2 Samuel 1:8

8 And he said to me, 'Who are you?' So I answered him, 'I 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 Then the young man who told him said, "As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear; and indeed the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.

7 Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, 'Here I am.'

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

9 He said to me again, 'Please stand over me and kill me, for anguish has come upon me, but my life still remains in me.'

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