2 Samuel 1:17-27--David's Lament for Saul and Jonathan

2 Samuel 1:17-27
English Standard Version

David's Lament for Saul and Jonathan
17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, 18 and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. He said:

19 “Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!
    How the mighty have fallen!
20 Tell it not in Gath,
    publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
    lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.

21 “You mountains of Gilboa,
    let there be no dew or rain upon you,
    nor fields of offerings!
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
    the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

22 “From the blood of the slain,
    from the fat of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan turned not back,
    and the sword of Saul returned not empty.

23 “Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!
    In life and in death they were not divided;
they were swifter than eagles;
    they were stronger than lions.

24 “You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
    who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet,
    who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

25 “How the mighty have fallen
    in the midst of the battle!

“Jonathan lies slain on your high places.
26     I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
very pleasant have you been to me;
    your love to me was extraordinary,
    surpassing the love of women.

​27 “How the mighty have fallen,
    and the weapons of war perished!”

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Last time we talked about the messenger that notified David that Saul and Jonathan were dead, and since this messenger also claimed that Saul was killed by his own hand, David executed justice in his role as king and killed the man for the crime that he had confessed to.

Though David and his men had already taken a little time to mourn in our last passage, David will now pour his soul out in a song of grief and mourning.  We only have the lyrics and not the tune, but I would imagine this would be in the style of a funeral dirge.  It was a song that he taught to the people of Judah as well (David's tribe who would be the first to follow after him as king) so that Saul and Jonathan would be remembered, and it was written in the book of Jashar (we don't have this book today, but it was something that the people of that time would know of and have access to--maybe a collection of songs for the people, or maybe another book of history, we don't really know).

David weeps for Saul and Jonathan and calls them Israel's glory.  They were slain in the high places as David mentions here.  David tells the people to make sure that this news is kept from the Philistines so that they will not rejoice over the death of the king and the one presumed to be the crown prince.

David then curses that mountains on which they died and asks that they receive no rain or dew so that nothing would be able to live there since the land did nothing to prevent this from happening (but we know even the Earth is going to obey the will of the LORD, and it was his desire that Saul and all the male heirs in his family die that day because of the great and heinous sin that Saul committed in consorting with mediums and practicing witchcraft to try to speak to Samuel from beyond the grave.  David does not yet know about this sin of Saul or the judgment that the LORD pronounced on Saul and his household, so we must read these lyrics with that in mind.)

Even though they died, they did not die in vain, for David says that Jonathan's bow and Saul's sword killed many Philistines that day.  Then David says something that makes me scratch my head a bit because of the other stories we've read.  He says that Saul and Jonathan were inseparable and fought side-by-side to the end, and that they were feared by their enemies when they fought together--"swifter than eagles" and "stronger than lions" is how David put it.

In contrast to David saying that he did not want the daughters of the Philistines to rejoice in the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, David commands the daughters of Israel to mourn, for they had years of good things under Saul, for the LORD had blessed Israel during that time.  They had lived in times of luxury being able to afford things like scarlet fabric, perfumes and ointments, and all kinds of ornaments and gold apparel.  David seems to not be sure if this time of economic blessing will continue under his reign, but we'll see just how much David and the people of Israel are blessed when it comes time to make the Temple and although David is not allowed to build it himself, he donates much of the raw material needed in the silver and gold straight out of the royal treasury.

David then uses a phrase that we use to this day, "How the might have fallen!"  He then specifically laments for Jonathan and calls him his brother.  While they may have had no physical relation to each other, it is fair to say that they were like brothers, maybe even closer than brothers--for David's own brothers did not love him as much as Jonathan did, nor did Jonathan's brothers love him like David did.  This is the kind of love that we should have for each other inside the Church where we refer to each other as "brother" and "sister" in Christ.  We do not just say this because we have one Father who is God and all of us are co-heirs with Jesus who is our Brother (though that is true), but because the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit have made us one with each other in the same kind of way that the Father and Son are one with each other (see John 17:20-24 and Ephesians 4:1-16).  We should understand this unity that the Spirit of God provided between these two and have no need to marvel at what it meant that the two of them had hearts and souls that were knit together so that they were closer than brothers to each other.

Jonathan lies slain on your high places.
I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
very pleasant have you been to me;
    your love to me was extraordinary,
    surpassing the love of women.​

I'll say this only because I feel I must in this day and age, even though I just explained it all above.  Not only does David say that the love and unity that God gives us through the spirit is stronger than that of the love that comes from blood relation between brothers (for we are part of the same blood now through Jesus), but David says that it is a love that is even stronger than the love of the women he has married.  This is where the world likes to read things into the text that are not there--nowhere is David saying that he had any kind of sexual relationship with Jonathan.  He's saying that the deepest, strongest, most intimate love that this world may know pales in comparison to the love of God that we share in as those who are brothers and sisters in Christ and that there is even a stronger bond and deeper intimacy that is able to partially be enjoyed now, but one day we have such intimacy with God and each other that nothing will be hidden from us.  We know Him fully, and we will be fully known. (See 1 Corinthians 13:12).  I think David and Jonathan just got a taste of this and there was nothing this world could offer that could compete with that.

Now imagine how hard it is to lose a spouse who you have been sexually intimate with.  The two of you were physically "knit together" so that "the two will become one flesh" as the Bible says in Genesis 2:24.  Imagine losing someone that you were even more closely "knit together" with--not just on the level of your flesh, but your soul and spirit.  Those that lose a spouse speak of this in a way when they say they feel like their heart has been ripped out of their chest or something of that sort--that is what David is feeling here, though maybe even deeper grief than that because of how close he was to Jonathan (though they had not been able to see each other for very long periods of time because of Saul's jealous rage).  The one thing they can be sure of though, even though it was not talked about here, is that they will both be united together in Paradise and later in the kingdom of God, because they were both in Christ (there is some question about Saul, but there seems to be no question about David and Jonathan).

Finally, David repeats the line, "How the mighty have fallen," but he adds to it this time that "the weapons of war have perished."  David certainly does not mean that all war has ceased, but I think this is a recognition that it is safe for David to go back and take his place as king because Saul will no longer be making war with him, chasing him through the wilderness, and trying to kill him.  We do look forward to a day though that the Old Testament prophecies about when there will be no more need for weapons of warfare because we will have perfect peace when the Prince of Peace rules perfectly over His people.