whose Land they bordered; and withal, to be the most friendly and true to him, and to his Interest.

i. e. The use of their Arms, which are all Synecdochically expressed, under the name of the bow, which then was one of the chief Weapons; and for the dextrous use whereof Ionathan is commended in the following Song: which may be one reason, why he now gives forth this Order, that so they might strive to imitate Ionathan in his Military Skill, and to excel in it, as he did.

Not the following Song, as many think, for that is written here, and therefore it was needless to refer us to another Book for it; but this foregoing counsel and course which David took to repair the last Loss, which is here mentioned but briefly, and in general terms; but, as it seems, more largely and particularly described in the Book of Iasher: of which, See on Iosh. 10. 13.

Marginal references: Josh. 10. 13.; Or, of the upright.

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

Their Flower and Glory, Saul and Ionathan, and their Army, consisting of young and Valiant Men.

Heb. upon thy high places; i. e. Those which belong to thee, O Land of Israel.

How strangely! how suddenly! how dreadfully and universally!

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

This is not a Precept, but a Poetical wish; whereby he doth not so much desire, that this might not be done, which he knew to be vain and impossible; as, express his great sorrow, because it was, and would be done, to the great dishonour of God, and of his People.

He mentions these, because it was the custome of Women in those times and places to celebrate those Victories which their Men obtained, with Triumphant Songs and Dances; as Exod. 15. Iudg. 11. 34. 1 Sam. 18. 6.

Marginal references: Mic. 1. 10.

21 Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain upon 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 oyl .

This is no proper Imprecation; which he had no reason to inflict upon those harmless Mountains; but onely a passionate representation of the Horror which he conceived at this publick Loss; which was such, as if he thought every person or thing which contributed to it, were fit to bear the tokens of Divine displeasure, such as this is, when the Earth wants the blessed and necessary Influences of Dew and Rain.

i. e. Fruitful fields, which may produce fair and goodly Fruits fit to be offered unto God.

The Shields of the Valiant men of Israel.

Dishonourably: for it was a great Reproach to any Soldier, to cast away or lose his Shield.

To wit, by themselves, that they might flee more swiftly away, as the Israelites did, and Saul with the rest; as is said, 1 Sam. 31. 1, 2.

As if he had been no more, nor better than a common Soldier: he was exposed to the same kind of Death and Reproach as they were.

Marginal references: Heb. heaveofferings.; Heb. was loathed; so Gr.

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 .

To wit, without Effect: comp. Isa. 45. 23. and 55. 11. Their Arrows shot from their Bows, and their Swords did seldom miss, and commonly pierced Fat, and Flesh, and Blood, and reached even to the Heart and Bowels.

i. e. Not filled and glutted with Blood: for the Sword is Metaphorically said to have a mouth, which we Translate an edge; and to devour, 2 Sam. 2. 26. and 11. 25. Ier. 2. 30. and 46. 10. And this their former successfulness is here mentioned as an aggravation of their last infelicity.

23 Saul and Jonathan were lovely, and pleasant in the[illegible: 1+ letters]r lives n, and in their death they were not divided : they were swifter than Eagles , they were stronger than lions .

Amiable, and obliging in their Carriage and Conversation, both towards one another, and towards their People: for, as for Saul's fierce behaviour towards Ionathan, it was onely a sudden Passion, by which his ordinary temper was not to be measured; and for his carriage towards David, 1 Sam. 20. 30, 33. that was from that jealousie and Reason of State which usually engageth even good-natured and wellnurtured Princes, to the same Hostilities in like cases. But it is observable, That David speaks not a word here of his Piety and other Vertues; but onely commends him for those things which were truly in him. A fit pattern for all Preachers in their Funeral Commendations.

Ionathan was not false to his Father, as was reported; but stuck close to him: and as he lived, so he died with him, at the same time, and in the same common and good Cause.

Expeditious and nimble in Pursuing their Enemies, and Executing their Designs; which is a great commendation in a Prince, and in a Soldier.

In regard of their bodily Strength, and the Courage of their Minds.

Marginal references: Or, sweet.

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

These he mentions; partly, because the Women then used to make Songs both of Triumph, and of Lamentation, as occasion required: and partly, because they usually are most delighted with the Ornaments of the Body here following.

This he did, partly, because he procured them so much Peace as gave them opportunity of enriching themselves: and partly, because he took these things as spoils from the Enemies, and clothed his own People with them. Comp. Psal. 68. 12.

25 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battel! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places .

Which were in thy Country, and (had not thy Father disinherited thee by his Sins) in thy Dominions.

26 I am distressed for thee , my brother Jonathan, very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to we was wonderful, passing the love of women .

i. e. For the loss of thee. For besides the loss of a true Friend, and all the comfort of friendship, which is inestimable; he lost him who both could, and undoubtedly would have given him a speedy, and quiet, and sure Possession of the Kingdom: whereas now, he met with long and troublesome interruptions.

i. e. That Love wherewith they love their Husbands, or Children: for their Affections are usually more vehement and ardent than Mens.

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

Either, 1. Metaphorically so called; to wit, Saul and Ionathan, and the brave Commanders and Soldiers of Israel; who might have been called, the chariots of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. Or rather, 2. Properly: for together with the Men, their Arms were lost, which was a very great aggravation of their loss, and that loss seems to be at this time more irrecoverable and dangerous, than the loss of their men.

The Book of 2 Samuel

Introduction to 2 Samuel

(For more see the Introduction to 1 Samuel.)

This book contains the history of David’s reign, arranged according to its leading features: viz., (1) the commencement of his reign as king of Judah at Hebron, whereas the other tribes of Israel adhered to the house of Saul (2 Samuel 1-4); (2) his promotion to be king over all Israel, and the victorious extension of his sway (2 Samuel 5-9); (3) the decline of his power in consequence of his adultery (2 Samuel 10-20); (4) the close of his reign (2 Samuel 21-24). Parallels and supplements to this history, in which the reign of David is described chiefly in its connection with the development of the kingdom of God under the Old Testament, are given in 1 Chron 11-28, where we have an elaborate description of the things done by David, both for the elevation and organization of the public worship of God, and also for the consolidation and establishment of the whole kingdom, and the general administration of government.

I. David King Over Judah; and Ishbosheth King Over Israel

When David received the tidings at Ziklag of the defeat of Israel and the death of Saul, he mourned deeply and sincerely for the fallen king and his noble son Jonathan (2 Samuel 1). He then returned by the permission of God into the land of Judah, namely to Hebron, and was anointed king of Judah by the elders of that tribe; whereas Abner, the cousin and chief general of Saul, took Ishbosheth, the only remaining son of the fallen monarch, and made him king over the other tribes of Israel at Mahanaim (2Sa 2:1-11). This occasioned a civil war. Abner marched to Gibeon against David with the forces of Ishbosheth, but was defeated by Joab, David’s commander-in-chief, and pursued to Mahanaim, in which pursuit Abner slew Asahel the brother of Joab, who was eagerly following him (2 Samuel 2:12-32). Nevertheless, the conflict between the house of David and the house of Saul continued for some time longer, but with the former steadily advancing and the latter declining, until at length Abner quarrelled with Ishbosheth, and persuaded the tribes that had hitherto adhered to him to acknowledge David as king over all Israel. After the negotiations with David for effecting this, he was assassinated by Joab on his return from Hebron-an act at which David not only expressed his abhorrence by a solemn mourning for Abner, but declared it still more openly by cursing Joab’s crime (2 Samuel 3). Shortly afterwards, Ishbosheth was assassinated in his own house by two Benjaminites; but this murder was also avenged by David, who ordered the murderers to be put to death, and the head of Ishbosheth, that had been delivered up to him, to be buried in Abner’s tomb (2Sa 4:1-12). Thus the civil war and the threatened split in the kingdom were brought to an end, though without any complicity on the part of David, but rather against his will, viz., through the death of Abner, the author of the split, and of Ishbosheth, whom he had placed upon the throne, both of whom fell by treacherous hands, and received the reward of their rebellion against the ordinance of God. David himself, in his long school of affliction under Saul, had learned to put all his hope in the Lord his God; and therefore, when Saul was dead, he took no steps to grasp by force the kingdom which God had promised him, or to remove his rival out of the way by crime.

David’s Conduct on Hearing of Saul’s Death. His Elegy upon Saul and Jonathan - 2 Samuel 1

David received the intelligence of the defeat of Israel and the death of Saul in the war with the Philistines from an Amalekite, who boasted of having slain Saul and handed over to David the crown and armlet of the fallen king, but whom David punished with death for the supposed murder of the anointed of God (vv. 1-16). David mourned for the death of Saul and Jonathan, and poured out his grief in an elegiac ode (2Sa 1:17-27). This account is closely connected with the concluding chapters of the first book of Samuel.David receives the news of Saul’s death. - 2Sa 1:1-4. After the death of Saul, and David’s return to Ziklag from his campaign against the Amalekites, there came a man to David on the third day, with his clothes torn and earth strewed upon his head (as a sign of deep mourning: see at 1Sa 4:12), who informed him of the flight and overthrow of the Israelitish army, and the death of Saul and Jonathan.

2Sa 1:1-3 2Sa 1:1 may be regarded as the protasis to 2Sa 1:2, so far as the contents are concerned, although formally it is rounded off, and ויּשׁב forms the apodosis to ויהי: “It came to pass after the death of Saul, David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30:1-26),that David remained at Ziklag two days. And it came to pass on the third day,” etc. Both of these notices of the time refer to the day, on which David returned to Ziklag from the pursuit and defeat of the Amalekites. Whether the battle at Gilboa, in which Saul fell, occurred before or after the return of David, it is impossible to determine. All that follows from the juxtaposition of the two events in 2Sa 1:1, is that they were nearly contemporaneous. The man “came from the army from with Saul,” and therefore appears to have kept near to Saul during the battle.

2Sa 1:4

David’s inquiry, “How did the thing happen?” refers to the statement made by the messenger, that he had escaped from the army of Israel. In the answer, אשׁר serves, like כּי in other passages, merely to introduce the words that follow, like our namely (vid., Ewald, §338, b.). “The people fled from the fight; and not only have many of the people fallen, but Saul and Jonathan his son are also dead.” וגם ... וגם:not only ... but also.

2Sa 1:5-10

To David’s further inquiry how he knew this, the young man replied (2Sa 1:6-10), “I happened to come (נקרא = נקרה)up to the mountains of Gilboa, and saw Saul leaning upon his spear; then the chariots (the war-chariots for the charioteers) and riders were pressing upon him, and he turned round and saw me, ... and asked me, Who art thou? and I said, An Amalekite; and he said to me, Come hither to me, and slay me, for the cramp (שׁבץ according to the Rabbins)hath seized me (sc., so that I cannot defend myself, and must fall into the hands of the Philistines);for my soul (my life) is still whole in me. Then I went to him, and slew him, because I knew that after his fall he would not live; and took the crown upon his head, and the bracelet upon his arm, and brought them to my lord” (David). “After his fall” does not mean “after he had fallen upon his sword or spear” (Clericus), for this is neither implied in נפלו nor in על־חניתו נשׁען (“supported, i.e., leaning upon his spear”), nor are we at liberty to transfer it from 1Sa 31:4 into this passage; but “after his defeat,” i.e., so that he would not survive this calamity. This statement is at variance with the account of the death of Saul in 1Sa 31:3.; and even apart from this it has an air of improbability, or rather of untruth in it, particularly in the assertion that Saul was leaning upon his spear when the chariots and horsemen of the enemy came upon him, without having either an armour-bearer or any other Israelitish soldier by his side, so that he had to turn to an Amalekite who accidentally came by, and to ask him to inflict the fatal wound. The Amalekite invented this, in the hope of thereby obtaining the better recompense from David. The only part of his statement which is certainly true, is that he found the king lying dead upon the field of battle, and took off the crown and armlet; since he brought these to David. But it is by no means certain whether he was present when Saul expired, or merely found him after he was dead.

2Sa 1:11-12

This information, the substance of which was placed beyond all doubt by the king’s jewels that were brought, filled David with the deepest sorrow. As a sign of his pain he rent his clothes; and all the men with him did the same, and mourned with weeping and fasting until the evening “for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of Jehovah, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword” (i.e., in battle). “The people of Jehovah” and the “house or people of Israel” are distinguished from one another, according to the twofold attitude of Israel, which furnished a double ground for mourning. Those who had fallen were first of all members of the people of Jehovah, and secondly, fellow-countrymen. “They were therefore associated with them, both according to the flesh and according to the spirit, and for that reason they mourned the more” (Seb. Schmidt). “The only deep mourning for Saul, with the exception of that of the Jabeshites (1Sa 31:11), proceeded from the man whom he had hated and persecuted for so many years even to the time of his death; just as David’s successor wept over the fall of Jerusalem, even when it was about to destroy Himself” (O. v. Gerlach).

2Sa 1:13

David then asked the bringer of the news for further information concerning his own descent, and received the reply that he was the son of an Amalekite stranger, i.e., of an Amalekite who had emigrated to Israel.

2Sa 1:14-16

David then reproached him for what he had done: “How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” and commanded one of his attendants to slay him (2Sa 1:15.), passing sentence of death in these words: “Thy blood come upon thy head (cf. Lev 20:9; Jos 2:1;(1); for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord’s anointed.”“Thy mouth hath testified against thee, and out of it thou art judged (Luk 19:22), whether thou hast done it or not. If thou hast done it, thou receivest the just reward of thy deeds. If thou hast not done it, then throw the blame upon thine own lying testimony, and be content with the wages of a wicked flatterer; for, according to thine own confession, thou art the murderer of a king, and that is quite enough to betray thine evil heart. David could see plainly enough that the man was no murderer: he would show by his example that flatterers who boast of such sins as these should get no hearing from their superiors.” - Berleb. Bible.

David regarded the statement of the Amalekite as a sufficient ground for condemnation, without investigating the truth any further; though it was most probably untrue, as he could see through his design of securing a great reward as due to him for performing such a deed (vid., 2Sa 4:10), and looked upon a man who could attribute such an act to himself from mere avarice as perfectly capable of committing it. Moreover, the king’s jewels, which he had brought, furnished a practical proof that Saul had really been put to death. This punishment was by no means so severe as to render it necessary to “estimate its morality according to the times,” or to defend it merely from the standpoint of political prudence, on the ground that as David was the successor of Saul, and had been pursued by him as his rival with constant suspicion and hatred, he ought not to leave the murder of the king unpunished, if only because the people, or at any rate his own opponents among the people, would accuse him of complicity in the murder of the king, if not of actually instigating the murderer. David would never have allowed such considerations as these to lead him into unjust severity. And his conduct requires no such half vindication. Even on the supposition that Saul had asked the Amalekite to give him his death-thrust, as he said he had, it was a crime deserving of punishment to fulfil this request, the more especially as nothing is said about any such mortal wounding of Saul as rendered his escape or recovery impossible, so that it could be said that it would have been cruel under such circumstances to refuse his request to be put to death. If Saul’s life was still “full in him,” as the Amalekite stated, his position was not so desperate as to render it inevitable that he should fall into the hands of the Philistines. Moreover, the supposition was a very natural one, that he had slain the king for the sake of a reward. But slaying the king, the anointed of the Lord, was in itself a crime that deserved to be punished with death. What David might more than once have done, but had refrained from doing from holy reverence for the sanctified person of the king, this foreigner, a man belonging to the nation of the Amalekites, Israel’s greatest foes, had actually done for the sake of gain, or at any rate pretended to have done. Such a crime must be punished with death, and that by David who had been chosen by God and anointed as Saul’s successor, and whom the Amalekite himself acknowledge in that capacity, since otherwise he would not have brought him the news together with the royal diadem.

2Sa 1:17-18 David’s elegy upon Saul and Jonathan. - An eloquent testimony to the depth and sincerity of David’s grief for the death of Saul is handed down to us in the elegy which he composed upon Saul and his noble son Jonathan, and which he had taught to the children of Israel. It is one of the finest odes of the Old Testament; full of lofty sentiment, and springing from deep and sanctified emotion, in which, without the slightest allusion to his own relation to the fallen king, David celebrates without envy the bravery and virtues of Saul and his son Jonathan, and bitterly laments their loss. “He said to teach,” i.e., he commanded the children of Judah to practise or learn it. קשׁת, bow; i.e., a song to which the title Kesheth or bow was given, not only because the bow is referred to (2Sa 1:22), but because it is a martial ode, and the bow was one of the principal weapons used by the warriors of that age, and one in the use of which the Benjaminites, the tribe-mates of Saul, were particularly skilful: cf. 1Ch 8:40; 1Ch 12:2; 2Ch 14:7; 2Ch 17:17. Other explanations are by no means so natural; such, for example, as that it related to the melody to which the ode was sung; whilst some are founded upon false renderings, or arbitrary alterations of the text, e.g., that of Ewald (Gesch. i. p. 41), Thenius, etc. This elegy was inserted in “the book of the righteous” (see at Jos 10:13), from which the author of the books of Samuel has taken it.

2Sa 1:19

The ode is arranged in three strophes, which gradually diminish in force and sweep (viz., 2Sa 1:19-24, 2Sa 1:25-26, 2Sa 1:27), and in which the vehemence of the sorrow so gradually modified, and finally dies away. Each strophe opens with the exclamation, “How are the mighty fallen!” The first contains all that had to be said in praise of the fallen heroes; the deepest mourning for their death; and praise of their bravery, of their inseparable love, and of the virtues of Saul as king. The second commemorates the friendship between David and Jonathan. The third simply utters the last sigh, with which the elegy becomes silent. The first strophe runs thus: 19  The ornament, O Israel, is slain upon thy heights!

Oh 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  Ye mountains of Gilboa, let now dew or rain be upon you, or fields of first-fruit offerings:

For there is the shield of the mighty defiled,

The shield of Saul, not 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, beloved and kind, in life

And in death they are not divided.

Lighter than eagles were they; stronger than lions. 24  Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,

Who clothed you in purple with delight;

Who put a golden ornament upon your apparel!

The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen! The first clause of 2Sa 1:19 contains the theme of the entire ode. הצּבי does not mean the gazelle here (as the Syriac and Clericus and others render it), the only plausible support of which is the expression “upon thy heights,” whereas the parallel גּבּורים shows that by הצּבי we are to understand the two heroes Saul and Jonathan, and that the word is used in the appellative sense of ornament. The king and his noble son were the ornament of Israel. They were slain upon the heights of Israel. Luther has given a correct rendering, so far as the sense is concerned (die Edelsten, the noblest), after the inclyti of the Vulgate. The pronoun “thy high places” refers to Israel. The reference is to the heights of the mountains of Gilboa (see 2Sa 1:21). This event threw Israel into deep mourning, which commences in the second clause.

2Sa 1:20

The tidings of this mourning were not to be carried out among the enemies of Israel, lest they should rejoice thereat. Such rejoicing would only increase the pain of Israel at the loss it had sustained. Only two of the cities of Philistia are mentioned by name, viz., Gath, which was near, and Askelon, which was farther off by the sea. The rejoicing of the daughters of the Philistines refers to the custom of employing women to celebrate the victories of their nation by singing and dancing (cf. 1Sa 18:6).

2Sa 1:21

Even nature is to join in the mourning. May God withdraw His blessing from the mountains upon which the heroes have fallen, that they may not be moistened by the dew and rain of heaven, but, remaining in eternal barrenness, be memorials of the horrible occurrence that has taken place upon them. בגּלבּע הרי is an address to them; and the preposition בּ with the construct state is poetical: “mountains in Gilboa” (vid., Ewald, §289, b.). In עליכם ... אל the verb יהי is wanting. The following words, תרוּמות וּשׂדי, are in apposition to the foregoing: “and let not fields of first-fruit offerings be upon you,” i.e., fields producing fruit, from which offerings of first-fruits were presented. This is the simplest and most appropriate explanation of the words, which have been very differently, and in some respects very marvellously rendered. The reason for this cursing of the mountains of Gilboa was, that there the shield of the heroes, particularly of Saul, had been defiled with blood, namely the blood of those whom the shield ought to defend. גּעל does not mean to throw away (Dietrich. ), but to soil or defile (as in the Chaldee), then to abhor. “Not anointed with oil,” i.e., not cleansed and polished with oil, so that the marks of Saul’s blood still adhered to it. בּלי poetical for לא. The interpolation of the words “as though” (quasi non esset unctus oleo, Vulgate) cannot be sustained.

2Sa 1:22

Such was the ignominy experienced upon Gilboa by those who had always fought so bravely, that their bow and sword did not turn back until it was satisfied with the blood and fat of the slain. The figure upon which the passage is founded is, that arrows drink the blood of the enemy, and a sword devours their flesh (vid., Deu 32:42; Isa 34:5-6; Jer 46:10). The two principal weapons are divided between Saul and Jonathan, so that the bow is assigned to the latter and the sword to the former.

2Sa 1:23-24

In death as in life, the two heroes were not divided, for they were alike in bravery and courage. Notwithstanding their difference of character, and the very opposite attitude which they assumed towards David, the noble Jonathan did not forsake his father, although his fierce hatred towards the friend whom Jonathan loved as his own soul might have undermined his attachment to his father. The two predicates, נאהב, loved and amiable, and נעים, affectionate or kind, apply chiefly to Jonathan; but they were also suitable to Saul in the earliest years of his reign, when he manifested the virtues of an able ruler, which secured for him the lasting affection and attachment of the people. In his mourning over the death of the fallen hero, David forgets all the injury that Saul has inflicted upon him, so that he only brings out and celebrates the more amiable aspects of his character. The light motion or swiftness of an eagle (cf. Hab 1:8), and the strength of a lion (vid., 2Sa 17:10), were the leading characteristics of the great heroes of antiquity. - Lastly, in 2Sa 1:24, David commemorates the rich booty which Saul had brought to the nation, for the purpose of celebrating his heroic greatness in this respect as well. שׁני was the scarlet purple (see at Exo 25:4). “With delights,” or with lovelinesses, i.e., in a lovely manner.

2Sa 1:25-26

The second strophe (2Sa 1:25 and 2Sa 1:26) only applies to the friendship of Jonathan: 25  Oh how are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!

Jonathan (is) slain upon thy heights! 26  I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan:

Thou wast very kind to me:

Stranger than the love of woman was thy love to me! 2Sa 1:25 is almost a verbal repetition of 2Sa 1:19. צר (2Sa 1:26) denotes the pinching or pressure of the heart consequent upon pain and mourning. נפלאתה, third pers. fem., like a verb הל with the termination lengthened (vid., Ewald, §194, b.), to be wonderful or distinguished. אהבתך, thy love to me. Comparison to the love of woman is expressive of the deepest earnestness of devoted love.

2Sa 1:27

The third strophe (2Sa 1:27) contains simply a brief aftertone of sorrow, in which the ode does away:

Oh how are the mighty fallen,

The instruments of war perished!“The instruments of war” are not the weapons; but the expression is a figurative one, referring to the heroes by whom war was carried on (vid., Isa 13:5). Luther has adopted this rendering (die Streitbaren).

Second Samuel

This book is the history of the reign of king David. We had in the foregoing book an account of his designation to the government, and his struggles with Saul, which ended at length in the death of his persecutor. This book begins with his accession to the throne, and is entirely taken up with the affairs of the government during the forty years he reigned, and therefore is entitled by the LXX. The Third Book of the Kings. It gives us an account of David's triumphs and his troubles. I. His triumphs over the house of Saul (ch. i.-iv.), over the Jebusites and Philistines (ch. v.), at the bringing up of the ark (ch. vi. and vii.), over the neighbouring nations that opposed him (ch. viii.-x.); and so far the history is agreeable to what we might expect from David's character and the choice made of him. But his cloud has a dark side. II. We have his troubles, the causes of them, his sin in the matter of Uriah (ch. xi. and xii.), the troubles themselves from the sin of Amnon (ch. xiii.), the rebellion of Absalom (ch. xiv.-xix.) and of Sheba (ch. xx.), and the plague in Israel for his numbering the people (ch. xxiv.), besides the famine of the Gibeonites, ch. xxi. His son we have (ch. xxii.), and his words and worthies, ch. xxiii. Many things in his history are very instructive; but for the hero who is the subject of it, though in many instances he appears here very great, and very good, and very much the favourite of heaven, yet it must be confessed that his honour shines brighter in his Psalms than in his Annals.

In the close of the foregoing book (with which this is connected as a continuation of the same history) we had Saul's exit; he went down slain to the pit, though he was the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. We are now to look towards the rising sun, and to enquire where David is, and what he is doing. In this chapter we have, I. Tidings brought him to Ziklag of the death of Saul and Jonathan, by an Amalekite, who undertook to give him a particular narrative of it, ver. 1-10. II. David's sorrowful reception of these tidings, ver. 11, 12. III. Justice done upon the messenger, who boasted that he had helped Saul to dispatch himself, ver. 13-16. IV. An elegy which David penned upon this occasion, ver. 17-27. And in all this David's breast appears very happily free from the sparks both of revenge and ambition, and he observes a very suitable demeanour.

David's Concern at Saul's Fate. (b. c. 1055.)

1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode 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 upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance. 3 And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped. 4 And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, 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 unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead? 6 And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. 7 And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I. 8 And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. 9 He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me. 10 So I stood upon 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 upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord.

Here is, I. David settling again in Ziklag, his own city, after he had rescued his family and friends out of the hands of the Amalekites (v. 1): He abode in Ziklag. Thence he was now sending presents to his friends (1 Sam. xxx. 26), and there he was ready to receive those that came into his interests; not men in distress and debt, as his first followers were, but persons of quality in their country, mighty men, men of war, and captains of thousands (as we find, 1 Chron. xii. 1, 8, 20); such came day by day to him, God stirring up their hearts to do so, till he had a great host, like the host of God, as it is said, 1 Chron. xii. 22. The secret springs of revolutions are unaccountable, and must be resolved into that Providence which turns all hearts as the rivers of water.

II. Intelligence brought him thither of the death of Saul. It was strange that he did not leave some spies about the camp, to bring him early notice of the issue of the engagement, a sign that he desired not Saul's woeful day, nor was impatient to come to the throne, but willing to wait till those tidings were brought to him which many a one would have sent more than half-way to meet. He that believes does not make haste, takes good news when it comes and is not uneasy while it is in the coming. 1. The messenger presents himself to David as an express, in the posture of a mourner for the deceased prince and a subject to the succeeding one. He came with his clothes rent, and made obeisance to David (v. 2), pleasing himself with the fancy that he had the honour to be the first that did him homage as his sovereign, but it proved he was the first that received from him sentence of death as his judge. He told David he came from the camp of Israel, and intimated the bad posture it was in when he said he had escaped out of it, having much ado to get away with his life, v. 3. 2. He gives him a general account of the issue of the battle. David was very desirous to know how the matter went, as one that had more reason than any to be concerned for the public; and he told him very distinctly that the army of Israel was routed, many slain, and, among the rest, Saul and Jonathan, v. 4. He named only Saul and Jonathan, because he knew David would be most solicitous to know their fate; for Saul was the man whom he most feared and Jonathan the man whom he most loved. 3. He gives him a more particular account of the death of Saul. It is probable that David had heard, by the report of others, what the issue of the war was, for multitudes resorted to him, it should seem, in consequence; but he was desirous to know the certainty of the report concerning Saul and Jonathan, either because he was not forward to believe it or because he would not proceed upon it to make his own claims till he was fully assured of it. He therefore asks, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan are dead? in answer to which the young man tells him a very ready story, putting it past doubt that Saul was dead, for he himself had been not only an eye-witness of his death, but an instrument of it, and therefore David might rely upon his testimony. He says nothing, in his narrative, of the death of Jonathan, knowing how ungrateful that would be to David, but accounts only for Saul, thinking (as David understood it well enough, ch. iv. 10) that he should be welcome for that, and rewarded as one that brought good tidings. The account he gives of this matter is, (1.) Very particular. That he happened to go to the place where Saul was (v. 6) as a passenger, not as a soldier, and therefore an indifferent person, that he found Saul endeavouring to run himself through with his own spear, none of his attendants being willing to do it for him; and, it seems, he could not do it dexterously for himself: his hand and heart failed him. The miserable man had not courage enough either to live or die; he therefore called this stranger to him (v. 7), enquired what countryman he was, for, provided he was not a Philistine, he would gladly receive from his hand the coup de grace (as the French call it concerning those that are broken on the wheel)—the merciful stroke, that might dispatch him out of his pain. Understanding that he was an Amalekite (neither one of his subjects nor one of his enemies), he begs this favour from him (v. 9): Stand upon me, and slay me. He is now sick of his dignity and willing to be trampled upon, sick of his life and willing to be slain. Who then would be inordinately fond of life or honour? The case may he such, even with those that have no hope in their death, that yet they may desire to die, and death flee from them, Rev. ix. 6. Anguish has come upon me; so we read it, as a complaint of the pain and terror his spirit was seized with. If his conscience now brought to mind the javelin he had cast at David, his pride, malice, and perfidiousness, and especially the murder of the priests, no marvel that anguish came upon him: moles (they say) open their eyes when they are dying. Sense of unpardoned guilt will make death indeed the king of terrors. Those that have baffled their convictions will perhaps, in their dying moments, be overpowered by them. The margin reads it as a complaint of the inconvenience of his clothes; that his coat of mail which he had for defence, or his embroidered coat which he had for ornament, hindered him, that he could not get the spear far enough into his body, or so straitened him, now that his body swelled with anguish, that he could not expire. Let no man's clothes be his pride, for it may so happen that they may be his burden and snare. "Hereupon," saith our young man, "I stood upon him, and slew him" (v. 10) at which word, perhaps, he observed David look upon him with some show of displeasure, and therefore he excuses himself in the next words: "For I was sure he could not live; his life was whole in him indeed, but he would certainly have fallen into the hands of the Philistines or given himself another thrust." (2.) It is doubtful whether this story be true. If it be, the righteousness of God is to be observed, that Saul, who spared the Amalekites in contempt of the divine command, received his death's wound from an Amalekite. But most interpreters think that it was false, and that, though he might happen to be present, yet he was not assisting in the death of Saul, but told David so in expectation that he would reward him for it, as having done him a piece of good service. Those who would rejoice at the fall of an enemy are apt to measure others by themselves, and to think that they will do so too. But a man after God's own heart is not to be judged of by common men. I am not clear whether this young man's story was true or no: it may consist with the narrative in the chapter before, and be an addition to it, as Peter's account of the death of Judas (Acts i. 18) is to the narrative, Matt. xxvii. 5. What is there called a sword may here be called a spear, or when he fell upon his sword he leaned on his spear. (3.) However he produced that which was proof sufficient of the death of Saul, the crown that was upon his head and the bracelet that was on his arm. It should seem Saul was so foolishly fond of these as to wear them in the field of battle, which made him a fair mark for the archers, by distinguishing him from those about him; but as pride (we say) feels no cold, so it fears no danger, from that which gratifies it. These fell into the hands of this Amalekite. Saul spared the best of their spoil, and now the best of his came to one of that devoted nation. He brought them to David, as the rightful owner of them now that Saul was dead, not doubting but by his officiousness herein to recommend himself to the best preferments in his court or camp. The tradition of the Jews is that this Amalekite was the son of Doeg (for the Amalekites were descendants from Edom), and that Doeg, who they suppose was Saul's armour-bearer, before he slew himself gave Saul's crown and bracelet (the ensigns of his royalty) to his son, and bade him carry them to David, to curry favour with him. But this is a groundless conceit. Doeg's son, it is likely, was so well known to Saul that he needed not ask him as he did this Amalekite (v. 8), Who art thou? David had been long waiting for the crown, and now it was brought to him by an Amalekite. See how God can serve his own purposes of kindness to his people, even by designing (ill-designing) men, who aim at nothing but to set up themselves.

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 unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. 14 And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord 's anointed? 15 And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died. 16 And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord 's anointed.

Here is, I. David's reception of these tidings. So far was he from falling into a transport of joy, as the Amalekite expected, that he fell into a passion of weeping, rent his clothes (v. 11), mourned and fasted (v. 12), not only for his people Israel and Jonathan his friend but for Saul his enemy. This he did, not only as a man of honour, in observance of that decorum which forbids us to insult over those that are fallen, and requires us to attend our relations to the grave with respect, whatever we lost by their life or got by their death, but as a good man and a man of conscience, that had forgiven the injuries Saul had done him and bore him no malice. He knew it, before his son wrote it (Prov. xxiv. 17, 18), that if we rejoice when our enemy falls the Lord sees it, and it displeases him; and that he who is glad at calamities shall not go unpunished, Prov. xvii. 5. By this it appears that those passages in David's psalms which express his desire of, and triumph in, the ruin of his enemies, proceeded not from a spirit of revenge, nor any irregular passion, but from a holy zeal for the glory of God and the public good; for by what he did here, when he heard of Saul's death, we may perceive that his natural temper was very tender, and that he was kindly affected even to those that hated him. He was very sincere, no question, in his mourning for Saul, and it was not pretended, or a copy of his countenance only. His passion was so strong, on this occasion, that it moved those about him; all that were with him, at least in complaisance to him, rent their clothes, and they fasted till even, in token of their sorrow; and probably it was a religious fast: they humbled themselves under the hand of God, and prayed for the repairing of the breaches made upon Israel by this defeat.

II. The reward he gave to him that brought him the tidings. Instead of preferring him, he put him to death, judged him out of his own mouth, as a murderer of his prince, and ordered him to be forthwith executed for the same. What a surprise was this to the messenger, who thought he should have favour shown him for his pains. In vain did he plead that he had Saul's order for it, that it was a real kindness to him, that he must inevitably have died; all those pleas are overruled: "Thy mouth has testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed (v. 16), therefore thou must die." Now,

1. David herein did not do unjustly. For, (1.) The man was an Amalekite. This, lest he should have mistaken it in his narrative, he made him own a second time, v. 13. That nation, and all that belonged to it, were doomed to destruction, so that, in slaying him, David did what his predecessor should have done and was rejected for not doing. (2.) He did himself confess the crime, so that the evidence was, by the consent of all laws, sufficient to convict him; for every man is presumed to make the best of himself. If he did as he said, he deserved to die for treason (v. 14), doing that which, it is probable, he heard Saul's own armour-bearer refuse to do; if not, yet by boasting that he had done it he plainly showed that if there had been occasion he would have done it, and would have made nothing of it; and, by boasting of it to David, he showed what opinion he had of him, that he would rejoice in it, as one altogether like himself, which was an intolerable affront to him who had himself once and again refused to stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed. And his lying to David, if indeed it was a lie, was highly criminal, and proved, as sooner or later that sin will prove, lying against his own head.

2. He did honourably and well. Hereby he demonstrated the sincerity of his grief, discouraged all others from thinking by doing the like to ingratiate themselves with him, and did that which might probably oblige the house of Saul and win upon them, and recommend him to the people as one that was zealous for public justice, without regard to his own private interest. We may learn from it that to give assistance to any in murdering themselves, directly or indirectly, if done wittingly, incurs the guilt of blood, and that the lives of princes ought to be, in a special manner, precious to us.

David's Lamentation for Jonathan. (b. c. 1055.)

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 upon thy 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 Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon 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 Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. 25 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places. 26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. 27 How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

When David had rent his clothes, mourned, and wept, and fasted, for the death of Saul, and done justice upon him who made himself guilty of it, one would think he had made full payment of the debt of honour he owed to his memory; yet this is not all: we have here a poem he wrote on that occasion; for he was a great master of his pen as well as of his sword. By this elegy he designed both to express his own sorrow for this great calamity and to impress the like on the minds of others, who ought to lay it to heart. The putting of lamentations into poems made them, 1. The more moving and affecting. The passion of the poet, or singer, is, by this way, wonderfully communicated to the readers and hearers. 2. The more lasting. Thus they were made, not only to spread far, but to continue long, from generation to generation. Those might gain information by poems that would not read history. Here we have,

I. The orders David gave with this elegy (v. 18): He bade them teach the children of Judah (his own tribe, whatever others did) the use of the bow, either. 1. The bow used in war. Not but that the children of Judah knew how to use the bow (it was so commonly used in war, long before this, that the sword and bow were put for all weapons of war, Gen. xlviii. 22), but perhaps they had of late made more use of slings, as David in killing Goliath, because cheaper, and David would have them now to see the inconvenience of these (for it was the archers of the Philistines that bore so hard upon Saul, 1 Sam. xxi. 3), and to return more generally to the use of the bow, to exercise themselves in this weapon, that they might be in a capacity to avenge the death of their prince upon the Philistines, and to outdo them at their own weapon. It was a pity but those that had such good heads and hearts as the children of Judah should be well armed. David hereby showed his authority over and concern for the armies of Israel, and set himself to rectify the errors of the former reign. But we find that the companies which had now come to David to Ziklag were armed with bows (1 Chron. xii. 2); therefore, 2. Some understand it either of some musical instrument called a bow (to which he would have the mournful ditties sung) or of the elegy itself: He bade them teach the children of Judah Kesheth, the bow, that is, this song, which was so entitled for the sake of Jonathan's bow, the achievements of which are here celebrated. Moses commanded Israel to learn his song (Deut. xxxi. 19), so David his. Probably he bade the Levites teach them. It is written in the book of Jasher, there it was kept upon record, and thence transcribed into this history. That book was probably a collection of state-poems; what is said to be written in that book (Josh. x. 13) is also poetical, a fragment of an historical poem. Even songs would be forgotten and lost if they were not committed to writing, that best conservatory of knowledge.

II. The elegy itself. It is not a divine hymn, nor given by inspiration of God to be used in divine service, nor is there any mention of God in it; but it is a human composition, and therefore was inserted, not in the book of Psalms (which, being of divine original, is preserved), but in the book of Jasher, which, being only a collection of common poems, is long since lost. This elegy proves David to have been,

1. A man of an excellent spirit, in four things:—

(1.) He was very generous to Saul, his sworn enemy. Saul was his father-in-law, his sovereign, and the anointed of the Lord; and therefore, though he had done him a great deal of wrong, David does not wreak his revenge upon his memory when he is in his grave; but like a good man, and a man of honour, [1.] He conceals his faults; and, though there was no preventing their appearance in his history, yet they should not appear in this elegy. Charity teaches us to make the best we can of every body and to say nothing of those of whom we can say no good, especially when they are gone. De mortuis nil nisi bonum—Say nothing but good concerning the dead. We ought to deny ourselves the satisfaction of making personal reflections upon those who have been injurious to us, much more drawing their character thence, as if every man must of necessity be a bad man that has done ill by us. Let the corrupt part of the memory be buried with the corrupt part of the man—earth to earth, ashes to ashes; let the blemish be hidden and a veil drawn over the deformity. [2.] He celebrates that which was praiseworthy in him. He does not commend him for that which he was not, says nothing of his piety or fidelity. Those funeral commendations which are gathered out of the spoils of truth are not at all to the praise of those on whom they are bestowed, but very much the dispraise of those who unjustly misplace them. But he has this to say in honour of Saul himself, First, That he was anointed with oil (v. 21), the sacred oil, which signified his elevation to, and qualification for, the government. Whatever he was otherwise, the crown of the anointing oil of his God was upon him, as is said of the high priest (Lev. xxi. 12), and on that account he was to be honoured, because God, the fountain of honour, had honoured him. Secondly, That he was a man of war, a mighty man (v. 19-21), that he had often been victorious over the enemies of Israel and vexed them whithersoever he turned, 1 Sam. xiv. 47. His sword returned not empty, but satiated with blood and spoil, v. 22. His disgrace and fall at last must not make his former successes and services to be forgotten. Though his sun set under a cloud, time was when it shone brightly. Thirdly, That take him with Jonathan he was a man of a very agreeable temper, that recommended himself to the affections of his subjects (v. 23): Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant. Jonathan was always so, and Saul was so as long as he concurred with him. Take them together, and in the pursuit of the enemy, never were men more bold, more brave; they were swifter than eagles and stronger than lions. Observe, Those that were most fierce and fiery in the camp were no less sweet and lovely in the court, as amiable to the subject as they were formidable to the foe; a rare combination of softness and sharpness they had, which makes any man's temper very happy. It may be understood of the harmony and affection that for the most part subsisted between Saul and Jonathan: they were lovely and pleasant one to another, Jonathan a dutiful son, Saul an affectionate father; and therefore dear to each other in their lives, and in their death they were not divided, but kept close together in the stand they made against the Philistines, and fell together in the same cause. Fourthly, That he had enriched his country with the spoils of conquered nations, and introduced a more splendid attire. When they had a king like the nations, they must have clothes like the nations; and herein he was, in a particular manner, obliging to his female subjects, v. 24. The daughters of Israel he clothed in scarlet, which was their delight.

(2.) He was very grateful to Jonathan, his sworn friend. Besides the tears he shed over him, and the encomiums he gives of him in common with Saul, he mentions him with some marks of distinction (v. 25): O Jonathan! thou wast slain in thy high places! which (compared with v. 19) intimates that he meant him by the beauty of Israel, which, he there says, was slain upon the high places. He laments Jonathan as his particular friend (v. 26): My brother, Jonathan; not so much because of what he would have been to him if he had lived, very serviceable no doubt in his advancement to the throne and instrumental to prevent those long struggles which, for want of his assistance, he had with the house of Saul (had this been the only ground of his grief it would have been selfish), but he lamented him for what he had been: "Very pleasant hast thou been unto me; but that pleasantness is now over, and I am distressed for thee." He had reason to say that Jonathan's love to him was wonderful; surely never was the like, for a man to love one who he knew was to take the crown over his head, and to be so faithful to his rival: this far surpassed the highest degree of conjugal affection and constancy. See here, [1.] That nothing is more delightful in this world than a true friend, that is wise and good, that kindly receives and returns our affection, and is faithful to us in all our true interests. [2.] That nothing is more distressful than the loss of such a friend; it is parting with a piece of one's self. It is the vanity of this world that what is most pleasant to us we are most liable to be distressed in. The more we love the more we grieve.

(3.) He was deeply concerned for the honour of God; for this is what he has an eye to when he fears lest the daughters of the uncircumcised, that are out of covenant with God, should triumph over Israel, and the God of Israel, v. 20. Good men are touched in a very sensible part by the reproaches of those that reproach God.

(4.) He was deeply concerned for the public welfare. It was the beauty of Israel that was slain (v. 19) and the honour of the public that was disgraced: The mighty have fallen (this is three times lamented, (v. 19, 25, 27), and so the strength of the people is weakened. Public losses are most laid to heart by men of public spirit. David hoped God would make him instrumental to repair those losses and yet laments them.

2. A man of a fine imagination, as well as a wise and holy man. The expressions are all excellent, and calculated to work upon the passions. (1.) The embargo he would fain lay upon Fame is elegant (v. 20): Tell it not in Gath. It grieved him to the heart to think that it would be proclaimed in the cities of the Philistines, and that they would insult over Israel upon it, and the more in remembrance of the triumphs of Israel over them formerly, when they sang, Saul has slain his thousands; for this would now be retorted. (2.) The curse he entails on the mountains of Gilboa, the theatre on which this tragedy was acted: Let there be no dew upon you, nor fields of offerings, v. 21. This is a poetical strain, like that of Job, Let the day perish wherein I was born. Not as if David wished that any part of the land of Israel might be barren, but, to express his sorrow for the thing, he speaks with a seeming indignation at the place. Observe, [1.] How the fruitfulness of the earth depends upon heaven. The worst thing he could wish to the mountains of Gilboa was barrenness and unprofitableness to man: those are miserable that are useless. It was the curse Christ pronounced on the fig-tree, Never fruit grow on thee more, and that took effect—the fig-tree withered away: this, on the mountains of Gilboa, did not. But, when he wished them barren, he wished there might be no rain upon them; and, if the heavens be brass, the earth will soon be iron. [2.] How the fruitfulness of the earth must therefore be devoted to heaven, which is intimated in his calling the fruitful fields fields of offerings. Those fruits of their land that were offered to God were the crown and glory of it: and therefore the failure of the offerings is the saddest consequent of the failure of the corn. See Joel i. 9. To want that wherewith we should honour God is worse than to want that wherewith we should sustain ourselves. This is the reproach David fastens upon the mountains of Gilboa, which, having been stained with royal blood, thereby forfeited celestial dews. In this elegy Saul had a more honourable interment than that which the men of Jabesh-Gilead gave him.