2 Samuel 1:11

11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them; and all the men who were with him did the same.

2 Samuel 1:11 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 1:11

When David took hold on his clothes
Not on the young man's but his own:

and rent them;
on bearing of the death of Saul and Jonathan, see ( Genesis 37:34 ) ; from whence the Jews ^F12 gather, that a man is bound to rend his clothes for a prince, and for the father of the sanhedrim, since Saul, they say, was the prince, and Jonathan the father of that court:

and likewise all the men that [were] with him;
rent their clothes also, in imitation of him; the same custom obtained among the Gentiles on mournful occasions ^F13.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 T. Bab. Moed. Katon, fol. 26. 1.
F13 "-----it scissa veste Latinus". Virgil. Aeneid. 12. prope finem.

2 Samuel 1:11 In-Context

9 He said to me, "Come, stand over me and kill me; for convulsions have seized me, and yet my life still lingers.'

10 So I stood over him, and killed him, for I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord."

11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them; and all the men who were with him did the same.

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

13 David said to the young man who had reported to him, "Where do you come from?" He answered, "I am the son of a resident alien, an Amalekite."