2 Samuel1chapter 1

2 Samuel 1:1

“Now it came to pass ... - There is no break whatever between the two books of Samuel, the division being purely artificial.”

2 Samuel 1:1

“David had abode two days in Ziklag--Though greatly reduced by the Amalekite incendiaries, that town was not so completely sacked and destroyed, but David and his six hundred followers, with their families, could still find some accommodation.”

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.”

2 Samuel 1:7

“And when he looked behind him,.... To see how near the enemy was, and who were pursuing him: he saw me, and called unto me; by which it should rather seem that he belonged to the Philistines than to the Israelites, and as his being an Amalekite shows; for such an one would hardly be admitted among the latter, though it is most likely he was with neither, but happened to come that way just at that time: and I answered, here am I; ready to hear what thou hast to say, and do thy pleasure.”

2 Samuel 1:8

“I am an Amalekite - Dr. Delaney remarks that an Amalekite took that crown from off the head of Saul, which he had forfeited by his disobedience in the case of Amalek.”

2 Samuel 1:9

“And he said unto me again, stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me,.... Which it can hardly be thought Saul would say; since he might as well have died by the hands of the uncircumcised Philistines, which he endeavoured to avoid, as by the hands of an Amalekite: for anguish is come upon me; or trembling, as the Targum, not through fear of death, but through fear of falling into the hands of the Philistines, and of being ill used by them.”

2 Samuel 1:9

“Anguish - The Hebrew word used here occurs nowhere else, and is of doubtful meaning (compare the margin). The rabbis interpret it as a cramp or giddiness.”

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?”

2 Samuel 1:11

“When David took hold on his clothes,.... Not on the young man's but his own: and rent them; on bearing of the death of Saul and Jonathan, see Gen 37:34; from whence the Jews (l) gather, that a man is bound to rend his clothes for a prince, and for the father of the sanhedrim, since Saul, they say, was the prince, and Jonathan the father of that court: and likewise all the men that were with him; rent their clothes also, in imitation of him; the same custom obtained among the Gentiles on mournful occasions (m). (l) T. Bab.”

2 Samuel 1:12

“For Saul ... - David’s thoroughly patriotic and unselfish character is strongly marked here. He looked upon the death of Saul, and the defeat of Israel by a pagan foe, with unmixed sorrow, though it opened to him the way to the throne, and removed his mortal enemy out of the way. For Jonathan he mourned with all the tenderness of a loving friend.”

2 Samuel 1:13

“Whether David believed the Amalekite’s story, or not, his anger was equally excited, and the fact that the young man was an Amalekite, was not calculated to calm or check it. That David’s temper was hasty, we know from 1Sa 25:13, 1Sa 25:32-34.”

2 Samuel 1:13-15

“In present circumstances it was especially important that his principle should be publicly known; and to free himself from the imputation of being in any way accessory to the execrable crime of regicide was the part of a righteous judge, no less than of a good politician.”

2 Samuel 1:13

“That nation, and all that belonged to it, were doomed to destruction, so that, in slaying him, David did what his predecessor should have done and was rejected for not doing. (2.) He did himself confess the crime, so that the evidence was, by the consent of all laws, sufficient to convict him; for every man is presumed to make the best of himself.”

2 Samuel 1:14-16

“We know that David went beyond the precepts of the law when, despite Moses' command to pay back one's enemies in kind, he not only did not do this but even embraced his persecutors in love, prayed devoutly to the Lord on their behalf, even wept mournfully for them and revenged them when they were slain.”

2 Samuel 1:14

“And his lying to David, if indeed it was a lie, was highly criminal, and proved, as sooner or later that sin will prove, lying against his own head. He did honourably and well.”

2 Samuel 1:15

“And David called one of the young men,.... His servants that attended on him: and said, go near, and fall upon him; by smiting him with his sword: and he smote him, that he died; his orders were instantly obeyed. Kings and generals of armies had great power in those times and countries to execute a man immediately, without any other judge or jury: what may serve, or David might think would serve, to justify him in doing this, is what follows.”

2 Samuel 1:16

“Whence his blood will come upon him, that is, he will be the cause of his own death, according to what David says to him who reported to him the death of Saul, and remembered that he had killed the king of Israel: "Your blood be upon your own head" (2 Kings 1:16). Not my opinion, but the blood of Saul (i.e. "Al" for Saul) will be spilled because of your blood.”

2 Samuel 1:16

“Thy blood be upon thy head - If he killed Saul, as he said he did, then he deserved death; at that time it was not known to the contrary, and this man was executed on his own confession.”