2 Samuele 1:19 Commento

In the close of the foregoing book (with which this is connected as a continuation of the same history) we had Saul's exit; he went down slain to the pit, though we was the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. We are now to look towards the rising sun, and to enquire where David is, and what he is doing. In this chapter we have, I. Tidings brought him to Ziklag of the death of Saul and Jonathan, by an Amalekite, who undertook to give him a particular narrative of it (Sa2 1:1-10). II. David's sorrowful reception of these tidings, (Sa2 1:11, Sa2 1:12). III. Justice done upon the messenger, who boasted that he had helped Saul to dispatch himself (Sa2 1:13-16). IV. An elegy which David penned upon this occasion (Sa2 1:17-27). And in all this David's breast appears very happily free from the sparks both of revenge and ambition, and he observes a very suitable demeanour.

This chapter contains an account of the death of Saul and Jonathan, as related to David by an Amalekite, Sa2 1:1; of the sorrow he and his men were filled with at the news of it, Sa2 1:11; of his order to put to death the messenger that brought the tidings, for his concern in the death of Saul, according to his own testimony, Sa2 1:13; and of a lamentation composed by David on this occasion, Sa2 1:17.

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.

An Amalekite comes to David, and informs him that the Philistines had routed the Israelites; and that Saul and his sons were slain, Sa2 1:1-4. And pretends that he himself had despatched Saul, finding him ready to fall alive into the hands of the Philistines, and had brought his crown and bracelets to David, Sa2 1:5-10. David and his men mourn for Saul and his sons, Sa2 1:11, Sa2 1:12. He orders the Amalekite, who professed that he had killed Saul, to be slain, Sa2 1:13-16. David's funeral song for Saul and Jonathan, Sa2 1:17-27.

AN AMALEKITE BRINGS TIDINGS OF SAUL'S DEATH. (2Sa. 1:1-16) David had abode two days in Ziklag--Though greatly reduced by the Amalekite incendiaries, that town was not so completely sacked and destroyed, but David and his six hundred followers, with their families, could still find some accommodation.

The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places--literally, "the gazelle" or "antelope of Israel." In Eastern countries, that animal is the chosen type of beauty and symmetrical elegance of form. how are the mighty fallen!--This forms the chorus.

David's Conduct on Hearing of Saul's Death. His Elegy upon Saul and Jonathan - 2 Samuel 1 David received the intelligence of the defeat of Israel and the death of Saul in the war with the Philistines from an Amalekite, who boasted of having slain Saul and handed over to David the crown and armlet of the fallen king, but whom David punished with death for the supposed murder of the anointed of God (vv. 1-16). David mourned for the death of Saul and Jonathan, and poured out his grief in an elegiac ode (Sa2 1:17-27). This account is closely connected with the concluding chapters of the first book of Samuel.

The ode is arranged in three strophes, which gradually diminish in force and sweep (viz., Sa2 1:19-24, Sa2 1:25-26, Sa2 1:27), and in which the vehemence of the sorrow so gradually modified, and finally dies away. Each strophe opens with the exclamation, "How are the mighty fallen!" The first contains all that had to be said in praise of the fallen heroes; the deepest mourning for their death; and praise of their bravery, of their inseparable love, and of the virtues of Saul as king. The second commemorates the friendship between David and Jonathan. The third simply utters the last sigh, with which the elegy becomes silent. The first strophe runs thus: 19 The ornament, O Israel, is slain upon thy heights! Oh how are the mighty fallen! 20 Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph! 21 Ye mountains of Gilboa, let now dew or rain be upon you, or fields of first-fruit offerings: For there is the shield of the mighty defiled, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. 22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan turned not back, And the sword of Saul returned not empty. 23 Saul and Jonathan, beloved and kind, in life And in death they are not divided. Lighter than eagles were they; stronger than lions. 24 Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you in purple with delight; Who put a golden ornament upon your apparel! The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen! The first clause of Sa2 1:19 contains the theme of the entire ode. הצּבי does not mean the gazelle here (as the Syriac and Clericus and others render it), the only plausible support of which is the expression "upon thy heights," whereas the parallel גּבּורים shows that by הצּבי we are to understand the two heroes Saul and Jonathan, and that the word is used in the appellative sense of ornament. The king and his noble son were the ornament of Israel. They were slain upon the heights of Israel. Luther has given a correct rendering, so far as the sense is concerned (die Edelsten, the noblest), after the inclyti of the Vulgate. The pronoun "thy high places" refers to Israel. The reference is to the heights of the mountains of Gilboa (see Sa2 1:21). This event threw Israel into deep mourning, which commences in the second clause.