2 Samuel 1:9

9 "Then Saul said to me, 'Please come here and kill me. I am badly hurt and am almost dead already.'

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 When he looked back and saw me, he called to me. I answered him, 'Here I am!'
8 "Then Saul asked me, 'Who are you?' "I told him, 'I am an Amalekite.'
9 "Then Saul said to me, 'Please come here and kill me. I am badly hurt and am almost dead already.'
10 "So I went over and killed him. He had been hurt so badly I knew he couldn't live. Then I took the crown from his head and the bracelet from his arm, and I have brought them here to you, my master."
11 Then David tore his clothes to show his sorrow, and all the men with him did also.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.