2 Samuel 1:21
in 2 Samuel 1O 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ye mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, neither fields of offerings: For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
KJV
Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 1
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Let there be no dew ... - For a similar passionate form of poetical malediction, compare Job 3:3-10; Jer 20:14-18. Nor fields of offerings - He imprecates such complete barrenness on the soil of Gilboa, that not even enough may grow for an offering of first-fruits. The latter part of the verse is better rendered thus: For there the shield of the mighty was polluted, the shield of Saul was not anointed with oil, but with blood). Shields were usually anointed with oil in preparation for the battle Isa 21:5.
This site's exposition
Tell it not in Gath
on 2 Samuel 1:20-21
David's wish that Gath and Askelon never hear the news is the shape of grief, not an actual instruction, since word of a battle this size had surely already reached the Philistine cities. Wesley reads it as sorrow expressing itself in a wish it knows to be impossible, spoken to relieve the speaker rather than to change events. The curse over the mountains of Gilboa that follows, no dew, no rain, no fields of offerings, is the same kind of poetic imprecation, and Barnes compares it to Job's curse on his own birthday at Job 3:3-10.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Let there be, &c. - This is no proper imprecation; but a passionate representation of the horror which he conceived at this publick loss; which was such, as if he thought every person or thing which contributed to it, were fit to bear the tokens of divine displeasure, such as this is, when the earth wants the necessary influences of dew and rain.
The worst thing he could wish to the mountains of Gilboa was barrenness and unprofitableness to man: those are miserable that are useless. It was the curse Christ pronounced on the fig-tree, Never fruit grow on thee more, and that took effect--the fig-tree withered away: this, on the mountains of Gilboa, did not.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The curse seems still to lie upon them; for the mountains of Gilboa are naked and sterile. the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away--To cast away the shield was counted a national disgrace.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הָרֵ֣י | harei | O mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| בַגִּלְבֹּ֗עַ | vagilboa' | in <the> Gilboa | H1533 → | 8 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| טַ֧ל | tal | dew | H2919 → | |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| מָטָ֛ר | matar | rain | H4306 → | |
| עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם | ʾaleikhem | [be] on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וּשְׂדֵ֣י | usedei | and fields of | H7704 → | 334 times |
| תְרוּמֹ֑ת | terumot | contributions | H8641 → | |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שָׁ֤ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| נִגְעַל֙ | nigal | it was defiled | H1602 → | |
| מָגֵ֣ן | magen | [the] shield of | H4043 → | 63 times |
| גִּבּוֹרִ֔ים | giborim | [the] mighty [ones] | H1368 → | 158 times |
| מָגֵ֣ן | magen | [the] shield of | H4043 → | 63 times |
| שָׁא֔וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| בְּלִ֖י | beli | not | H1097 → | |
| מָשִׁ֥יחַ | mashiach | [was] anointed | H4899 → | 39 times |
| בַּשָּֽׁמֶן׃ | bashamen | with <the> oil | H8081 → |
הָרֵ֣יO mountains
hareiH2022 →546 times
בַגִּלְבֹּ֗עַin <the> Gilboa
vagilboa'H1533 →8 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
טַ֧לdew
talH2919 →
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
מָטָ֛רrain
matarH4306 →
עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם[be] on you
ʾaleikhemH5921 →5755 times
וּשְׂדֵ֣יand fields of
usedeiH7704 →334 times
תְרוּמֹ֑תcontributions
terumotH8641 →
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
שָׁ֤םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
נִגְעַל֙it was defiled
nigalH1602 →
מָגֵ֣ן[the] shield of
magenH4043 →63 times
גִּבּוֹרִ֔ים[the] mighty [ones]
giborimH1368 →158 times
מָגֵ֣ן[the] shield of
magenH4043 →63 times
שָׁא֔וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
בְּלִ֖יnot
beliH1097 →
מָשִׁ֥יחַ[was] anointed
mashiachH4899 →39 times
בַּשָּֽׁמֶן׃with <the> oil
bashamenH8081 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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 31:1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 28:4
The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 10:1–12
Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
- 1 Samuel 28:4
Through
1 Samuel 10:1Then 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?
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 16:13
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and…
- Psalms 78:71
from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance.
- 1 Samuel 9:16
“At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him leader over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of…
- Psalms 2:12
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
- 1 Samuel 16:13
Through
1 Chronicles 10:1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 28:1
Now in those days the Philistines gathered their forces for warfare against Israel. So Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men are to go out to battle with me.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 31:1–13
Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
- 1 Samuel 28:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 2 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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 Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.