2 Samuel 1:9
in 2 Samuel 1Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for agony has seized me, but my life still lingers.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said unto me, Stand, I pray thee, beside me, and slay me; for anguish hath taken hold of me, because my life is yet whole in me.
KJV
He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 1
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd 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.
This site's exposition
I am an Amalekite
on 2 Samuel 1:8-10
The man names himself an Amalekite, so the war with Amalek returns in his own words. He says Saul begged, “Stand over me and kill me”, and that he killed him. Saul lost his kingdom in 1 Samuel 15 for sparing Amalek, and now an Amalekite carries his crown.
This site's exposition
Stand over me and kill me
Saul says agony has seized him, and Albert Barnes notes that the Hebrew word occurs only here. The rabbis read it as a cramp. John Gill doubts that Saul, who died to escape the uncircumcised Philistines, begged an Amalekite to kill him.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Anguish has come upon me; so we read it, as a complaint of the pain and terror his spirit was seized with. If his conscience now brought to mind the javelin he had cast at David, his pride, malice, and perfidiousness, and especially the murder of the priests, no marvel that anguish came upon him: moles (they say) open their eyes when they are dying.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And the bracelet that was on his arm. The tefilin that was on his arm. 12 This is Targum Yonasan’s translation. He refuses to explain it to literally mean bracelet because that would have been taken by the Pelishtim as part of the spoils of war (Meam Loez).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלַ֗י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עֲמָד־ | ʾamod- | stand | H5975 → | 521 times |
| נָ֤א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| עָלַי֙ | ʾalai | over me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וּמֹ֣תְתֵ֔נִי | umoteteni | and kill me | H4191 → | 839 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲחָזַ֖נִי | ʾachazani | it has seized me | H270 → | 67 times |
| הַשָּׁבָ֑ץ | hashavatz | <the> dizziness | H7661 → | |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| ע֥וֹד | od | still | H5750 → | 490 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֖י | nafshi | life my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| בִּֽי׃ | bi | [is] in <the> me |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלַ֗יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
עֲמָד־stand
ʾamod-H5975 →521 times
נָ֤אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
עָלַי֙over me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
וּמֹ֣תְתֵ֔נִיand kill me
umoteteniH4191 →839 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֲחָזַ֖נִיit has seized me
ʾachazaniH270 →67 times
הַשָּׁבָ֑ץ<the> dizziness
hashavatzH7661 →
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
ע֥וֹדstill
odH5750 →490 times
נַפְשִׁ֖יlife my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
בִּֽי׃[is] in <the> me
bi
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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 Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.