2 Samuel 1:11

11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them,^[a] and all the men 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 Then he begged me, 'Stand over me and kill me, for I'm mortally wounded, but my life still lingers.'

10 So I stood over him and killed him because I knew that after he had fallen he couldn't survive. I took the crown that was on his head and the armband that was on his arm, and I've brought them here to my lord."

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

12 They mourned, wept, and fasted until the evening for those who died by the sword-for Saul, his son Jonathan, the Lord's people, and the house of Israel.

13 David inquired of the young man who had brought him the report, "Where are you from?" "I'm the son of a foreigner" he said. "I'm an Amalekite."

Footnotes

• [a]. 2 Sm 13:31