2 Samuel 1:12-20

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Samuel 1:11-16

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 (2 Sam. 1:11), mourned and fasted (2 Sam. 1:12), 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... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Samuel 1:17-27

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 1:12

And they mourned and wept ,.... Inwardly mourned, and outwardly wept, no doubt sincerely: and fasted until even ; ate no food all that day until it was evening, the manner in which fasts used to be kept: for Saul, and for Jonathan his son ; it is no wonder that David and his men should mourn for Jonathan, a good man, and a valiant one, and a dear and faithful friend of David's; but it may seem not so clear a thing that they should, mourn for Saul, a wicked man, and a persecutor of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 1:13

And David said unto the young man that told him, whence art thou ?.... From what place, or of what people and nation art thou? though Abarbinel thinks it neither respects place nor people, but that David thought he was another man's servant; so that the sense of the question is, to what man did he belong? and he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite ; he was not any man's servant, but the son of a proselyte, of one that was by birth and nation an Amalekite, but... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 1:14

And David said unto him, how, wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand ,.... By which it should seem that he did more than stand upon him, and press his body, that the spear might pierce through him, but that he drew his sword, and slew him; so David understood him, and is the sense of the phrase in 1 Samuel 17:51 , to destroy the Lord's anointed ? a reason why David did not destroy him, when it was in the power of his hands, and which he made use of to dissuade others from it;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 1:15

And David called one of the young men ,.... His servants that attended on him: and said, go near, and fall upon him ; by smiting him with his sword: and he smote him, that he died ; his orders were instantly obeyed. Kings and generals of armies had great power in those times and countries to execute a man immediately, without any other judge or jury: what may serve, or David might think would serve, to justify him in doing this, is what follows. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 1:16

And David said unto him, thy blood be upon thy head ,.... The blood that he had shed, let him suffer for it; for as he had shed blood, his blood ought to be shed, according to the law of God; and for proof of this, that he had so done, he appeals to his own confession: for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed ; and what might serve to confirm the truth of what he had said were the crown and bracelet which he brought along with him; and besides... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 1:17

And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son. Composed the following elegy on account of their death, and sung it in a tune agreeable to it, he and the men that were with him. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 1:18

(Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow ,.... These words, with what follow in this verse, are rightly put into a parenthesis, since they do not begin nor make any part of the elegiac song, or lamentation of David; and are here inserted to show, that, amidst his sorrow and lamentation, he was not unmindful of the welfare of the people, and to provide for their defence and security; and therefore gave orders that care should be taken, especially in the tribe of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 1:19

The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places ,.... The high mountains of Gilboa, where Saul their king, and Jonathan his son, a prince of the blood, and natural heir to the crown, and multitudes of young men, the flower of the nation, were wounded and slain. Here begins the lamentation, or the elegiac song: how are the mighty fallen ! mighty men of war, strong and valiant, as Saul and his sons were, and the soldiers in his army. read more

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