2 Samuel 1:17-27·~1 min

David’s Song for Saul and Jonathan

David composes a lament for Saul and Jonathan and orders that Judah learn it as the Song of the Bow. The song is also linked to the Book of Jashar.

T¹⁷hen David took up this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan, ¹⁸and he ordered that the sons of Judah be taught the Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar:

The lament opens with Israel’s glory lying slain on its heights and urges that the news not be told in Philistine cities. It calls down barrenness on Gilboa, where shield and king lie dishonored in death.

¹⁹“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. ²⁰Tell it not in Gath; ²¹O mountains of Gilboa,

The song remembers the weapons of Jonathan and Saul as unturned from battle and praises both men as swift, strong, and joined in life and death. It then calls Israel’s daughters to weep for Saul, who clothed them in splendor.

²²From the blood of the slain, ²³Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life, ²⁴O daughters of Israel,

The lament returns to the fallen mighty and lingers over Jonathan with direct personal grief. David names Jonathan as his brother, cherishes his love, and closes with the fall of the mighty and the loss of the weapons of war.

²⁵How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! ²⁶I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. ²⁷How the mighty have fallen,

Section summaryDavid takes up a lament for Saul and Jonathan and has it taught in Judah as a song of remembrance. The poem mourns Israel’s fallen glory, asks that the shame not be heard among enemies, praises Saul and Jonathan in battle, and ends in David’s personal grief for Jonathan.

Role in the chapterThis section gives public shape to grief after the report and judgment. It preserves Saul and Jonathan in memory through song, so the chapter closes in lament rather than accusation or succession.