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
David lamented - See this lamentation, and the notes on it at the end of this chapter, 2 Samuel 1:21 ; (note). read more
The facts of the section are: 1 . Having become assured, through the testimony of the Amalekite, of the defeat of Israel in the death of Saul and Jonathan, David and his men spent the rest of the day in mourning. 2 . On the morrow David examines the Amalekite as to the particulars of Saul's death, and being shocked at the sin and shame of slaying the Lord's anointed, he condemns the man to death. 3 . Being left to his own reflections on the sad event which had happened to Israel,... read more
David lamented with this lamentation. The Hebrew word for "lamentation" is kinah, a technical term for an elegy or poem commemorative of the dead. Thus Jeremiah wrote a kinah in memory of King Josiah ( 2 Chronicles 35:25 ); and there is little doubt that the "lamentations" there spoken of were a collection of dirges, in which probably this ode written by David held an honoured place. In 2 Samuel 3:33 , 2 Samuel 3:34 we have a short kinah in Abner's honour, which possibly formed... read more
( ZIKLAG .) The song of the bow. I. THE OCCASION of this lament, threnody, elegy, or funeral dirge, was the arrival of fatal tidings from Gilboa. "There were only two in that great slaughter concerning whose fate David was eager to know the truth—his enemy and his friend. 'How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead?' ( 2 Samuel 1:5 ). When the news was fully established, he immediately went through all the signs of Eastern grief. He and his six hundred heroes sat... read more
The words lamented and lamentation must be understood in the technical sense of a funeral dirge or mournful elegy. (See similar dirges in 2 Samuel 3:33-34; and 2 Chronicles 35:25.) This and the brief stanza on the death of Abner are the only specimens preserved to us of David’s secular poetry. read more
2 Samuel 1:17. David lamented with this lamentation He and his servants had lamented over Saul and Jonathan before, 2 Samuel 1:12. But now he composed a song for a public and universal lamentation, than which there is nothing more elegant and passionate to be found in all antiquity. The bursts of sorrow are so strong, so pathetic, so short, so various, so unconnected, that no grief was ever painted in such living and lasting colours. And it is one sure sign and beautiful effect of this... read more
1:1-4:12 CIVIL WAR AFTER SAUL’S DEATHMourning for Saul and Jonathan (1:1-27)David learnt of Saul’s death from one of Saul’s own men, an Amalekite who had become a citizen of Israel (1:1-4; see v. 13). The man clearly thought that by adding a few details to the story and by bringing Saul’s crown to David, he could win David’s favour (5-10; cf. 4:10).As long as Saul lived, David had regarded him as the Lord’s anointed king and had consistently refused to harm him (cf. 1 Samuel 24:6; 1 Samuel... read more
DAVID'S LAMENTATION FOR SAUL AND JONATHAN"And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jasher. He said:"Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places! How are the mighty fallen!"Tell it not in Gath; publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult."Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be... read more
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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