2 Samuel 1:11

11 And David taketh hold on his garments, and rendeth them, and also all the men who [are] with him,

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 `And he saith unto me, Stand, I pray thee, over me, and put me to death, for seized me hath the arrow, for all my soul [is] still in me.

10 And I stand over him, and put him to death, for I knew that he doth not live after his falling, and I take the crown which [is] on his head, and the bracelet which [is] on his arm, and bring them in unto my lord hither.'

11 And David taketh hold on his garments, and rendeth them, and also all the men who [are] with him,

12 and they mourn, and weep, and fast till the evening, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Jehovah, and for the house of Israel, because they have fallen by the sword.

13 And David saith unto the youth who is declaring [it] to him, `Whence [art] thou?' and he saith, `Son of a sojourner, an Amalekite, I [am].'