2 Samuel 1:13

13 Then David said to the young man who [was] reporting to him, "Where [are] you from?" And he said, "I [am] the son of an alien man. I [am] an Amalekite."

2 Samuel 1:13 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 1:13

And David said unto the young man that told him, whence [art]
thou?
&c.] From what place, or of what people and nation art thou? though Abarbinel thinks it neither respects place nor people, but that David thought he was another man's servant; so that the sense of the question is, to what man did he belong?

and he answered, I [am] the son of a stranger, an Amalekite;
he was not any man's servant, but the son of a proselyte, of one that was by birth and nation an Amalekite, but proselyted to the Jewish religion; he might know of what nation he originally was, by the account he had given of what passed between him and Saul, ( 2 Samuel 1:8 ) ; though the mind of David might so disturbed as not to advert to it; or if he did, he might be willing to have it repeated for confirmation's sake.

2 Samuel 1:13 In-Context

11 David grabbed [at] his clothes and tore them, [as did] all of the men who [were] with him.

12 Then they mourned and wept and fasted over Saul and Jonathan his son until the evening, [as well] as over the people of Yahweh and over the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

13 Then David said to the young man who [was] reporting to him, "Where [are] you from?" And he said, "I [am] the son of an alien man. I [am] an Amalekite."

14 David said to him, "How [is it that] you [were] not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy Yahweh's anointed one?"

15 Then David called to one of the young men and said to him, "Come near; strike him." So he struck him down and he died.