_A.M. 2948. B.C. 1056._ David receives an account of the death of Saul and Jonathan, 2 Samuel 1:1. He mourns over them, _2Sa 1:11, 2 Samuel 1:12. Puts the man to death who boasted he had killed Saul, 2 Samuel 1:13. His elegy upon Saul and Jonathan, 2 Samuel 1:17._... [ Continue Reading ]
_David had abode two days in Ziklag_ Which, it appears from this, the Amalekites had not so burned down that David and his men could not lodge in it. _On the third day_ From David's return to Ziklag. _With his clothes rent_ As the manner of deep mourners was.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, Saul leaned upon his spear_ Endeavouring to run it through his body. It is plain, that what this Amalekite told David was a made story; for it is expressly said, in the foregoing chapter, that Saul fell upon his sword. Who this Amalekite was does not appear; but, as Delaney observes, there... [ Continue Reading ]
_For anguish is come upon me_ The Hebrew word שׁבצ _shabats_, here rendered anguish, seems to be wrongly translated in this place. It is rendered _ocellata chlamys_, by Buxtorf, _a wrought_, _embroidered_, or _speckled coat of mail:_ a translation which is countenanced by Exodus 28:4, and Psalm 14:1... [ Continue Reading ]
_So I stood upon him and slew him_ Saul, according to the true history, was afraid of being slain by the uncircumcised: and how was the matter mended by desiring to die by the hand of an Amalekite? _And I took the crown that was upon his head_ “Possibly the serious reader,” says Delaney, “may not th... [ Continue Reading ]
_They mourned and wept, and fasted_ This is an evident instance of the disinterestedness and tenderness of David's heart, in that he could not forbear bewailing this melancholy end of Saul, though he was his bitter enemy, and sought his life.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The son of a stranger_ This expression signifies one who resided among the Israelites, and had embraced their religion, though not admitted into their communion. _David said, How wast thou not afraid to destroy the Lord's anointed?_ Who possibly might have recovered, and been carried off by some of... [ Continue Reading ]
_He smote him that he died_ Abarbinel thinks that, as the man was an Amalekite, David supposed that he had killed Saul out of revenge for the slaughter he had made of the Amalekites. But, if not; if the fact were as this Amalekite stated, and Saul bid him despatch him, “David rightly judged, that Sa... [ Continue Reading ]
_David lamented with this lamentation_ He and his servants had lamented over Saul and Jonathan before, 2 Samuel 1:12. But now he composed a song for a public and universal lamentation, than which there is nothing more elegant and passionate to be found in all antiquity. The bursts of sorrow are so s... [ Continue Reading ]
_And bade them teach the children of Judah_ Among whom he now was, and over whom he first reigned; _the use of the bow_ While he made lamentation for the dead, he did not neglect the living: that they might be provided with better means to defend themselves, as the king designed of God to reign over... [ Continue Reading ]
_The beauty of Israel_ Hebrew, הצבי, _hatsebi; the honour, glory, flower_, or _ornament_, meaning Saul and Jonathan, and their army. Delaney understands the expression only of Jonathan, and observes, as Jonathan's death touched him nearest, it was natural he should be the first object of his lamenta... [ Continue Reading ]
_Tell it not in Gath_, &c. Such a lamentable misfortune and disgrace, David would, if possible, have concealed from all the enemies of Israel. And he finely insinuates in these words what matter of triumph it would be to the Philistines, and seems scarce able to bear the thought of it, especially as... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew_, &c. This is not an imprecation, but a passionate expression of the sorrow and horror which he felt at this public disgrace and loss, which were such as if he thought every person or thing which contributed to it ought to bear tokens of the divine disple... [ Continue Reading ]
_The bow of Jonathan returned not back_ Without effect. The arrows shot from his bow did not miss their mark, but pierced deep into the fat and flesh, the heart and bowels, and shed _the blood of the mighty. The sword of Saul returned not empty_ Always did great execution (as we now speak) upon thos... [ Continue Reading ]
_Saul and Jonathan were lovely_ Hebrew, הנאהבים, _hanneehabim, were loved_, namely, by each other, and by the people. _And pleasant in their lives_ Amiable and obliging in their carriage and conversation, both toward one another and toward others: for, as for Saul's fierce behaviour toward Jonathan,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye daughters of Jerusalem, weep over Saul_ “Nothing,” says Dr. Dodd, “can be more elegant than this verse: while the warriors of Israel lamented their chiefs, the divine poet calls upon the women of the land to shed their tears over the ashes of princes, whose warlike exploits had so often procured... [ Continue Reading ]
_O Jonathan, slain in thy high places_ He says _thy_, for they were in Jonathan's country; and, had not his father disinherited him by his sins, in his dominions. Thus David's grief, which began with Jonathan, naturally ends with him. It is well known that we lament ourselves in the loss of our frie... [ Continue Reading ]