2 Samuel 1:10

_SO I STOOD UPON HIM, AND SLEW HIM, BECAUSE I WAS SURE THAT HE COULD NOT LIVE AFTER THAT HE WAS FALLEN: AND I TOOK THE CROWN THAT WAS UPON HIS HEAD, AND THE BRACELET THAT WAS ON HIS ARM, AND HAVE BROUGHT THEM HITHER UNTO MY LORD._ The crown - a small metallic cap or wreath, which encircled the temples, serving the purpose of a helmet, with a very small horn projecting in front, as the emblem of power. THE BRACELET THAT WAS ON HIS ARM - the armlet worn above the elbow, an ancient mark of royal dignity. It is still worn by kings in some Eastern countries....

1-10 The blow which opened David's way to the throne was given about the time he had been sorely distressed. Those who commit their concerns to the Lord, will quietly abide his will. It shows that he desired not Saul's death, and he was not impatient to come to the throne....

Verse 2 Samuel 1:10. _THE CROWN - AND THE BRACELET_] The crown was probably no more than a royal _fillet_ or _diadem_, both being the ensigns of royalty. It is sometimes customary in the _East_ for a sovereign prince to give a _crown_ and _bracelets_, when investing others with dominion or authority over certain provinces. Had Saul these in token of his being God's _vicegerent_, and that he held the kingdom from him alone?...

The Amalekite was one of those who came “to strip the slain” on “the morrow” after the battle 1 Samuel 31:8, and had the luck to find Saul and possess himself of his crown and bracelet. He probably started off immediately to seek David, and invented the above story, possibly having heard from some Israelite prisoner an account of what really did happen....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 1:1 NOW IT CAME TO PASS. During the last few days events had been crowding fast upon one another. Living as fugitives at Ziklag, in the land of the Philistines, David and his men, unfit for the peaceful occupations of agriculture, had been driven to seek their maintenance by raids upon the wild tribes in the desert. Of these the chief were the Amalekites, whose home was the bare region lying between the south of Judah and Egypt. We have ample proof that this race was utterly hostile to all order and quietness; it lived by the plunder of others, and, sheltering itself in the recesses of the wilderness, broke out thence on every opportunity to carry, ravage and ruin into all the neighbouring districts. The Amalekite was thus every man's enemy, and the object of universal dislike; and the cruelty which he habitually pract

SO I STOOD UPON HIM, AND SLEW HIM,.... Pressed with all his weight upon his body, that so the spear might pierce through him, and slay him; thus he represents his death to be brought about: BECAUSE I WAS SURE THAT HE COULD NOT LIVE AFTER THAT HE WAS FALLEN; this is not consistent with what he had said before, both that he was leaning on his spear, and not fallen to the ground, and that his life was whole in him: AND I TOOK THE CROWN THAT [WAS] UPON HIS HEAD; which made him conspicuous, and therefore the Philistines aimed at him, and pressed hard after him, 2 Samuel 1:6; though some think that this was not on his head, but carried into the field of battle, ready to be put on if victory was on his side; and others say it was in the possession and care of Doeg, who at his death gave it to his son to carry to David, and thereby gain his favour:...

STOOD (_ See Scofield) - (1 Samuel 31:3). _...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. DAVID KING OF JUDAH AND THE EVENTS OF HIS REIGN 1. David's Lamentation for Saul and Jonathan CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The Death of Saul and Jonathan announced to David (2 Samuel 1:1)_ 2. David's great Grief (2 Samuel 1:11) 3. The Amalekite slain (2 Samuel 1:13) 4. David's Lamentation (2 Samuel 1:17) David heard of the death of Saul and Jonathan from the lips of the Amalekite, who also brought him the crown and the bracelet of the dead king. The story of this young man has been branded by some as a falsehood, invented to gain favor from David. It is not

DAVID RECEIVES THE NEWS OF SAUL'S DEATH. The account of the death of Saul told by the fugitive here is different from that in 1 Samuel 31. A common explanation is that the fugitive falsely represented himself as the slayer of Saul, in the hope of receiving a reward from David. But it is now widely held that here also we have a blending of two documents: 2 Samuel 1:1; 2 Samuel 1:11 f. are from the same document (J) as the bulk of 1 Samuel 25-31; 2 Samuel 1:6; 1 Samuel 1:13 are from another source which may be fairly early. 1 Samuel 1:5 is inserted by an

FALLEN: i.e. upon his own sword (1 Samuel 31:4)....