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2 Samuel 1:12

in 2 Samuel 1

They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Jehovah, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.

KJV

And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.

This verse in 2 Samuel 1

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
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.

This site's exposition

David took hold of his own clothes

on 2 Samuel 1:11-12

David and every man with him tear their clothes, and they mourn, weep and fast. The grief names four together, Saul, Jonathan, “the people of the LORD” and “the house of Israel”. Tearing the clothes for a death is the custom of Jacob at Genesis 37:34, as John Gill notes.

This site's exposition

because they had fallen by the sword

The verse ends on the cause of the grief, the people of the LORD fallen by the sword. Albert Barnes reads a patriot’s grief at Israel beaten by a pagan foe. Barnes adds that David mourned Jonathan as a loving friend.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

What a surprise was this to the messenger, who thought he should have favour shown him for his pains. In vain did he plead that he had Saul's order for it, that it was a real kindness to him, that he must inevitably have died; all those pleas are overruled: " Thy mouth has testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes

And they mourned and wept,....

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

19 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.

  • וַֽיִּסְפְּדוּ֙and they mourned

    vaiyispeduH5594 →30 times

  • וַיִּבְכּ֔וּand they wept

    vaiyivkuH1058 →114 times

  • וַיָּצֻ֖מוּand they fasted

    vaiyatzumuH6684 →21 times

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • הָעָ֑רֶבthe evening

    haarevH6153 →134 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • שָׁא֞וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • וְעַל־and on

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • יְהוֹנָתָ֣ןJonathan

    yehonatanH3083 →81 times

  • בְּנ֗וֹson his

    benoH1121 →4930 times

  • וְעַל־and on

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • עַ֤ם[the] people of

    ʾamH5971 →1873 times

  • יְהוָה֙Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וְעַל־and on

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • בֵּ֣ית[the] house of

    beitH1004 →2046 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • כִּ֥יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • נָפְל֖וּthey had fallen

    nafeluH5307 →435 times

  • בֶּחָֽרֶב׃ סby the sword

    becharevH2719 →413 times

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

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

    Matthew 5:44

    But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

    it leads to

    • Romans 12:14

      Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

    • 1 Peter 3:9

      Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

    • Luke 6:27–28

      But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

    • Romans 12:20–21

      On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

    • Proverbs 25:21–22

      If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

  • Through

    1 Peter 3:8

    Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.

    it leads to

    • Romans 12:10

      Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.

    • Ephesians 4:31

      Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.

    • 1 Peter 1:22

      Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Samuel

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