2 Samuel 1:17

DAVID LAMENTS SAUL AND JONATHAN. (Sa2 1:17-27)

David lamented with this lamentation--It has always been customary for Eastern people, on the death of great kings and warriors, to celebrate their qualities and deeds in funeral songs. This inimitable pathetic elegy is supposed by many writers to have become a national war song, and to have been taught to the young Israelites under the name of "The Bow," in conformity with the practice of Hebrew and many classical writers in giving titles to their songs from the principal theme (Psa 22:1; Psa 56:1; Psa 60:1; Psa 80:1; Psa 100:1). Although the words "the use of" are a supplement by our translators, they may be rightly introduced, for the natural sense of this parenthetical verse is, that David took immediate measures for instructing the people in the knowledge and practice of archery, their great inferiority to the enemy in this military arm having been the main cause of the late national disaster.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2Sa 1:17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son:

Ver. 17. And David lamented.] He composed this following elegy, or epitaph, this funeral song: a usual practice among the ancients.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Sa_1:17

And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son.

David's lament

1. The Bible has been called the record of human sorrows, and so it is. There are, however, parts of the sacred Scriptures where the shadows lay thickest, and the notes are ever in the minor key: I refer to the lamentations. What strains in music are more pathetic and moving than those of the Marcia Funebre! and when did ever Handel, or Beethoven, or Chopin exercise their genius with greater effect than in those compositions which unveil in sound the secret agony of bereavement! So in Holy Scripture, when the plectrum of the Spirit sweeps across the chords of the human soul in the dark hour of grief, there is something unspeakably touching in the inspired cadences.

2. Such outpourings of grief as are found in the dirge in this lesson, composed by David, may be highly poetical, and betray the tense condition of the emotions; yet they are not devoid of moral teaching, and vividly depict the affectionate character of him who was a type of the Man of sorrows.

I. David's lament over Saul.

1. I see in this the spirit of forgiveness. There was enough in Saul's dealings with David to have dulled the poignancy of grief, and even to have called up resentment. David's conduct seems an anticipation of the Christian precept, not only to forgive, but to love your enemies. Forgiveness of injuries, the flower of charity, was ripened by the rays of the Sun of Righteousness, for there was little enough of it in the world before Christ came. I am not forgetting that Solomon said, It is the glory of a man to pass by a transgression (Pro_19:11). On the other hand, there is a tone of vindictiveness in parts of the Old Testament--in the Psalter, for instance--which reveals a low standard of morality in some respects. The eye for eye and tooth for tooth principle required nothing short of the Life and Death of Christ to dislodge it. Even David, on another occasion, betrayed something very much like the spirit of revenge (1Ki_2:9). However, before us we have a beautiful instance of forgiveness, when the maxim, De mortuis nil nisi bonum, was certainly not in the ascendant.

2. Moreover, David not only gave vent to his grief in the utterances of this elegy; but he taught it to the people. This arose from his generous desire that Israel should remember the greatness of Saul.

3. The object of teaching this dirge to the people was that they might remember it and repeat it. In the same way, the Lamentations of Jeremiah are repeated by the Jews at the Wailing Place with weeping, and thus the recollection of their sins and miseries is perpetuated. David willed that the memory of his predecessor should live in the hearts of the people.

4. David weeping over Saul is a type of Christ weeping over Jerusalem which rejected Him.

II. David's lament over Jonathan.

1. This was the climax of his grief, the bitterest element in the cup of sorrow.

2. David's sorrow arose from the friendship which existed between him and Jonathan (1Sa_18:1). Similarly, Jacob's love for Benjamin is described (Gen_44:30). But this was outside all family ties. Strangers found in each other what they could not find in the domestic circle. This romantic form of love played a conspicuous part in the ancient world. Poets, artists, and philosophers made it their subject. Christianity has been taunted with its disregard of friendship. Yet the wider circles of love did not obliterate, in the heart of Christ, that. love of mutual benevolence which could delight in certain souls through an affinity of natural qualities and feelings. Thus Lazarus was a friend of Christ, and St. John the disciple whom Jesus loved.

3. But it may be admitted--although there are Christian friendships recorded in the history of the Church, and to be found amongst Christians, which are beautiful and separate from all that is essential or merely sentimental--that friendship has not the same conspicuous place which it had when Aristotle took two books of his Ethics to treat the theme; and there are reasons for this which need not now be discussed. It is sufficient to observe that its rightful value as a form of love is preserved. What it seems to lose in importance, it gains in inward, worth by the consecration it receives from the Christian spirit (Luthardt).

4. The description of Jonathan's love for David has ever been interpreted as a type of the love of the Christian for Christ, David's Son and Lord; and the covenant which he made with him, and the way he stripped himself of his robes and weapons (1Sa_18:3-4), to be an image of the covenant with Christ, and the willingness to be stripped of all for His sake. The strong language which depicts the fervour of natural affection is a vehicle to describe the intensity and transforming character of Christian love.

Lessons:

1. To try to learn the lesson--hard for flesh and blood, but possible through the grace of the Holy Spirit, not only to forgive, but to love those who have injured us. Though Saul had sought David's life, David wept over Saul's death.

2. To learn from the friendship between Jonathan and David, and the value which has been set upon friendship, how important is the choice of friends. How the influence may be powerful either for good or evil which comes from companionship: With the holy thou shalt be holy, and with a perfect man thou shalt be perfect; so the opposite, With the froward thou shalt learn forwardness (Psa_18:25-26).

3. All human friendship must be subordinate to the love of that Friend who laid down His life for us, and who is faithful when all others desert us. (W. H. Hutchings, M. A.)

Death of Saul and Jonathan

I. A Good Chance Will Not Ensure A Successful Career. Be thankful for an open path to success. But be cautious. Education, fortune, and friends will not make a man. That, his own energy and faithfulness must do. The world's competition makes short work of external advantages, and a good chance makes more conspicuous poor achievement. Indeed, the kindest choice may be the adversity which puts men on their mettle, calling out that earnestness and thoroughness which the world loves to honour. A thousand times it has been proved that he who will succeed, can; a thousand times, that the fairest opportunity may be thrown away by reckless or impotent or unwise favourites of fortune.

II. Divine help will not secure success. What more could Heaven have done for this king with a ruined life? And are there none in these days for whom God seems to have done everything? Their very birth was into blessings. How sacred influences have sung over their cradles, and rocked them to sleep in a fond mother's arms. How friends have taken them by the hand, wise to counsel, patient to bear, helpful to instruct. And God has come very near. It is almost impossible for a youth to grow up in a Christian land without feeling strongly and persuasively the claim of God upon him. Companions, older friends, become Christians. He joins them and catches the inspiration. He knows God has come to him, and thinks he has come to God. Is it genuine? Will it last? Each of us knows some Saul who has fought against Heaven's kindness to accomplish his own ruin. Divine love cannot save an unwilling heart.

III. Entire consecration to God is the only assurance of a successful career. Saul's ruin sprang from his disobedience. Absolute surrender to God, unquestioning and unswerving obedience, would have fixed his will and enthroned the good in his nature. Though God gives opportunity, man must use it. Special Divine favours heap up condemnation, if not met with a consecrated will. The Divine purpose may use a bad man against his will and without his profit. There is no sadder sight than the gradual breaking down of a lofty soul under the influence of unresisted temptation. Religious impressions are not religious principles. Good and evil dwell together in every soul; character is determined, not by our sensitiveness to their influence, but by our choice. How do I know but that now some of you may be hesitating before great temptations--to use for yourselves that which is not yours; to break over the pure and sacred laws which control the relations of man and woman? That way lies death. The laws of God cannot be overcome. Though you lived a king, shame would defile you, gloom and fear gather about your last hours. But to the wise, God increaseth knowledge; to the obedient He addeth strength. On this earth they have peace and honour; among the angels, before the face of God, eternal blessedness. (Monday Club Sermons.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Sa 1:17. David lamented with this lamentation — He and his servants had lamented over Saul and Jonathan before, 2Sa 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 strong, so pathetic, so short, so various, so unconnected, that no grief was ever painted in such living and lasting colours. And it is one sure sign and beautiful effect of this sorrow, that David’s heart was so softened and melted by it as to lose all traces of Saul’s cruelty to him. He remembered nothing now but the brave man, the valiant leader, the magnificent prince, the king of God’s appointment, his own once indulgent master, his Michal’s and his Jonathan’s father. In the mean time there are the utmost decency and propriety in the concern which David discovers, and in the encomiums respectively passed on Saul and Jonathan; nothing but what became the character of both, and suited the situation of him who penned it. Saul he celebrates for his former victories, his swiftness, and strength, and sheds a tear over him for his defeat, and the indignities which were offered to him after his death; which humanity would draw from the eye, even over an enemy that was otherwise brave, and died fighting for his country; but without the least expression of sorrow for him on his own account; and, what deserves to be mentioned to his honour, without a single reflection upon his past injustice and cruelty toward himself. But as to Jonathan, how just and warm is the grief he manifests! I am distressed for thee, &c. — Delaney and Chandler.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

DAVID’S LAMENTATION OVER SAUL AND JONATHAN, 2Sa_1:17-27.

17. This lamentation, which evidently sprang from deep and sanctified emotions, is an elegy of surpassing tenderness, and one of the most beautiful odes of the Old Testament. The fallen power and beauty of Israel, as represented by the king and his noble-hearted son, is the poet’s theme, and though that king had burned with a deadly fury towards David, chased him like a partridge in the mountains, and sought his life in many ways, not the slightest trace of resentment or cherished passion, not the most distant allusion to the persecutions which he had suffered from him, appear in all this tender song. It is the pure lamentation of a loving heart that has forgiven and forgotten the injuries of the past, and knows no other feeling than that of profoundest sympathy and sorrow for the heroic dead. “It is almost impossible,” says Dr. Clarke, “to read the noble original without feeling every word swollen with a sigh or broken with a sob. A heart pregnant with distress, and striving to utter expressions descriptive of its feelings, which are repeatedly interrupted by an excess of grief, is most sensibly painted throughout the whole.” We give, as usual in our notes on poetical passages, a new and literal version, in which the order and idiom of the Hebrew original is, as far as possible, exhibited.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES.—

2Sa_1:17. “Lamented—Lamentation.” These words must be understood in a technical sense.… This lamentation has a peculiar interest as being the only specimen preserved to us of David’s secular poetry. (Bib. Commentary.)

2Sa_1:18. “The bow.” This is the name given to the dirge probably on account of its warlike character. “The use of.” These words are improperly inserted in the English version. “The Book of Jasher.” Or, the book of the righteous or the “upright ones.” “It was in existence before the Books of Joshua and Samuel (Jos_10:13), and contained (judging from the extracts) a collection of songs on specially remarkable events of the Israelitish history, together with a celebration of the prominently pious men whose names were connected with these events.” (Erdmann.). Other conjectures have been formed about this book, but they appear unworthy of attention.

2Sa_1:19. “The ode” (which here begins) “is arranged in three strophes, which gradually dimiuish in force and sweep (viz., 2Sa_1:19-27), and in which the vehemence of sorrow is 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, etc. The second commemorates the friendship between David and Jonathan. The third simply utters the last sigh, with which the elegy becomes silent.” (Kiel.)

2Sa_1:19. Some read the first stanza, “Thy glory, O Israel, upon thy heights (is) slain.” De Wette, Kitto, Stanley, and others, for glory read gazelle, and Ewald refers it to Jonathan. “But this,” says Erdmann, “in the absence in the song of any comparison with the gazelle, or any allusion to its swiftness and agility, is untenable, because the song speaks throughout not of one hero but of two. As the composition has the ring of a hero song in honour of these two, who were, in fact, the hero glory of Israel, we must render the word glory, ornament.”

2Sa_1:20. “Gath, Askelon.” “These two Philistine cities as the most prominent, are named for the whole land, which they represent (Gath very near, Askelon at a distance on the sea.”) (Erdmann.) “Lest the daughter,” etc. Referring to the Oriental custom of the celebration of victories by the women of the nation. (1Sa_18:6, etc.)

2Sa_1:21. “Fields of offerings,” or of first-fruits, i.e., fields from which were taken the first-fruits, which were, of course, the most fruitful. The last clause of this verse should be read without the italics in the authorised version—“The shield of Saul not anointed with oil.” It was customary to clean and polish the shield with oil (see Isa_21:5), and this expression denotes its defilement and unfitness for war consequent upon the defeat of its owner.

2Sa_1:24. “With delights,” “or with lovelinesses; i.e., in a lovely manner.” (Keil.) Al the adornments here enumerated were probably the spoils of war.

2Sa_1:25. “O Jonathan.” “David’s union of heart with his friend differences this lament sharply from the foregoing over him and Saul as heroes.” (Erdmann.)

2Sa_1:27. “Weapons of war.” Not the materials of warfare but the heroes themselves.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—2Sa_1:17-27

DAVID’S LAMENT OVER SAUL AND JONATHAN

I. The truly great can separate the man and the enemy. We cannot do David the injustice to suppose that any of the language which he here uses is anything but the expression of the feelings of his heart—that any word of praise which occurs here is used merely for effect, or is an exaggeration of what he felt to be truth. How, then, was it possible for him so to regard the man who had now for so many years made him an exile—who had made his youth and early manhood a season of unceasing anxiety and danger? To be able honestly to render such a tribute to Saul’s memory, David must have been able to look at the man quite apart from the treatment which he had received from him—to put entirely aside the hatred with which he knew Saul regarded him, and to look at him not only without prejudice but with pity, and thus sincerely to mourn over his sins and his sorrows.

II. The truly great think their own advancement as nothing compared with God’s honour. The first and ruling emotion in the breasts of most men in David’s place would have been.—if not gratification at the downfall of an enemy, yet of exultation at being delivered from his persecution and being once more free to return in safety to his native land. And with the remembrance of the anointing oil upon his head, no one in whom all thoughts of a personal nature were not swallowed up in anxiety for the public good could have avoided looking forward with anticipation to the issue of this great event. But such a man as David found more matter of mourning in the triumph of the uncircumcised than of rejoicing in his own altered prospects. It was more to him that the God of Israel had been dishonoured in the eyes of the heathen than that the heavy cloud was lifted from his own future. In all his conduct at this time he showed that true nobility which is only possible to him who makes God, and not himself, the centre of the universe.

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

I believe it is not dangerous but safe, not a homage to falsehood but to truth, in our judgments of those who are departed, to follow David’s example. We may dwell upon bright and hallowed moments of lives that have been darkened by many shadows, polluted by many sins; these moments may be welcomed as revelations to us of what God intended His creature to be; we may feel that there has been a loveliness in them which God gave them, and which their own evil could not take away. We may think of this loveliness as if it expressed the inner purpose of their existence; the rest may be for us as though it were not. As Nature, with her old mosses and her new spring foliage, hides the ruins which man has made, and gives to the fallen tower and broken cloister a beauty scarcely less than that which belonged to them in their prime, so human love may be at work too, “softening and concealing, and busy with her hand in healing” the rents that have been made in God’s nobler temple, the habitation of His own Spirit.—Maurice.

2Sa_1:12. The only deep mourning for Saul, with the exception of that of the Jabeshites, proceeded from the man whom he had hated and persecuted for so many years even to the time of his death; just as David’s successor wept over the fall of Jerusalem, even when it was about to destroy himself.—Von Gerlach.

2Sa_1:26. Passing the love of woman? How can that be? we of these days shall say. What love can pass that, saving the boundless love of Him who stooped from heaven to earth that He might die on the cross for us? No. David, when he sang these words, knew not the depth of a woman’s love. And we shall have a right so to speak. The indefeasible and divine right which is bestowed by fact. As a fact we do not find among the ancient Jews that exalting and purifying ideal of the relations between man and woman which is to be found, thank God, in these days, in almost every British work of fiction or fancy. It is enunciated, remember always, in the oldest Hebrew document. On the very threshold of the Bible it is enunciated in its most ideal purity and perfection. But in practice it was never fulfilled.… Abraham had Sarah his princess wife. But he has others.… And so has David in like wise, to the grief and harm both of him and Abraham.—Kingsley.

If ever to the human heart of David the throne had seemed desirable as the height of worldly grandeur, detestable in the last degree would such a feeling now appear, when the same act that opened it up to him deprived him of his dearest friend—his sweetest source of earthly joy. The only way in which it was possible for David to enjoy his new position was by losing sight of self; by identifying himself more closely than ever with his people; by regarding the throne only as a position for more self-denying labours for the good of others. And in this song there is evidence of the great strength and activity of this feeling.… Thus both by the afflictions that saddened his heart and by the stroke of prosperity that raised him to the throne, David was impelled to that course of action which is the best safeguard under God against the baneful influences both of adversity and prosperity.—Blaikie.

These words of the song,—

“Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon,”

have, since that time, in the circles of the faithful, become a proverb. It is frequently heard when one of their community has failed to take heed to his ways, and therefore has given rise to a scandal. Would that that call were more faithfully observed than is for the most part the case! Would that the honour of the spiritual Zion lay always as near to the heart of the children of the kingdom as did that of the earthly to the heart of David! But how often does it happen that they even strive to disclose before the world the weaknesses of their brethren, and thus, by a repetition of the wickedness of Ham, become traitors to the Church which Christ has purchased with His own blood. Thus they make themselves guilty of bringing dishonour upon the Gospel, while they open the gates to such dishonour through their perhaps altogether malicious tale-bearing, and to their own great prejudice disown the charity which “believeth all things, and hopeth all things,” and also “covereth a multitude of sins.”—Krummacher.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

When David had rent his clothes, mourned, and wept, and fasted, for the death of Saul, and done justice upon him who made himself guilty of it, one would think he had made full payment of the debt of honour he owed to his memory; yet this is not all: we have here a poem he wrote on that occasion; for he was a great master of his pen as well as of his sword. By this elegy he designed both to express his own sorrow for this great calamity and to impress the like on the minds of others, who ought to lay it to heart. The putting of lamentations into poems made them, 1. The more moving and affecting. The passion of the poet, or singer, is, by this way, wonderfully communicated to the readers and hearers. 2. The more lasting. Thus they were made, not only to spread far, but to continue long, from generation to generation. Those might gain information by poems that would not read history. Here we have,

I. The orders David gave with this elegy (Sa2 1:18): He bade them teach the children of Judah (his own tribe, whatever others did) the use of the bow, either. 1. The bow used in war. Not but that the children of Judah knew how to use the bow (it was so commonly used in war, long before this, that the sword and bow were put for all weapons of war, Gen 48:22), but perhaps they had of late made more use of slings, as David in killing Goliath, because cheaper, and David would have them now to see the inconvenience of these (for it was the archers of the Philistines that bore so hard upon Saul, Sa1 21:3), and to return more generally to the use of the bow, to exercise themselves in this weapon, that they might be in a capacity to avenge the death of their prince upon the Philistines, and to outdo them at their own weapon. It was a pity but those that had such good heads and hearts as the children of Judah should be well armed. David hereby showed his authority over and concern for the armies of Israel, and set himself to rectify the errors of the former reign. But we find that the companies which had now come to David to Ziklag were armed with bows (Ch1 12:2); therefore, 2. Some understand it either of some musical instrument called a bow (to which he would have the mournful ditties sung) or of the elegy itself: He bade them teach the children of Judah Kesheth, the bow, that is, this song, which was so entitled for the sake of Jonathan's bow, the achievements of which are here celebrated. Moses commanded Israel to learn his song (Deu 31:19), so David his. Probably he bade the Levites teach them. It is written in the book of Jasher, there it was kept upon record, and thence transcribed into this history. That book was probably a collection of state-poems; what is said to be written in that book (Jos 10:13) is also poetical, a fragment of an historical poem. Even songs would be forgotten and lost if they were not committed to writing, that best conservatory of knowledge.

II. The elegy itself. It is not a divine hymn, nor given by inspiration of God to be used in divine service, nor is there any mention of God in it; but it is a human composition, and therefore was inserted, not in the book of Psalms (which, being of divine original, is preserved), but in the book of Jasher, which, being only a collection of common poems, is long since lost. This elegy proves David to have been,

1. A man of an excellent spirit, in four things: -

(1.) He was very generous to Saul, his sworn enemy. Saul was his father-in-law, his sovereign, and the anointed of the Lord; and therefore, though he had done him a great deal of wrong, David does not wreak his revenge upon his memory when he is in his grave; but like a good man, and a man of honour, [1.] He conceals his faults; and, though there was no preventing their appearance in his history, yet they should not appear in this elegy. Charity teaches us to make the best we can of every body and to say nothing of those of whom we can say no good, especially when they are gone. De mortuis nil nisi bonum - Say nothing but good concerning the dead. We ought to deny ourselves the satisfaction of making personal reflections upon those who have been injurious to us, much more drawing their character thence, as if every man must of necessity be a bad man that has done ill by us. Let the corrupt part of the memory be buried with the corrupt part of the man - earth to earth, ashes to ashes; let the blemish be hidden and a veil drawn over the deformity. [2.] He celebrates that which was praiseworthy in him. He does not commend him for that which he was not, says nothing of his piety or fidelity. Those funeral commendations which are gathered out of the spoils of truth are not at all to the praise of those on whom they are bestowed, but very much the dispraise of those who unjustly misplace them. But he has this to say in honour of Saul himself, First, That he was anointed with oil (Sa2 1:21), the sacred oil, which signified his elevation to, and qualification for, the government. Whatever he was otherwise, the crown of the anointing oil of his God was upon him, as is said of the high priest (Lev 21:12), and on that account he was to be honoured, because God, the fountain of honour, had honoured him. Secondly, That he was a man of war, a mighty man (Sa2 1:19-21), that he had often been victorious over the enemies of Israel and vexed them whithersoever he turned, Sa1 14:47. His sword returned not empty, but satiated with blood and spoil, Sa2 1:22. His disgrace and fall at last must not make his former successes and services to be forgotten. Though his sun set under a cloud, time was when it shone brightly. Thirdly, That take him with Jonathan he was a man of a very agreeable temper, that recommended himself to the affections of his subjects (Sa2 1:23): Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant. Jonathan was always so, and Saul was so as long as he concurred with him. Take them together, and in the pursuit of the enemy, never were men more bold, more brave; they were swifter than eagles and stronger than lions. Observe, Those that were most fierce and fiery in the camp were no less sweet and lovely in the court, as amiable to the subject as they were formidable to the foe; a rare combination of softness and sharpness they had, which makes any man's temper very happy. It may be understood of the harmony and affection that for the most part subsisted between Saul and Jonathan: they were lovely and pleasant one to another, Jonathan a dutiful son, Saul an affectionate father; and therefore dear to each other in their lives, and in their death they were not divided, but kept close together in the stand they made against the Philistines, and fell together in the same cause. Fourthly, That he had enriched his country with the spoils of conquered nations, and introduced a more splendid attire. When they had a king like the nations, they must have clothes like the nations; and herein he was, in a particular manner, obliging to his female subjects, Sa2 1:24. The daughters of Israel he clothed in scarlet, which was their delight.

(2.) He was very grateful to Jonathan, his sworn friend. Besides the tears he shed over him, and the encomiums he gives of him in common with Saul, he mentions him with some marks of distinction (Sa2 1:25): O Jonathan! thou wast slain in thy high places! which (compared with Sa2 1:19) intimates that he meant him by the beauty of Israel, which, he there says, was slain upon the high places. He laments Jonathan as his particular friend (Sa2 1:26): My brother, Jonathan; not so much because of what he would have been to him if he had lived, very serviceable no doubt in his advancement to the throne and instrumental to prevent those long struggles which, for want of his assistance, he had with the house of Saul (had this been the only ground of his grief it would have been selfish), but he lamented him for what he had been: "Very pleasant hast thou been unto me; but that pleasantness is now over, and I am distressed for thee." He had reason to say that Jonathan's love to him was wonderful; surely never was the like, for a man to love one who he knew was to take the crown over his head, and to be so faithful to his rival: this far surpassed the highest degree of conjugal affection and constancy. See here, [1.] That nothing is more delightful in this world than a true friend, that is wise and good, that kindly receives and returns our affection, and is faithful to us in all our true interests. [2.] That nothing is more distressful than the loss of such a friend; it is parting with a piece of one's self. It is the vanity of this world that what is most pleasant to us we are most liable to be distressed in. The more we love the more we grieve.

(3.) He was deeply concerned for the honour of God; for this is what he has an eye to when he fears lest the daughters of the uncircumcised, that are out of covenant with God, should triumph over Israel, and the God of Israel, Sa2 1:20. Good men are touched in a very sensible part by the reproaches of those that reproach God.

(4.) He was deeply concerned for the public welfare. It was the beauty of Israel that was slain (Sa2 1:19) and the honour of the public that was disgraced: The mighty have fallen (this is three times lamented, Sa2 1:19, Sa2 1:25, Sa2 1:27), and so the strength of the people is weakened. Public losses are most laid to heart by men of public spirit. David hoped God would make him instrumental to repair those losses and yet laments them.

2. A man of a fine imagination, as well as a wise and holy man. The expressions are all excellent, and calculated to work upon the passions. (1.) The embargo he would fain lay upon Fame is elegant (Sa2 1:20): Tell it not in Gath. It grieved him to the heart to think that it would be proclaimed in the cities of the Philistines, and that they would insult over Israel upon it, and the more in remembrance of the triumphs of Israel over them formerly, when they sang, Saul has slain his thousands; for this would now be retorted. (2.) The curse he entails on the mountains of Gilboa, the theatre on which this tragedy was acted: Let there be no dew upon you, nor fields of offerings, Sa2 1:21. This is a poetical strain, like that of Job, Let the day perish wherein I was born. Not as if David wished that any part of the land of Israel might be barren, but, to express his sorrow for the thing, he speaks with a seeming indignation at the place. Observe, [1.] How the fruitfulness of the earth depends upon heaven. The worst thing he could wish to the mountains of Gilboa was barrenness and unprofitableness to man: those are miserable that are useless. It was the curse Christ pronounced on the fig-tree, Never fruit grow on thee more, and that took effect - the fig-tree withered away: this, on the mountains of Gilboa, did not. But, when he wished them barren, he wished there might be no rain upon them; and, if the heavens be brass, the earth will soon be iron. [2.] How the fruitfulness of the earth must therefore be devoted to heaven, which is intimated in his calling the fruitful fields fields of offerings. Those fruits of their land that were offered to God were the crown and glory of it: and therefore the failure of the offerings is the saddest consequent of the failure of the corn. See Joe 1:9. To want that wherewith we should honour God is worse than to want that wherewith we should sustain ourselves. This is the reproach David fastens upon the mountains of Gilboa, which, having been stained with royal blood, thereby forfeited celestial dews. In this elegy Saul had a more honourable interment than that which the men of Jabesh-Gilead gave him.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 17. David lamented] See this lamentation, and the notes on it at the end of this chapter. 2Sa 1:21.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(17) Lamented with this lamentation.—This is the technical expression for a funeral dirge or elegy, such as David also composed on the death of Abner (2Sa_3:33-34), and Jeremiah on the death of Josiah (2Ch_35:25). It is the only instance preserved to us (except the few lines on the death of Abner) of David’s secular poetry. “It is one of the finest odes of the Old Testament, full of lofty sentiment, and springing from deep and sanctified emotion, in which, without the slightest allusion to his own relation to the fallen king, David celebrates without envy the bravery and virtues of Saul and his son Jonathan, and bitterly laments their loss.” (Keil.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17–27. David’s lamentation for Saul and Jonathan

17. lamented with this lamentation] The technical expression for a death-dirge or mournful elegy, such as that pronounced by David over Abner (ch. 2Sa_3:33-34), and by Jeremiah over Josiah (2Ch_35:25).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son. Composed the following elegy on account of their death, and sung it in a tune agreeable to it, he and the men that were with him.

And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son. Composed the following elegy on account of their death, and sung it in a tune agreeable to it, he and the men that were with him.

2 Samuel 1:18

sa2 1:18

sa2 1:18

sa2 1:18(Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow,.... These words, with what follow in this verse, are rightly put into a parenthesis, since they do not begin nor make any part of the elegiac song, or lamentation of David; and are here inserted to show, that, amidst his sorrow and lamentation, he was not unmindful of the welfare of the people, and to provide for their defence and security; and therefore gave orders that care should be taken, especially in the tribe of Judah, which was his own tribe, and where he had the greatest authority, and for whom he might have the chiefest concern, that they should be trained up in military exercises, learn the art of war, and the use of every weapon of war, particularly of the bow, which, being a principal one, may be put for all; and which may be the rather mentioned, because the Philistines were expert in the use of it, and seemed to have done much execution with it in the recent battle, see Sa1 31:3. They are said (p) to be the inventors of it; though Pliny (q) ascribes it to others; and it may be the people of Israel and of Judah had of late neglected to learn the use of it, and to make use of it, and instead of that had taken to other sort of arms in fighting; for that that was not unknown to them, or wholly disused, is clear from this song, Sa2 1:22; see also Ch1 12:2. Moreover, as the Philistines, especially the Cherethites, were expert in archery, David found ways and means to get some of them afterwards into his service, and by whom he might improve his people in the art, see Sa2 8:18; though some (r) are of opinion that the word "keshet", or bow, was the title of the following lamentation or song, taken from the mention of Jonathan's bow in it; which song the children of Judah were to be taught to sing; but then, as has been observed by some, for this there would have been no need of the following reference, since the whole this song is here recorded:

behold, it is written in book of Jasher); which the Targum calls the book of the law; and Jarchi and Ben Gersom restrain it to the book of Genesis, the book of the upright, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and suppose respect is had to the prophecy concerning Judah, Gen 49:8, but Kimchi, extending it to all the five books of Moses, adds his blessing, in Deu 33:7. In the Arabic version it is explained of the book of Samuel, interpreted the book of songs, as if it was a collection of songs; which favours the above sense. Jerom (s) interprets it of the same book, the book of the righteous prophets, Samuel, Gad, and Nathan: hut this book seems to have been a public register or annals, in which were recorded memorable actions in any age, and had its name from the uprightness and faithfulness in which it was kept; and in this were set down the order of David for the teaching the children of Judah the use of the bow, and perhaps the method which he directed to for instruction in it; See Gill on Jos 10:13.

(p) Bedford's Chronology, p. 245. (q) Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56. (r) See Gregory's Notes and Observations, &c. ch. 1. and Weemse of the Judicial Laws, c. 44. p. 171. (s) Trad. Heb. in 2 lib. Reg. fol. 77. D.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The words lamented and lamentation must be understood in the technical sense of a funeral dirge or mournful elegy. (See similar dirges in 2Sa 3:33-34; and 2Ch 35:25.) This and the brief stanza on the death of Abner are the only specimens preserved to us of David’s secular poetry.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

David lamented with this lamentation. The Hebrew word for "lamentation" is kinah, a technical term for an elegy or poem commemorative of the dead. Thus Jeremiah wrote a kinah in memory of King Josiah; (2Ch_35:25) and there is little doubt that the "lamentations" there spoken of were a collection of dirges, in which probably this ode written by David held an honoured place. In 2Sa_3:33, 34 we have a short kinah in Abner"s honour, which possibly formed part of a longer poem, of which those two verses only are quoted as sufficing to prove, not only David"s innocence, but also his indignation at Joab"s foul deed. In both these places we have remains of David"s secular poetry, and find it marked by the same strong emotion and the same sublimity of thought as distinguish his psalms. We observe also the nobleness of David"s nature in his total silence concerning himself, and his generous eulogy, not of Jonathan only, but also of Saul. The mean envy and the implacable jealousy of the latter are no more remembered, and he sees in him, not the personal foe, but the brave king who has fallen in his country"s cause.

Vers. 17, 18. (ZIKLAG.)

The song of the bow.

I THE OCCASION of this lament, threnody, elegy, or funeral dirge, was the arrival of fatal tidings from Gilboa. "There were only two in that great slaughter concerning whose fate David was eager to know the truth his enemy and his friend. "How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead?" (ver. 5). When the news was fully established, he immediately went through all the signs of Eastern grief. He and his six hundred heroes sat with their clothes rent, uttering the loud Oriental wail, observing the rigid Eastern fast until the sunset of the fatal day released them. Then David roused himself to action. The first vent to his grief was in the stern exaction of the life of the unhappy messenger, according to the hard temper of those fierce times. The second vent was in the touching dirge, which, according to the tender spirit of the sweet psalmist of Israel, he poured forth over the two departed chiefs" ("The Songs of Israel," Good Words, 1863). It was probably accompanied by his harp, that had long been silent, but was now taken up afresh and struck to a song of sorrow which for tenderness and intensity has never been surpassed. "The genius and origin of the elegy among the Hebrews may be clearly traced to their manner of celebrating their funeral rites" (Lowth). "If you attend to David"s harp, you shall hear as many hearse-like airs as carols" (Bacon).

II THE TITLE of The Bow" (Kesheth), which it appears to have received, may have been derived from the mention of the bow in ver. 22, as the favourite weapon of Jonathan, (1Sa_18:4 1Sa_20:20) as it was of his tribesmen; (1Ch_12:2) or "because it was a martial ode" (Keil). It is improbable that David introduced "the use of the bow" (Authorized Version) into the tribe of Judah, either as a tribute to the memory of his friend, or as a means of repairing the recent disaster; for that had been long familiar. But he "bade them teach the children of Judah" the song of "the bow" (possibly that his youthful warriors might sing it in their military practice with the bow) a title given to it in the Book of Jashar, (Jos_10:13) or collection of national songs, in which it was preserved. "When the writer of 2 Samuel transferred the dirge to his own pages, he transferred it, as we might do any of the psalms, with its title, which was as follows: "For the children of Israel to learn by heart. Kasheth from the Book of Jasher ("Speaker"s Commentary").

III ITS FORM is that of a lyrical composition, the oldest as well as the most common species of Hebrew poetry; and (like the rest) it is distinguished by parallelism or rhythm, "the measured rise and fall of feeling and utterance, in which the poet"s effort to become fully master of his poetic inspiration finds harmonious expression, and the external rhythm of sound is properly subordinated to the rhythmic pulsation of thought" (British Quarterly Review, January, 1877). It contains a refrain or chorus, twice repeated; and falls into three strophic divisions marked by its recurrence, either at their commencement (Keil)or their close (Kitto, "Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature"); or, according to more common arrangement, into five or six stanzas. "The putting of lamentations into poems made them the more moving and affecting, and the more lasting" (Matthew Henry).

IV IN SUBSTANCE and general character it is an outburst of natural grief (as the song of Hannah was of spiritual gladness) over the fallen heroes, and a celebration of their worth. "We can hardly call it religious poetry. It is not a psalm or hymn. The name of God never occurs in it. It is a war song which sums up the national feelings of every age over the graves of its departed heroes" (Stanley). Yet it is instinct with most generous and devout feeling. "As in view of the remains of a friend all the pain which he caused us while living is forgotten in the remembrance of his excellences and the kindness which he showed us, so David no longer has a memory for the period of persecution now past. He is a man, and not the judge of the dead. Therefore Saul stands before him only in his virtues, and he celebrates not only Jonathan, but also Saul, as loved ones who can never be forgotten. We see in this case that anger belongs only to the accidental utterances of noble souls, whose constant motive is love" (Delitzsch, "Old Test. Hist. of Redemption"). "Though God often reproved his ancient people for paying religious homage to the idols of the heathen, yet we never find that he reproved them for paying funeral honours to departed men of superior merit among their own nation. Their example in this respect, therefore, seems to have a Divine sanction, and plainly teaches us the propriety of lamenting the death and commemorating the virtues of those who have been eminently useful in life" (N. Emmons). D.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

David's elegy upon Saul and Jonathan. - An eloquent testimony to the depth and sincerity of David's grief for the death of Saul is handed down to us in the elegy which he composed upon Saul and his noble son Jonathan, and which he had taught to the children of Israel. It is one of the finest odes of the Old Testament; full of lofty sentiment, and springing from deep and sanctified emotion, in which, without the slightest allusion to his own relation to the fallen king, David celebrates without envy the bravery and virtues of Saul and his son Jonathan, and bitterly laments their loss. "He said to teach," i.e., he commanded the children of Judah to practise or learn it. קשׁת, bow; i.e., a song to which the title Kesheth or bow was given, not only because the bow is referred to (Sa2 1:22), but because it is a martial ode, and the bow was one of the principal weapons used by the warriors of that age, and one in the use of which the Benjaminites, the tribe-mates of Saul, were particularly skilful: cf. Ch1 8:40; Ch1 12:2; Ch2 14:7; Ch2 17:17. Other explanations are by no means so natural; such, for example, as that it related to the melody to which the ode was sung; whilst some are founded upon false renderings, or arbitrary alterations of the text, e.g., that of Ewald (Gesch. i. p. 41), Thenius, etc. This elegy was inserted in "the book of the righteous" (see at Jos 10:13), from which the author of the books of Samuel has taken it.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

David’s Lament

v. 17. And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan, his son; he composed this elegy, or song of mourning, as an expression of his deep and sincere grief over the death of the king and of his dearest friend

v. 18. (also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow, he commanded that this song be practiced, learned by heart; behold, it is written in the Book of Jasher, it was a battle-song recorded in the Book of the Upright, and the bow was afterwards a very important weapon in Israel):

v. 19. The beauty, the glory, of Israel is slain upon thy high places, namely, by the death of Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa. Now are the mighty fallen!

v. 20. Tell it not in Gath, publish, announce, it not in the streets of Askelon, these being two of the five large Philistine cities, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. If Philistia should learn of the death of the heroes of Israel, there would be, and there undoubtedly was, a scornful joy over the victory.

v. 21. Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain upon you nor fields of offerings, of first-fruits; the heavens should withhold their moisture, and the earth should refuse to give her increase, as a sign of mourning over the defeat; for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, defiled with dust and blood, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil; no one was there to take the shield, the emblem of the leader of the army, out of the dirt to clean and to polish its surface anew.

v. 22. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, considered a sign of great strength, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty; both heroes were accustomed to gain complete victories, to destroy every opposing enemy, their bravery, their prowess, was known far and wide.

v. 23. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant, worthy of lore, beloved, and amiable, in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. United by love in life, they were bound together in death, together they gave their lives for Israel. They were swifter than eagles, distinguished for quickness and agility; they were stronger than lions, of lionlike courage and strength.

v. 24. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, in crimson or purple garments from the booty of war, with other delights, adornments that pleased them; who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel, as a proof of his kingly largess.

v. 25. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places! Here the key-note of the entire lament is once more sounded, with special reference to Jonathan.

v. 26. I am distressed for thee, filled with anxious thoughts by reason of grief and mourning, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant, beloved, hast thou been unto me; thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women, known for the depth of their affection and devotion.

v. 27. How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war, the heroes of Israel, as the instruments of battle, perished! The elegy was a national song and preserved the names of Saul and Jonathan in Israel. True lore and friendship requites that a person mourn the loss of a friend and always keep him in fond remembrance.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

David sings a song of mourning for Saul and Jonathan.

Song of the Bow

This was the title of the song.

which has been written in the Book of Jashar

This is background information added to tell the reader what happened to the song in the future. (See: Background Information)

the Book of Jashar

The word "Jashar" means "upright." AT: "the Book of the Upright" (See: How to Translate Names)

Your glory, Israel, is dead

"Your glory" refers to Saul. (See: Metonymy)

the mighty

The phrase "the mighty" refers to both Saul and Jonathan. This nominal adjective is plural, and can be stated as "the mighty ones."(See: Metonymy and Nominal Adjectives)

have fallen

The word "fallen" here means "died." (See: Euphemism)

Do not tell it in Gath ... do not proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon

These two phrases mean the same thing and are repeated as part of the poetry of the song. (See: Parallelism)

Gath ... Ashkelon

Gath and Ashkelon are two of the Philistines' major cities. The Philistines killed Saul and Jonathan.

so that the daughters of the Philistines may not rejoice ... so that the daughters of the uncircumcised may not celebrate

These two phrases mean the same thing and are repeated as part of the poetry of the song. (See: Parallelism)

the daughters of the uncircumcised

This phrase refers to people who do not follow Yahweh, such as the Philistines. (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

David

command

people group

son

Judah

written

glory

Israel

die

might

Gath

preach

Philistines

joy

circumcise

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.