2 Samuel 1:2

_IT CAME EVEN TO PASS ON THE THIRD DAY, THAT, BEHOLD, A MAN CAME OUT OF THE CAMP FROM SAUL WITH HIS CLOTHES RENT, AND EARTH UPON HIS HEAD: AND SO IT WAS, WHEN HE CAME TO DAVID, THAT HE FELL TO THE EARTH, AND DID OBEISANCE._ A man came out of the camp from Saul. Since the narrative of Saul's death, given in the last chapter, is inspired, it must be considered the true account, and the Amalekite's story a fiction of his own, invented to ingratiate himself with David, the presumptive successor to the throne, David's question, "How went the matter?" evinces the deep interest he took in the war-an interest that sprang from feelings of high and generous patriotism, not from views of ambition. The Amalekite, however, judging him to be actuated by a selfish principle, fabricated a story improbable and inconsistent, which he thought would procure him a reward. Having probably witnessed the suici...

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 1:2. _A MAN CAME OUT OF THE CAMP_] The whole account which this young man gives is a fabrication: in many of the particulars it is grossly _self-contradictory_. There is no _fact_ in the case but the bringing of the _crown_, or _diadem_, and _bracelets_ of Saul; which, as he appears to have been a plunderer of the slain, he found on the field of battle; and he brought them to David, and told the lie of having despatched Saul, merely to ingratiate himself with David....

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

IT CAME TO PASS ON THE THIRD DAY,.... After the battle was fought, in which Saul was slain: THAT, BEHOLD, A MAN CAME OUT OF THE CAMP FROM SAUL; that is, from them who were in the camp with Saul, for he was dead. Some say d this was Doeg the Edomite, which is not likely that he should come with such tidings to David; besides, if he was Saul's armourbearer, as others say, see 1 Samuel 31:4; he died with Saul; nor his son, as others e, which is not at all probable, though his being an Edomite is no objection, since the Amalekites were of the race of Edom: WITH HIS CLOTHES RENT, AND EARTH UPON HIS HEAD: in token of mourning, and was the bringer of bad tidings, see 1 Samuel 4:12; and [so] it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obe

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

THE THIRD DAY. See note on 1 Samuel 30:12. _behold. Figure of speech Asterismos._ App-6. MAN _. Hebrew. 'ish._ App-14....

_on the third day_ The exact position of Ziklag in the _Negeb_, or "South country," has not been determined. But if we may place it in the neighbourhood of Beersheba (see note on 1 Samuel 27:6), the distance from the battle-field of Gilboa was about 90 or 100 miles as the crow flies, between two and three days" journey for an active runner, so that the battle probably took place about the same time as David's return home. _a man came out of the camp from Saul_ This expression and that of 2 Samuel 1:3 seem to imply that the Amalekite represented himself as in some way attached to the Israelite army, either as a combatant, or more probably as a camp-follower. On the other hand, the words of 2 Samuel 1:6, "I happene

I. DAVID MADE KING OF ISRAEL, 2 Samuel 1:1 to 2 Samuel 5:25. 1. David Receives News of Saul's Death, 2 Samuel 1:1-27. _The Amalekite's account of Said's Death._ 2 Samuel 1:1-12 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag; 2 It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and _so_ it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance. 3 And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? A