2 Samuel 1:11

11 Then David tore his clothes to show his sorrow, and all the men with him did also.

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 Saul said to me, 'Please come here and kill me. I am badly hurt and am almost dead already.'

10 "So I went over and killed him. He had been hurt so badly I knew he couldn't live. Then I took the crown from his head and the bracelet from his arm, and I have brought them here to you, my master."

11 Then David tore his clothes to show his sorrow, and all the men with him did also.

12 They were very sad and cried and did not eat until evening. They cried for Saul and his son Jonathan and for all the people of the Lord and for all the Israelites who had died in the battle.

13 David asked the young man who brought the report, "Where are you from?" The young man answered, "I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite."