2 Samuel 1
The Message
1 1-2 Shortly after Saul died, David returned to Ziklag from his rout of the Amalekites. Three days later a man showed up unannounced from Saul’s army camp.
2-3 Disheveled and obviously in mourning, he fell to his knees in respect before David. David asked, “What brings you here?”
He answered, “I’ve just escaped from the camp of Israel.”
4 “So what happened?” said David. “What’s the news?”
He said, “The Israelites have fled the battlefield, leaving a lot of their dead comrades behind. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”
5 David pressed the young soldier for details: “How do you know for sure that Saul and Jonathan are dead?”
6-8 “I just happened by Mount Gilboa and came on Saul, badly wounded and leaning on his spear, with enemy chariots and horsemen bearing down hard on him. He looked behind him, saw me, and called me to him. ‘Yes sir,’ I said, ‘at your service.’ He asked me who I was, and I told him, ‘I’m an Amalekite.’”
9 “Come here,” he said, “and put me out of my misery. I’m nearly dead already, but my life hangs on.”
10 “So I did what he asked—I killed him. I knew he wouldn’t last much longer anyway. I removed his royal headband and bracelet, and have brought them to my master. Here they are.”
11-12 In lament, David ripped his clothes to ribbons. All the men with him did the same. They wept and fasted the rest of the day, grieving the death of Saul and his son Jonathan, and also the army of God and the nation Israel, victims in a failed battle.
13 Then David spoke to the young soldier who had brought the report: “Who are you, anyway?”
“I’m from an immigrant family—an Amalekite.”
14-15 “Do you mean to say,” said David, “that you weren’t afraid to up and kill God’s anointed king?” Right then he ordered one of his soldiers, “Strike him dead!” The soldier struck him, and he died.
16 “You asked for it,” David told him. “You sealed your death sentence when you said you killed God’s anointed king.”
17-18 Then David sang this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan, and gave orders that everyone in Judah learn it by heart. Yes, it’s even inscribed in The Book of Jashar.
19-21 Oh, oh, Gazelles of Israel, struck down on your hills,
the mighty warriors—fallen, fallen!
Don’t announce it in the city of Gath,
don’t post the news in the streets of Ashkelon.
Don’t give those coarse Philistine girls
one more excuse for a drunken party!
No more dew or rain for you, hills of Gilboa,
and not a drop from springs and wells,
For there the warriors’ shields were dragged through the mud,
Saul’s shield left there to rot.
22 Jonathan’s bow was bold—
the bigger they were the harder they fell.
Saul’s sword was fearless—
once out of the scabbard, nothing could stop it.
23 Saul and Jonathan—beloved, beautiful!
Together in life, together in death.
Swifter than plummeting eagles,
stronger than proud lions.
24-25 Women of Israel, weep for Saul.
He dressed you in finest cottons and silks,
spared no expense in making you elegant.
The mighty warriors—fallen, fallen
in the middle of the fight!
Jonathan—struck down on your hills!
26 O my dear brother Jonathan,
I’m crushed by your death.
Your friendship was a miracle-wonder,
love far exceeding anything I’ve known—
or ever hope to know.
27 The mighty warriors—fallen, fallen.
And the arms of war broken to bits.
2 Samuel 1
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Responses to Saul’s Death
1 After the death of Saul,(A) David returned from defeating the Amalekites(B) and stayed at Ziklag two days. 2 On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head(C) came from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage. 3 David asked him, “Where have you come from?”
He replied to him, “I’ve escaped from the Israelite camp.”
4 “What was the outcome? Tell me,” David asked him.
“The troops fled from the battle,” he answered. “Many of the troops have fallen and are dead. Also, Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”(D)
5 David asked the young man who had brought him the report, “How do you know Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
6 “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,”(E) he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear. At that very moment the chariots and the cavalry were closing in on him. 7 When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, so I answered: I’m at your service. 8 He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ I told him: I’m an Amalekite.(F) 9 Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for I’m mortally wounded,[a] but my life still lingers.’(G) 10 So I stood over him and killed him because I knew that after he had fallen he couldn’t survive. I took the crown that was on his head and the armband that was on his arm, and I’ve brought them here to my lord.”
11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them,(H) and all the men with him did the same. 12 They mourned, wept, and fasted until the evening(I) for those who died by the sword—for Saul, his son Jonathan, the Lord’s people, and the house of Israel.
13 David inquired of the young man who had brought him the report, “Where are you from?”
“I’m the son of a foreigner,” he said. “I’m an Amalekite.”
14 David questioned him, “How is it that you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”(J) 15 Then David summoned one of his servants and said, “Come here and kill him!” The servant struck him, and he died.(K) 16 For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood is on your own head(L) because your own mouth testified against you by saying, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’”
17 David sang the following lament(M) for Saul and his son Jonathan, 18 and he ordered that the Judahites be taught The Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar:[b](N)
19 The splendor of Israel lies slain on your heights.
How the mighty have fallen!
20 Do not tell it in Gath,
don’t announce it in the marketplaces of Ashkelon,
or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,(O)
and the daughters of the uncircumcised will gloat.
21 Mountains of Gilboa,
let no dew or rain be on you,
or fields of offerings,[c]
for there the shield of the mighty was defiled(P)—
the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.(Q)
22 Jonathan’s bow never retreated,
Saul’s sword never returned unstained,[d]
from the blood of the slain,
from the bodies of the mighty.
23 Saul and Jonathan,
loved and delightful,
they were not parted in life or in death.
They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.
24 Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet, with luxurious things,
who decked your garments with gold ornaments.(R)
25 How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle!
Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
26 I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother.
You were such a friend to me.
Your love for me was more wonderful
than the love of women.(S)
27 How the mighty have fallen
and the weapons of war have perished!
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 1:9 LXX reads for terrible darkness has taken hold of me
- 2 Samuel 1:18 Or of the Upright
- 2 Samuel 1:21 LXX reads firstfruits
- 2 Samuel 1:22 Lit empty
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.