2 Samuel 1

2 Samuel 1:1 After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down[1] the Amalekites and stayed at Ziklag for two days.

2 Samuel 1:2 On the third day, a man with torn clothes and dust on his head came from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground[2] and paid homage.

2 Samuel 1:3 David asked him, “Where have you come from?” He replied, “I’ve escaped from the Israelite camp.”

2 Samuel 1:4 “What was the outcome? Tell me,” David asked him. “The people fled from the battle,” he answered. “Many of the people have fallen and are dead. Also, Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”

2 Samuel 1:5 David asked the boy[3] who had brought him the report, “How do you know Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

2 Samuel 1:6 “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” the boy replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear. At that very moment, the chariots and the cavalry were closing in on him.

2 Samuel 1:7 When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, so I answered: I’m at your service.

2 Samuel 1:8 He asked me, ‘Who are you? ‘ I told him: I’m an Amalekite.

2 Samuel 1:9 Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for I’m mortally wounded, but my throat[4] still breathes in me.’

2 Samuel 1:10 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.”

2 Samuel 1:11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and all the men with him did the same.

2 Samuel 1:12 They mourned, wept, and fasted until the evening for those who died by the sword– for Saul, his son Jonathan, Yahveh’s[5] people, and the house of Israel.

2 Samuel 1:13 David inquired of the boy who had brought him the report, “Where are you from?” “I’m the son of a resident alien,” he said. “I’m an Amalekite.”

2 Samuel 1:14 David questioned him, “How is it that you were not afraid to lift your hand to put an end to[6] Yahveh’s anointed?”

2 Samuel 1:15 Then David summoned one of his boys and said, “Come here and kill him!” He struck him, and he died.

2 Samuel 1:16 For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood is on your head because your mouth testified against you by saying, ‘I killed Yahveh’s anointed.'”

2 Samuel 1:17 David chanted this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan,

2 Samuel 1:18 and he commanded that the Judahites be taught The Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar:

2 Samuel 1:19 The glory of Israel lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!

2 Samuel 1:20 Do not report it in Gath, don’t announce it in the marketplaces of Ashkelon, or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate.

2 Samuel 1:21 Mountains of Gilboa, let no dew or rain be on you, or fields of offerings, for there the shield of the mighty was defiled — the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.

2 Samuel 1:22 Jonathan’s bow never retreated, Saul’s sword never returned unstained, from the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty.

2 Samuel 1:23 Saul and Jonathan, loved and delightful; they were not parted in life or death. They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

2 Samuel 1:24 Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with luxurious things, who decked your garments with gold ornaments.

2 Samuel 1:25 How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.

2 Samuel 1:26 I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were such a friend to me. Your love for me was more wondrous than the love of women.

2 Samuel 1:27 How the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war have been destroyed![7]

[1] נָכָה = strike (down). 2 Samuel 1:1, 15; 2:22, 23, 31; 3:27; 4:6, 7; 5:8, 20, 24, 25; 6:7; 8:1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 13; 10:18; 11:15, 21; 12:9; 13:28, 30; 14:6, 7; 15:14; 17:2; 18:11, 15; 20:10; 21:2, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21; 23:10, 12, 20, 21; 24:10, 17.

[2] אֶרֶץ = ground, land. 2 Samuel 1:2; 2:22; 3:12; 4:11; 5:6; 7:9, 23; 8:2; 10:2; 12:16, 17, 20; 13:31; 14:4, 11, 14, 20, 22, 33; 15:4, 23; 17:26; 18:8, 9, 11, 28; 19:9; 20:10; 21:14; 22:8, 43; 23:4; 24:6, 8, 13, 20, 25.

[3] נָעַר = boy (young man or servant). 2 Samuel 1:5, 6, 13, 15; 2:14, 21; 4:12; 9:9; 12:16; 13:17, 28, 29, 32, 34; 14:21; 16:1, 2; 17:18; 18:5, 12, 15, 29, 32; 19:17; 20:11.

[4] נֶפֶשׁ = throat. 2 Samuel 1:9; 3:21; 4:8, 9; 5:8; 11:11; 14:7, 14, 19; 16:11; 17:8; 18:13; 19:5; 23:17.

[5] יהוה = Yahveh. 2 Samuel 1:12, 14, 16; 2:1, 5, 6; 3:9, 18, 28, 39; 4:8, 9; 5:2, 3, 10, 12, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25; 6:2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21; 7:1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29; 8:6, 11, 14; 10:12; 11:27; 12:1, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 20, 22, 24, 25; 14:11, 17; 15:7, 8, 21, 25, 31; 16:8, 10, 11, 12, 18; 17:14; 18:19, 28, 31; 19:7, 21; 20:19; 21:1, 3, 6, 7, 9; 22:1, 2, 4, 7, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22, 25, 29, 31, 32, 42, 47, 50; 23:2, 10, 12, 16, 17; 24:1, 3, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25.

[6] שָׁחַת = put an end to. 2 Samuel 1:14; 11:1; 14:11; 20:15, 20; 24:16.

[7] אָבַד = be destroyed. 2 Samuel 1:27.