2 Samuel 1:20

20 “Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.

2 Samuel 1:20 in Other Translations

20 Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

20 Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.

20 Don’t announce the news in Gath, don’t proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon, or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice and the pagans will laugh in triumph.

20 Don't announce it in the city of Gath, don't post the news in the streets of Ashkelon. Don't give those coarse Philistine girls one more excuse for a drunken party!

20 Do not tell it in Gath, don't announce it in the streets of Ashkelon, or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised will gloat.

2 Samuel 1:20 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 1:20

Tell [it] not in Gath
One of the five principalities of the Philistines, and the chief of them, being raised to a kingdom, and whose king was at the head of the armies of the Philistines that engaged with Saul. This is not to be understood of a command of David, who could not hinder the victory the Philistines had got over Israel being known at Gath, and talked of with pleasure there, but a wish it had not:

publish [it] not in the streets of Ashkelon;
another of the principalities of the Philistines, and the sense the same as before:

lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of
the uncircumcised triumph;
it being usual in those times and countries for women, young women more especially, to express their joy, on occasion of victories obtained, by singing and dancing, ( Judges 11:34 ) ( 1 Samuel 18:6 1 Samuel 18:7 ) .

2 Samuel 1:20 In-Context

18 and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):

19 “A gazelle lies slain on your heights, Israel. How the mighty have fallen!

20 “Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.

21 “Mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, may no showers fall on your terraced fields.For there the shield of the mighty was despised, the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.

22 “From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied.

Cross References

• 1. Micah 1:10
• 2. S Joshua 13:3
• 3. 1 Samuel 31:8
• 4. Exodus 15:20; S 1 Samuel 18:6