2 Samuel 1:6

6 The young man who had told him said, "I happened to be on Mount Gilboa when I saw Sha'ul leaning on his spear. The chariots and cavalry were bearing down on him.

2 Samuel 1:6 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 1:6

And the young man that told him
So it seems he was, and therefore could not be Doeg, more likely his son of the two; but there is no reason to believe he was either of them, who cannot be thought to be well disposed to David:

said, as I happened by chance upon Mount Gilboa;
who was either a traveller that came that way just as the army was routed, and part had fled to Gilboa; or if a soldier, was not one of those that attended Saul, and was of his bodyguard, but happened on the flight to come to the same spot on Gilboa where Saul was:

behold, Saul leaned upon his spear;
that that might pierce him through and die; but this seems not true, for he fell upon his sword for that purpose, ( 1 Samuel 31:4 ) ;

and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him;
the charioteers and cavalry, of which part of the Philistine army consisted; though this also does not agree with the account in the above place; for according to that they were the archers that pressed him hard, and hit him.

2 Samuel 1:6 In-Context

4 "Tell me, please, how did things go?" asked David. "The people have fled the battle," he answered, "and many of them are wounded or dead. Sha'ul and Y'honatan his son are dead too."

5 David asked the young man who had told him this, "How do you know that Sha'ul and Y'honatan his son are dead?"

6 The young man who had told him said, "I happened to be on Mount Gilboa when I saw Sha'ul leaning on his spear. The chariots and cavalry were bearing down on him.

7 He looked behind him, saw me and called to me. I answered, 'Here I am.'

8 He said to me, 'Who are you?' and I answered, 'I'm an 'Amaleki'