2 Samuel 1:13

13 David said to the young man who told him, "Where are you from?" And he ^[a]answered, "¹I am the son of an alien, 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 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him.

12 They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

13 David said to the young man who told him, "Where are you from?" And he answered, "I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite."

14 Then David said to him, "How is it you were not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy the LORD'S anointed?"

15 And David called one of the young men and said, "Go, cut him down." So he struck him and he died.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Samuel 1:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "said"