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2 Samuel 1:6

in 2 Samuel 1

“I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and the cavalry closing in on him.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul was leaning upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and the horsemen followed hard after him.

KJV

And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 1

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

How do you know that Saul

on 2 Samuel 1:5-7

His answer gives a second account of Saul's death beside the one in 1 Samuel 31. There Saul falls on his own sword. The Amalekite says he came to Mount Gilboa and found Saul “leaning on his spear, with the chariots and the cavalry closing in on him”.

This site's exposition

leaning on his spear

The man claims he came onto Mount Gilboa by chance. Albert Barnes places him among those who came to strip the slain the day after the battle, at 1 Samuel 31:8. Barnes adds that he may have heard what happened from an Israelite prisoner and built his story on it.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And the young man that told him,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

a man came out of the camp from Saul--As 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.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֜אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • הַנַּ֣עַר׀the young man

    hanaarH5288 →239 times

  • הַמַּגִּ֣ידwho had told

    hamagidH5046 →370 times

  • ל֗וֹto <the> him

    lo

  • נִקְרֹ֤א[surely] by chance

    nikro'H7122 →139 times

  • נִקְרֵ֙יתִי֙I found myself

    nikreitiH7136 →

  • בְּהַ֣רon [the] mountain of

    beharH2022 →546 times

  • הַגִּלְבֹּ֔עַ<the> Gilboa

    hagilboa'H1533 →8 times

  • וְהִנֵּ֥הand there!

    vehinehH2009 →843 times

  • שָׁא֖וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • נִשְׁעָ֣ן[was] leaning

    nishanH8172 →

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • חֲנִית֑וֹspear his

    chanitoH2595 →47 times

  • וְהִנֵּ֥הand there!

    vehinehH2009 →843 times

  • הָרֶ֛כֶבthe chariotry

    harekhevH7393 →119 times

  • וּבַעֲלֵ֥יand [the] owners of

    uvaaleiH1167 →84 times

  • הַפָּרָשִׁ֖יםthe horses

    haparashimH6571 →57 times

  • הִדְבִּקֻֽהוּ׃they overtook him

    hidbikuhuH1692 →54 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

12 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Samuel 31:4Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.5 works1 Samuel 28:4The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.4 works1 Chronicles 10:1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.4 works1 Samuel 31:3When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically.3 works1 Samuel 6:9but keep watching it. If it goes up the road to its homeland, toward Beth-shemesh, it is the LORD who has brought on us this great disaster. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not His hand that punished us and that it happened by chance.”3 worksRuth 2:3So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.2 works
The other 6 cross-references, with their words ▾
Luke 10:31Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.2 works2 Samuel 1:21O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.2 works1 Chronicles 10:4–6Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.2 works1 Samuel 31:1–7Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.2 works1 Samuel 31:2The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.2 works2 Samuel 21:12he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies after they had struck down Saul at Gilboa.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 28:4

    The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 31:1

      Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Joshua 19:18

      Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,

    • 2 Kings 4:8

      One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.

  • Through

    Luke 10:31

    Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 69:20

      Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found no one.

    • 1 John 3:16–18

      By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 1:21

    O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 21:5

      They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields!

    • 1 Samuel 10:1

      Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?

  • Through

    Ruth 2:3

    So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of…

    it leads to

    • 2 Thessalonians 3:12

      We command and urge such people by our Lord Jesus Christ to begin working quietly to earn their own living.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 1 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel.

Read on in 2 Samuel 1 →