2 Samuel 1 Study Notes

1:19 Splendor also may be translated as “gazelle,” describing Saul as a majestic animal. Gazelles often inhabited the heights, so the image fits well.

1:20 David did not want Israel’s enemies to rejoice, but they were already doing so (1Sm 31:9). Gath and Ashkelon were two leading Philistine cities (see note at 1Sm 5:1).

1:21 David called to the mountains of Gilboa, the site of Saul’s death, to participate in the mourning by lacking dew and rain, two kinds of moisture much more common in the north where Gilboa was located rather than in the south where David was. The Hebrew seems to reflect the depth of David’s extreme emotion. The phrase the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil perhaps indicates the cleaning and polishing of Saul’s weapons. The concept of anointing was fitting for Saul, God’s anointed one.

1:22 David praised the king and prince for their bravery and lack of retreat in the face of serious danger.

1:23 David also praised the relationship that Saul and Jonathan had. First Samuel reveals Jonathan’s strained relationship with his father, as Jonathan tried to be both a loyal son to Saul and a loyal friend to David. David affirmed the mutual commitment of Saul and Jonathan in that they died fighting beside each other.

Meshiyach, from mashach (anoint, 70x) describes somebody anointed to serve God, usually kings (1Sm 10:1), prophets (1Kg 19:16), or priests (Ex 28:41). Meshiyach figuratively designates patriarchs as specially chosen (Ps 105:15). Cyrus is God’s anointed because of his role in delivering Israel from Babylonian captivity (Is 45:1). All priests were anointed (Ex 29:21), but the specially anointed high priest was called the anointed priest (Lv 4:3). The king of Israel is often called the Lord’s anointed (2Sm 1:14). After David, meshiyach indicates Davidic kings (Ps 18:50). Meshiyach identifies God’s Anointed One, Christ, in Ps 2:2, according to Ac 4:26. Meshiyach is translated Anointed One in Dn 9:25-26. Mashach also means pour oil (Gn 31:13), coat (Ex 29:2), oil (Is 21:5), paint (Jr 22:14), or anoint oneself (Am 6:6). Mishchah (21x, Ex 25:6) and moshchah (2x, Ex 40:15) mean anointing, and mimshach suggests anointed (Ezk 28:14).

1:24-27 The phrase clothed you in scarlet shows that Saul’s military victories had provided stability and perhaps even prosperous times for many Israelites. David called Jonathan his brother and friend. His relationship with Jonathan included a covenant bond of deep mutual respect and loyalty (1Sm 18:1-3; 20:13-17; 23:16-18). As leading men of society, they had much in common and developed a deep relationship that David considered more wondrous than the love of women. The text does not suggest that David had a homosexual relationship with Jonathan or that David had a poor relationship with his wives. Rather, it speaks to an unbreakable friendship bond between men that has been witnessed countless times and in countless cultures throughout history.