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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
1:1-20:26 Story of King David. Most of 2 Samuel recounts the rise of David's kingship, first over Judah and then over all Israel, and the major challenge to David's rule resulting from David's own sins.
1:1-27 David and the Death of Saul. The earliest history of the Israelite monarchy now moves into its second stage, the era of King David. The narrator first looks back to the end of Saul's life (the death of Saul and his sons at Mount Gilboa; 1 Samuel 31). David, who is in Ziklag, hears of the death of Saul. But instead of rejoicing, he mourns Saul's death and executes the man who claims to have killed Saul. His elegy shows his deep personal grief over the deaths of Saul and Jonathan in battle. David was not a vengeful rebel against Saul, and thus can receive the kingship in good conscience.
1:1-2 Verse 1 follows the events of 1 Samuel 30; in 2 Sam. 1:2 an Amalekite man (cf. v. 8) arrives to report the events of 1 Samuel 31. Saul probably died at about the same time that David returned to Ziklag, since the Amalekite arrived on the third day after David's return. The torn clothes and dirt are signs of mourning (see note on 1 Sam. 4:12).
1:6-10 So I stood beside him and killed him (v. 10). The narrator (whom readers should believe) in 1 Samuel 31 says that Saul killed himself. Having already read that, readers know that this man is lying to gain favor with the person who was most likely to replace Saul as king. Saul had destroyed most of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15), but since this man was the son of a sojourner (2 Sam. 1:13), his presence in Israel is no surprise. The crown and the armlet are the royal insignia; the crown was given to the king at the time of his investiture (2 Kings 11:12); "armlet" appears elsewhere only in Num. 31:50, where it is an ornament worn by Midianites.
1:12 David and his men fasted as a sign of mourning (as in 1 Sam. 31:13; 2 Sam. 3:35). After this summary statement, the story resumes the actual dialogue between David and the young man who brought this news of Saul's death.
1:14 How is it you were not afraid . . . to destroy the Lord's anointed? See note on 1 Sam. 24:6. As a sojourner who was subject to the laws of Israel (Lev. 24:22), the Amalekite should have recognized the sanctity of Saul as his king (contrast Saul's armor-bearer; 1 Sam. 31:4-5). David himself had refrained from killing Saul (1 Samuel 24; 26). Clearly, David did not ascend to the throne through violence or disloyalty (cf. note on 2 Sam. 1:1-27).
1:15 Go, execute him. David believed the Amalekite's story (but see note on vv. 6-10), and on that basis had him put to death. David's action provides clear evidence that he had no complicity in Saul's death. Though the Amalekite intended to win David's favor, David made it clear that his action constituted the murder of "the Lord's anointed" (v. 14), for which the just punishment would be execution.
1:16 Your blood be on your head means that the Amalekite (not David) is responsible for his own death (see Josh. 2:19; 1 Kings 2:32, 37; Ezek. 33:4).
1:17-27 And David lamented. David's lament is a profound expression of public and personal grief. As part of the historical records of David's reign, the lament provides lasting evidence of David's innocent ascent to the throne (cf. notes on vv. 1-27 and 14). Though grievously wronged by Saul, David nonetheless chose to remember Saul in a generous way, setting an example of graciously emphasizing the good that someone has done after that person dies. The recurring theme of how the mighty have fallen (vv. 19, 25, 27) provides the structure of David's lament, which exhorts Israel first to mourn Saul (v. 23) and then to mourn my brother Jonathan (v. 26), then closes with the repetition of the haunting refrain, "How the mighty have fallen" (v. 27).
1:18 The ESV text, saying it should be taught, refers to the lament that follows. The Hebrew text (see ESV footnote) is "the Bow should be taught to the people of Judah." This may be a heading, meaning, "In order to give the men of Judah military training (with the bow and other weapons)." Compare the heading of Psalm 60, "A Miktam of David; for instruction." Or, "the Bow" may be the name of the melody for this lament. The Book of Jashar is a non-biblical written source which also included Josh. 10:12-13 and, according to the Septuagint text, Solomon's poem in 1 Kings 8:12-13.
1:19 How the mighty have fallen! This is the theme line of David's lament for Saul and Jonathan, repeated in v. 25 and at the end in v. 27. Verses 19 and 25 form a literary "envelope" (or inclusio) that constitutes an inverted distant parallelism. That is, v. 19a (Your glory . . . is slain on your high places) is parallel to v. 25b ("Jonathan lies slain on your high places"), while v. 19b ("How the mighty have fallen") is repeated in v. 25a.
1:20 Gath and Ashkelon are Philistine cities. David cannot bear to think about the Philistine victory celebrations (cf. the Israelite women rejoicing in 1 Sam. 18:6-7).
1:21 let there be no dew or rain . . . nor fields of offerings! David wishes for lack of blessing on the place where Saul and Jonathan died. The line the shield of the mighty was defiled is paralleled by the next line, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil (i.e., "not in proper condition," since leather shields were treated with oil).
1:22 Blood and fat are often used as a word pair to refer to the whole of a sacrifice. For bow of Jonathan, see 1 Sam. 20:20.
1:23 The term lovely could be applied to outstanding "heroes" in Ugaritic. In life and in death means "all the time." One might wonder whether Saul and Jonathan were really "in life . . . not divided." In 1 Samuel 14 Jonathan acted without his father's knowledge and readily criticized him, and they disagreed over David (see esp. 1 Sam. 22:8). Yet from the fact that the Amalekite specified that "his [Saul's] son Jonathan" was dead (2 Sam. 1:4), it appears that Saul continued to treat him as his heir. Apparently they were able to maintain a relationship, working together and eventually fighting and dying together for Israel. This song, whose purpose is to celebrate and idealize, would not delve into these details.
1:24 Scarlet cloth, colored with a dye made from the dried bodies of an insect, was a sign of prosperity (Prov. 31:21).
1:26 Very pleasant refers to the way in which the relationship between David and Jonathan was uniquely "good," i.e., in a "pleasant" or "lovely" way (v. 23; cf. 23:1, where the same word is translated "sweet" in the phrase "sweet psalmist of Israel"). Jonathan deeply loved and supported David (as seen in 1 Sam. 18:1-20:42; 23:16-18), in accordance with their covenant with the Lord. surpassing the love of women. David's remark does not carry any sexual overtones. Rather, he is calling attention to Jonathan's radical self-denial in giving up any right to the throne of Israel (1 Sam. 23:17); instead, he gave his absolute support to David as the Lord's choice to succeed Jonathan's father Saul, even to the point of risking his life for David (1 Sam. 20:30-33).
