2 Samuel 1:9

9 Then he said, "Come here and kill me! I have been badly wounded, and I'm about to die.'

2 Samuel 1:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 1:9

And 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. Some render the words, "my embroidered coat", or "breastplate", or "coat of mail", holds me F7, or hinders me from being pierced through with the sword or spear; so Ben Gersom F8:

because my life [is] yet whole in me:
for though he had been wounded by the archers, yet he did not apprehend he had received any mortal wound, but his life was whole in him; and therefore feared he should fall into their hands alive, and be ill treated by them.


FOOTNOTES:

F7 (Ubyh) "tunica scutulata", Braunius; "ocellata chlamys", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "thorax villosus seu pelliceus", Texelii Phoenix, p. 210.
F8 Vid. Braunium de Vest. Sacredot. Heb. l. 1. c. 17. sect. 9.

2 Samuel 1:9 In-Context

7 Then he turned around, saw me, and called to me. I answered, "Yes, sir!'
8 He asked who I was, and I told him that I was an Amalekite.
9 Then he said, "Come here and kill me! I have been badly wounded, and I'm about to die.'
10 So I went up to him and killed him, because I knew that he would die anyway as soon as he fell. Then I took the crown from his head and the bracelet from his arm, and I have brought them to you, sir."
11 David tore his clothes in sorrow, and all his men did the same.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.