2 Samuel 1:4

4 And David said to him, What is the word that is done there; show thou to me (What happened there; tell thou to me). And he said, The people of Israel hath fled from the battle, and many of the people felled (by the sword), and be dead; but also Saul, and Jonathan, his son, have perished.

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 And in the third day a man appeared, coming from the tents of Saul with a cloth rent, and his head sprinkled with dust; and as he came to David, he felled upon his face, and worshipped him. (And on the third day a man appeared, coming from Saul's camp with a torn cloak, and his head sprinkled with dirt, or with earth; and when he came to David, he fell on his face, and honoured him.)

3 And David said to him, From whence comest thou? And he said to David, I fled from the tents of Israel.

4 And David said to him, What is the word that is done there; show thou to me (What happened there; tell thou to me). And he said, The people of Israel hath fled from the battle, and many of the people felled (by the sword), and be dead; but also Saul, and Jonathan, his son, have perished.

5 And David said to the young man, that told to him, Whereof knowest thou, that Saul is dead, and Jonathan, his son? (And David said to the young man, who told him this, How knowest thou that Saul, and his son Jonathan, be dead?)

6 And the young man said, that told to him, By hap I came into the hill of Gilboa, and Saul leaned upon his spear; and chariots and horsemen nighed to him; (And the young man, who told him this, said, By happenstance I was on Mount Gilboa, and Saul was leaning on his spear; and the chariots and the horsemen came towards him;)