2 Samuel 1:19

19 And (so) David said, Israel, behold thou, for these that be dead, be wounded on thine high places; the noble men of Israel be slain upon thine hills. How have fallen [the] strong men? (How the strong have fallen!)

2 Samuel 1:19 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 1:19

The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places
The high mountains of Gilboa, where Saul their king, and Jonathan his son, a prince of the blood, and natural heir to the crown, and multitudes of young men, the flower of the nation, were wounded and slain. Here begins the lamentation, or the elegiac song:

how are the mighty fallen!
mighty men of war, strong and valiant, as Saul and his sons were, and the soldiers in his army.

2 Samuel 1:19 In-Context

17 Forsooth David bewailed such a wailing on Saul, and on Jonathan, his son; (And David bewailed this wailing, or this lament, for Saul, and for his son Jonathan;)

18 and he commanded, that they should teach the sons of Judah the bow, that is, the craft of shooting, as it is written in the Book of Just Men. (and he commanded, that they should teach the sons of Judah the use of the bow, that is, the craft of shooting arrows, as it is written in the Book of Jasher.)

19 And (so) David said, Israel, behold thou, for these that be dead, be wounded on thine high places; the noble men of Israel be slain upon thine hills. How have fallen [the] strong men? (How the strong have fallen!)

20 do not ye tell this in Gath, neither tell ye (it) in the way-lots of Askelon; lest peradventure the daughters of Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of uncircumcised men joy.

21 Hills of Gilboa, neither dew, neither rain come upon you, neither be they the fields of first fruits (nor be ye the fields of the first fruits); for the shield of (the) strong men was cast away there, the shield of Saul, as if he had not been anointed with oil.