2 Samuel 1:13

13 David said to the young man who told him, Whence are you? He answered, I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.

2 Samuel 1:13 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 1:13

And David said unto the young man that told him, whence [art]
thou?
&c.] From what place, or of what people and nation art thou? though Abarbinel thinks it neither respects place nor people, but that David thought he was another man's servant; so that the sense of the question is, to what man did he belong?

and he answered, I [am] the son of a stranger, an Amalekite;
he was not any man's servant, but the son of a proselyte, of one that was by birth and nation an Amalekite, but proselyted to the Jewish religion; he might know of what nation he originally was, by the account he had given of what passed between him and Saul, ( 2 Samuel 1:8 ) ; though the mind of David might so disturbed as not to advert to it; or if he did, he might be willing to have it repeated for confirmation's sake.

2 Samuel 1:13 In-Context

11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and tore them; and likewise all the men who were with him:

12 and they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Yahweh, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.

13 David said to the young man who told him, Whence are you? He answered, I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.

14 David said to him, How were you not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy Yahweh's anointed?

15 David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall on him. He struck him, so that he died.