Hello Everyone,

2 Samuel 1:1–16 (NASB95)

¹ Now it came about after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, that David remained two days in Ziklag. ² On the third day, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul, with his clothes torn and dust on his head. And it came about when he came to David that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself. ³ Then David said to him, “From where do you come?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴ David said to him, “How did things go? Please tell me.” And he said, “The people have fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.” ⁵ So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶ The young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and behold, Saul was leaning on his spear. And behold, the chariots and the horsemen pursued him closely. ⁷ “When he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I said, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸ “He said to me, ‘Who are you?’ And I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹ “Then he said to me, ‘Please stand beside me and kill me, for agony has seized me because my life still lingers in me.’ ¹⁰ “So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown which was on his head and the bracelet which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.” ¹¹ Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him. ¹² They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the people of the Lord and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³ David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?” And he answered, “I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴ Then David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” ¹⁵ And David called one of the young men and said, “Go, cut him down.” So he struck him and he died. ¹⁶ David said to him, “Your blood is on your head, for your mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’ ”

Imagine what it was like for David to have completed the battle to retake his city of Ziklag. He managed to bring his family and friends families back home. War in those days was not as friendly as it is now.  The scriptures do not discuss the problems associated with war. 

The Amalekite man is interesting since God ordered Israel to completely annihilate the Amalekites (Deuteronomy 25:17-19). 

He carried the message to David that Saul, a very important person in his life, was dead.  Think about his relationship with Saul for a moment.  David had been chased by Saul for quite some time when Saul was trying to kill David.  This was to be expected since David was anointed for the throne (1 Sam 16:12-13).  Saul was not walking with the Lord and was following the customs of the land by trying to kill the next king to protect his throne.  On the flip side.  David knew that Saul was anointed by the Lord as King of Israel.  He respected that anointing and considered Saul as his king.  His early years placed him with a harp in Saul’s presence to calm Saul during his fits with the demonic influence in his life (1 Sam 16:17-23).  David in this way acted as Saul’s personal therapist as he calmed his nerves during the bad times that he was having.  After that, David killed Goliath and entered into a special relationship where Saul “set him over the men of war” (1 Sam 18:5).   David married Saul’s daughter (1 Sam 18:20-30).  His best friend was Jonathan (1 Sam 18:1).  I would imagine that David was hoping that Saul would one day return to the Lord and that the relationship between them would be restored.  David received really bad news from the Amalekite man.  This sorrow was built upon the sorrow of a devastated hometown where the goods were pilfered, and the women may have been raped and humiliated.

The second thing to consider is that Saul was reported to have committed suicide by falling on his own sword (1 Sam 31:4-6).  The Amalekite man claimed to have killed Saul in a kind of mercy killing (2 Sam 1:6-10).  Was he lying? Can we say that the scriptures record conflicting stories?  We really do not know if he was lying in order to gain benefit from David who seemed to be Saul’s biggest enemy.  It is possible that both accounts are correct.  Perhaps the falling on the sword did not work and Saul was in agony after attempting suicide.  The Amalekite man may have been telling the truth since he may have finished Saul off.

David had every reason to believe the Amalekite man.  The man carried Saul’s crown and bracelet off of his arm.  David asked the question of why the man was not afraid to raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed (2 Sam 1:14).  Then he ordered his death because he admitted executing the “Lord’s anointed”.  This is significant.

The idea of the Lord’s anointed looks forward to the idea of the Messiah.  Jesus is the Messiah of Israel.  We all call Jesus “Christ” which is a word from the Greek which is transliterated letter for letter into the English.  It is not translated.  If Christ were translated it would carry the idea of anoint, or the anointed one.  The word Messiah carries with it the same connotation.  The word “Christos” is translated by Matthew as Messiah in Matthew 1:1.  Here is the clincher that hooks into the study.  Everyone who is responsible for killing the anointed of the Lord deserves death.  If you read the account of the death of Jesus, all parties are represented, Jews, Gentiles and those who were mixed.  We are responsible for killing Christ Jesus.  We are doubly dead when we reject the work of Christ on earth and his sacrifice on the cross.  The first death was with Adam and Eve where men fell in the garden.  The second death is when men reject the work of Christ on the cross.  Life comes through accepting Jesus’ death as payment for our sins…

Am I reading into the passage?  What is your take on it?  I will be watching the discussion board on Facebook to see your comments.

Father, as we consider this study, enlighten each of us to understand how that relationship plays into your plans.  Help us to understand the importance of Christ in our lives and to devote our lives to Him.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

Hello All,

On the E-mail list we have a prayer list.  If you wish to take part in the prayer, please make sure you are on the list and most important…send in your prayer requests. 

The passage that we are studying today is the dirge that David sang after finding out that Saul and Jonathan were dead.  By the way, Jonathan’s other two brothers who fell in battle are not mentioned.  This may be because David was focused on the key people in his life.  If you have thoughts on this write in.

We are going to go verse by verse today.  I am quoting out of the New American Standard Bible, 1995 update:

2 Samuel 1:17–27 (NASB95)

¹⁷Then David chanted with this lament over Saul and Jonathan his son,

¹⁸and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the song of the bow; behold, it is written in the book of Jashar.

¹⁹“Your beauty, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How have the mighty fallen!

The death of Saul and Jonathan in battle was a national tragedy.  The text implies that they were standing up when they fell.  The idea is that they went down fighting; which is an honorable way to die.

²⁰“Tell it not in Gath, Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, Or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, The daughters of the uncircumcised will exult.

Ashkelon was one of the main cities in the Philistine Nation.  Gath was another Philistine city close to Ziklag where David had set up residence.  The purpose of not mentioning the deaths was to keep the Philistines from rejoicing over the deaths of their enemies.

²¹“O mountains of Gilboa, Let not dew or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings; For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

The battle took place at Gilboa (1 Samuel 31:1-8).  David laments over Saul and Jonathan, asking God to curse the area.  Remember yesterday that Saul was the “anointed” king?  Now David plays with the words stating that he is no longer anointed.

²²“From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan did not turn back, And the sword of Saul did not return empty.

²³“Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life, And in their death they were not parted; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions.

These verses refer back to verse 19.  Hebrew poetry will rhyme thoughts.  This is a good tool when reading Psalms or other Hebrew poetry.  The thought in verse 19 is expanded in these two verses to demonstrate that both Saul and Jonathan were warriors fighting till death.  Another note is that both of them were “your beauty” which indicates that they were generally well liked.

²⁴“O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

This verse refers back to verse 20.  It is a compare and contrast type of idea.  David is contrasting the rejoicing in the land of Philistines with the weeping in the land of Israel. 

²⁵“How have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain on your high places.

²⁶“I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was more wonderful Than the love of women.

This lament develops the thoughts from verses 21-23.  David explains why Jonathan was so important to him.  Jonathan was his best friend.  It is also interesting that David plays with the words to categorize Jonathan with the mighty men.  When you look back on Jonathan’s life, he was quite a warrior.  He was willing to fight when others were cowering in fear.  The story about his fight with the Philistines is a remarkable one that brought fear to the land and initiated a great victory for the Hebrew army (1 Samuel 14:1-15).  Imagine defeating twenty men in hand to hand combat, that’s tough.

²⁷“How have the mighty fallen, And the weapons of war perished!”

This is a summary statement that refers back to verse 19.  It also digs into other aspects of Hebrew poetry that closes the poem with a thought reflecting the original idea.  The tale of Saul and Jonathan is one that describes two mighty men of war who died in battle.

I hope that this made sense to you.  It is difficult to cover poetry such as this without making it incredibly boring to read.  The point of the entire matter is simply that David was upset over Saul and Jonathan’s deaths.  He wrote this poem probably for several reasons.  First it was a dirge which catalogued their lives and their demeanor.  Second, it was a call to Israel to wake up.  Mighty men were being killed; it was a time for change.  I think it was also a personal wake up call to David.  God had anointed him as King, now he had to take the reins of the nation and act like it.

I had a difficult time with this passage since I was working off of a computer edition of the Bible.  It is difficult to compare verses when you can only observe a few at a time.  If you have further insights, or disagree with my thoughts, write in.

Father, as we consider the fall of warriors, put the drive in each of us to become warriors of righteousness in an unrighteous world.

In Him,

Joe Turner.