Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

What should we learn from this chapter?

• David is not yet king since Saul is still alive. When Saul is killed then David is crowned king.
  
• I Samuel 16:1 – David Anointed King – Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king (David) among his sons.”
• II Samuel 2:1 – David Anointed King of Judah – It happened after this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, “To Hebron.”
• II Samuel 2:4 Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, “The men of Jabesh Gilead were the ones who buried Saul.”
• II Samuel 5:3 Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel.

The Report of Saul’s Death

II Samuel 1:¹ – Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag,

II Samuel 1:² on the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head (To show grief). So it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.

II Samuel 1:³ And David said to him, “Where have you come from?”

So he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”

II Samuel 1:⁴ Then David said to him, “How did the matter go? Please tell me.”

And he answered, “The people have fled from the battle, many of the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.”

II Samuel 1:⁵ So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?”

II Samuel 1:⁶ Then the young man who told him said, “As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear (impaled); and indeed the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.

II Samuel 1:⁷ Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’

II Samuel 1:⁸ And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ So I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’

II Samuel 1:⁹ He said to me again, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, for anguish (agony) has come upon me, but my life still remains in me.’

II Samuel 1:¹⁰ So I stood over him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.”

II Samuel 1:¹¹ Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. (To show their grief)

II Samuel 1:¹² And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

II Samuel 1:¹³ Then David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?”

And he answered, “I am the son of an alien (Lit. foreigner/gentile), an Amalekite.”

• God instructed Saul to kill every last Amalekite and leave none alive but Saul spared their king Agag whose name is synonymous with Gog.

II Samuel 1:¹⁴ So David said to him, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the Lord’s (Yᵊhōvâ) anointed?”

II Samuel 1:¹⁵ Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go near, and execute him!” And he struck him so that he died.

II Samuel 1:¹⁶ So David said to him, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s (Yᵊhōvâ) anointed.’ ”

The Song of the Bow

II Samuel 1:¹⁷ Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son,

II Samuel 1:¹⁸ and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher.

• (Jasher is not a person’s name. Literally, it means Song “of the Upright”) :

II Samuel 1:¹⁹ “The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!

II Samuel 1:²⁰ Tell it not in Gath,
Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon—
Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

II Samuel 1:²¹ “O mountains of Gilboa,
Let there be no dew nor rain upon you,
Nor fields of offerings.
For the shield of the mighty is cast away (Lit. defiled) there!
The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

• The dew is symbolic of being risen, while rain (both literally and symbolically refers to the faithful teacher, Jesus, the Messiah, who came down from heaven and watered the earth with the offer of eternal life.
  
  Think of the ‘Rainbow’ as the Messiah Jesus’ Covenant.

II Samuel 1:²² From the blood of the slain,
From the fat of the mighty,
The bow (covenant) of Jonathan did not turn back,
And the sword of Saul did not return empty.

• The symbolism of a “bow” is a “covenant”.
  A Conqueror with a bow on a white horse is the Antichrist who made a peace treaty (covenant/oath) with Israel. (Revelation 6:2)
  In Genesis God made a covenant with Noah and mankind by putting a rain-“bow” in the sky.

II Samuel 1:²³ “Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives,
And in their death they were not divided;
They were swifter than eagles (given supernatural oversight),
They were stronger than lions (Royalty).

• Two of the faces of Jesus are an Eagle and a Lion.

• The Eagle denotes having supernatural oversight.
  The Lion denotes having absolute authority as Royalty.
• 

II Samuel 1:²⁴ “O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
Who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury;
Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

II Samuel 1:²⁵ “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle!
Jonathan was slain in your high places.

• The “high places” are places where idols are erected and worshiped by the ungodly.

II Samuel 1:²⁶ I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
You have been very pleasant to me;
Your love to me was wonderful,
Surpassing the love of women.

• Jonathan and David were deeply enmeshed friends who cut a covenant of loyalty.
  • I Samuel 18:1 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
  • I Samuel 18:3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
  • I Samuel 18:4 And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his “bow” and his belt.

II Samuel 1:²⁷ “How the mighty have fallen,
And the weapons of war perished!”