ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for 2 Samuel 1

2 Sam 1:1–20:26 Story of King David. Most of 2 Samuel tells of David’s rise to kingship, first over Judah and then over all Israel. Most of the problems David had to deal with resulted from his own sins.

2 Sam 1:1–27 The book begins where 1 Samuel ends, with the death of King Saul and his sons at Mount Gilboa. David, who is in Ziklag, hears of Saul’s death. But instead of rejoicing that his enemy is dead, he mourns Saul’s death and executes the man who claims to have killed Saul.

2 Sam 1:1–2 An Amalekite man (see v. 8) arrives to report the events of 1 Samuel 31. The torn clothes and dirt are signs of mourning.

2 Sam 1:6–10 So I stood beside him and killed him (v. 10). The narrator in 1 Samuel 31 said that Saul killed himself. This man is lying to gain favor with the person most likely to replace Saul as king.

2 Sam 1:12 David and his men fasted in mourning. After this summary statement, the story resumes the actual dialogue between David and the young man who told of Saul’s death.

2 Sam 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 subject to the laws of Israel (Lev. 24:22), the Amalekite should have respected Saul as his king (as did Saul’s armor-bearer; 1 Sam. 31:4–5). David himself had refrained from killing Saul (1 Samuel 24; 26).

2 Sam 1:15 Go, execute him. David believed the Amalekite’s story (but see note on vv. 6–10). On that basis he had him executed. David’s action shows he had no part in Saul’s death.

2 Sam 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).

2 Sam 1:17–27 And David lamented. Though terribly wronged by Saul, David chose to remember him in a generous way.

2 Sam 1:18 It should be taught refers to the lament that follows. Compare the heading of Psalm 60, “A Miktam of David; for instruction.” The Book of Jashar is a non-biblical written source.

2 Sam 1:19 How the mighty have fallen! This is the theme line of David’s lament for Saul and Jonathan, repeated in vv. 25, 27.

2 Sam 1:20 Gath and Ashkelon are Philistine cities. David does not want the Philistines to rejoice over Saul’s death.

2 Sam 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 (that is, “not in proper condition,” since leather shields were treated with oil).

2 Sam 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. 20:18–23.

2 Sam 1:23 In life and in death . . . not divided. In 1 Samuel 14 Jonathan acted without his father’s knowledge and readily criticized him, and they disagreed over David (see especially 1 Sam. 22:8). Yet they apparently maintained a relationship, eventually fighting and dying together for Israel.

2 Sam 1:24 Scarlet cloth, colored with a dye made from the dried bodies of an insect, was a sign of prosperity (Prov. 31:21).

2 Sam 1:26 surpassing the love of women. David’s remark does not carry any sexual overtones. Rather, he is calling attention to Jonathan’s self-denial in giving up any right to the throne of Israel (1 Sam. 23:17). Jonathan loved and supported David as the Lord’s choice to succeed his father Saul. He even risked his life for David (1 Sam. 20:30–33).