2 Samuel 1:8

8 "He said to me, 'Who are you?' And I ^[a]answered him, '¹I am an Amalekite.'

2 Samuel 1:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 1:8

And he said unto me, who [art] thou?
&c.] Being willing to know whether a friend or an enemy, which by his coming behind him he could not tell:

and I answered him, I [am] an Amalekite:
which he might be; but it is not likely he should tell Saul he was, which would not recommend him to him; though indeed he was now in such circumstances, that the Amalekites had nothing to fear from him; and if he was slain by him, as Josephus ^F6 affirms he was, it seems to be a just retaliation on him for sparing any of that race, contrary to the will of God.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 14. sect. 7.

2 Samuel 1:8 In-Context

6 The young man who told him said, "By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and behold, Saul was leaning on his spear. And behold, the chariots and the horsemen pursued him closely.

7 "When he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I said, 'Here I am.'

8 "He said to me, 'Who are you?' And I answered him, 'I am an Amalekite.'

9 "Then he said to me, 'Please stand beside me and kill me, for agony has seized me because my life still lingers in me.'

10 "So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown which was on his head and the bracelet which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord ."

Cross References

• 1. 1 Samuel 15:3; 1 Samuel 30:1, 13, 17

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "said to"