2 Samuel 1:19

19 "On the hills of Israel our leaders are dead! The bravest of our soldiers 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 David sang this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan,

18 and ordered it to be taught to the people of Judah. (It is recorded in [The Book of Jashar.])

19 "On the hills of Israel our leaders are dead! The bravest of our soldiers have fallen!

20 Do not announce it in Gath or in the streets of Ashkelon. Do not make the women of Philistia glad; do not let the daughters of pagans rejoice.

21 "May no rain or dew fall on Gilboa's hills; may its fields be always barren! For the shields of the brave lie there in disgrace; the shield of Saul is no longer polished with oil.