2 Samuel 1:4

4 Then David said to him, "{How did things go}?^[a] Please tell me." He answered, "{When}^[b] the army fled from the battle, and many of the people fell; also, Saul and Jonathan his son died."

2 Samuel 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 1:4

And David said unto him, how went the matter? I pray thee, tell
me
That is, how went the battle? on which side the victory?

and he answered, that the people are fled from the battle;
meaning the people of Israel, they had given way, and turned their backs upon their enemies, and were fled:

and many of the people also are fallen and dead;
fell by the sword in the pursuit of them, and were not only wounded, but were slain, and these great numbers of them:

and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also;
which are mentioned last, because they fell some of the last; and this part of the account is reserved by the messenger to the last, because it was the article of the greatest importance; the death of these two persons, the one the enemy, and the other the friend of David, and the death of both made way for his accession to the throne.

2 Samuel 1:4 In-Context

2 On the third day, a man came from the camp from [being with] Saul, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. {When he came} to David, he fell to the ground and bowed down.

3 David said to him, "Where did you come from?" He said to him, "I have escaped from the camp of Israel."

4 Then David said to him, "{How did things go}? Please tell me." He answered, "{When} the army fled from the battle, and many of the people fell; also, Saul and Jonathan his son died."

5 Then David asked the young man who [was] reporting to him, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan died?"

6 The young man who [was] reporting to him said, "I merely happened to be on Mount Gilboa. Here Saul [was] leaning on his spear, and look, the chariots and the horsemen [were] getting close to him.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "What [was] the thing"
• [b] Literally "That"