| 2-Samuel-1 The Second Book of Samuel continues with the account of the after-effect of the Death of Saul. In the last chapter (31) of the 1-Samuel we saw how: Saul was surrounded by Philistine archers who fired their missiles and severely wounded him (1-Samuel 31:3). Saul then requested that his armour-bearer use his sword to finish him off lest the Philistines take him alive and abuse him. The armor-bearer refused so Saul took his sword and fell on it. When jhis armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead he too killed himself (1-Samuel 31:5). When the Israelites saw that Saul was dead they fled from the field of battle (1-Samuel 31:7). The present chapter relates how an Amalekite inn the service of Israel came to David and claimed that he was the one who had killed Saul and that Saul being mortally wounded had requested him to do so. The Commentators take different approaches to this incident. Amongst the various possibilities are the following: a. Saul was first mortally wounded by the archers and after that did fall upon his sword and further ensure his close demise. His armor-bearer considered him dead and killed himself. This however was not enough to finish Saul (who was quite a warrior) and he revived when the Amalekite found him and killed him as requested. OR b. The Amalekite came across the dead body of Saul shortly after his death and took his crown and bracelet (2-Samuel 1:10). He then came to David with a made-up story that he had finished Saul off, hoping for recompense. [2-Samuel 1:1] NOW IT CAME TO PASS AFTER THE DEATH OF SAUL, WHEN DAVID WAS RETURNED FROM THE SLAUGHTER OF THE AMALEKITES, AND DAVID HAD ABODE TWO DAYS IN ZIKLAG; Ziklag was the home-base of David and his men whilst they were in the service of the Philistines (1-Samuel 27:6). <<THE SLAUGHTER OF THE AMALEKITES>>: The Hebrew has "MeHaCoT ET AMalek" literally saying "from striking The AMALEKITE" in the singular as if to emphasize the immediate confrontation David would have with the single Amalekite in this section. David had returned from striking the Amalekites who had taken his women and the families of his followers into captivity. David pursued after them and caught up to them with the help of a sick Egyptian servant they had abandoned to die as "worthless" in the Wilderness. The encounters with Amalekites had not ended. David had just returned when another Amalekite came to him claiming to have killed the reigning monarch of the Hebrew nation. The Amalekities represent an outlook on life which was opposed to the beliefs of David King of Israel. [2-Samuel 1:2] IT CAME EVEN TO PASS ON THE THIRD DAY, THAT, BEHOLD, A MAN CAME OUT OF THE CAMP FROM SAUL WITH HIS CLOTHES RENT, AND EARTH UPON HIS HEAD: AND SO IT WAS, WHEN HE CAME TO DAVID, THAT HE FELL TO THE EARTH, AND DID OBEISANCE. <<THE THIRD DAY>>: Shimeon Ben-Ephrat points out that the day of the victory over the Amalekites was the same day when Saul was defeated. [2-Samuel 1:3] AND DAVID SAID UNTO HIM, FROM WHENCE COMEST THOU? AND HE SAID UNTO HIM, OUT OF THE CAMP OF ISRAEL AM I ESCAPED. [2-Samuel 1:4] AND DAVID SAID UNTO HIM, HOW WENT THE MATTER? I PRAY THEE, TELL ME. AND HE ANSWERED, THAT THE PEOPLE ARE FLED FROM THE BATTLE, AND MANY OF THE PEOPLE ALSO ARE FALLEN AND DEAD; AND SAUL AND JONATHAN HIS SON ARE DEAD ALSO. [2-Samuel 1:5] AND DAVID SAID UNTO THE YOUNG MAN THAT TOLD HIM, HOW KNOWEST THOU THAT SAUL AND JONATHAN HIS SON BE DEAD? [2-Samuel 1:6] AND THE YOUNG MAN THAT TOLD HIM SAID, AS I HAPPENED BY CHANCE UPON MOUNT GILBOA, BEHOLD, SAUL LEANED UPON HIS SPEAR; AND, LO, THE CHARIOTS AND HORSEMEN FOLLOWED HARD AFTER HIM. [2-Samuel 1:7] AND WHEN HE LOOKED BEHIND HIM, HE SAW ME, AND CALLED UNTO ME. AND I ANSWERED, HERE AM I. [2-Samuel 1:8] AND HE SAID UNTO ME, WHO ART THOU? AND I ANSWERED HIM, I AM AN AMALEKITE. One of the reasons why Saul lost the kingship was because he had failed to obey the voice of the Almighty and wipe out all the Amalekites. There may be significance in the fact that the one who would put the finishing touch to Saul (or claim the "credit" for doing so) was of Amalekite stock. [2-Samuel 1:9] HE SAID UNTO ME AGAIN, STAND, I PRAY THEE, UPON ME, AND SLAY ME: FOR ANGUISH IS COME UPON ME, BECAUSE MY LIFE IS YET WHOLE IN ME. <<ANGUISH>>: Hebrew "Shabetz" usually understood to mean "death throes". The Amalekite describes his killing of Saul as a kind of "mercy killing" to save Saul from further suffering. [2-Samuel 1:10] SO I STOOD UPON HIM, AND SLEW HIM, BECAUSE I WAS SURE THAT HE COULD NOT LIVE AFTER THAT HE WAS FALLEN: AND I TOOK THE CROWN THAT WAS UPON HIS HEAD, AND THE BRACELET THAT WAS ON HIS ARM, AND HAVE BROUGHT THEM HITHER UNTO MY LORD. [2-Samuel 1:11] THEN DAVID TOOK HOLD ON HIS CLOTHES, AND RENT THEM; AND LIKEWISE ALL THE MEN THAT WERE WITH HIM: [2-Samuel 1:1 AND THEY MOURNED, AND WEPT, AND FASTED UNTIL EVEN, FOR SAUL, AND FOR JONATHAN HIS SON, AND FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE LORD, AND FOR THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL; BECAUSE THEY WERE FALLEN BY THE SWORD. [2-Samuel 1:13] AND DAVID SAID UNTO THE YOUNG MAN THAT TOLD HIM, WHENCE ART THOU? AND HE ANSWERED, I AM THE SON OF A STRANGER, AN AMALEKITE. [2-Samuel 1:14] AND DAVID SAID UNTO HIM, HOW WAST THOU NOT AFRAID TO STRETCH FORTH THINE HAND TO DESTROY THE LORD'S ANOINTED? [2-Samuel 1:15] AND DAVID CALLED ONE OF THE YOUNG MEN, AND SAID, GO NEAR, AND FALL UPON HIM. AND HE SMOTE HIM THAT HE DIED. <<YOUNG MEN>>; Hebrew "Naarim" (plural) from "Naar" in the singular and can mean "young man" though it also connotes "junior" or "subordinate" rather than expressly "young". Joshua was also referred to as a Naar" even though he was about eighty years old at the time (BUT HIS SERVANT JOSHUA, THE SON OF NUN, A YOUNG MAN Exodus 33:11) . Whether or not the Amalekite was telling the truth he had represented his case as the justifiable killing of the king. There was a principle at stake so David had him executed on the spot. [2-Samuel 1:16] AND DAVID SAID UNTO HIM, THY BLOOD BE UPON THY HEAD; FOR THY MOUTH HATH TESTIFIED AGAINST THEE, SAYING, I HAVE SLAIN THE LORD'S ANOINTED. [2-Samuel 1:17] AND DAVID LAMENTED WITH THIS LAMENTATION OVER SAUL AND OVER JONATHAN HIS SON: [2-Samuel 1:18] (ALSO HE BADE THEM TEACH THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH THE USE OF THE BOW: BEHOLD, IT IS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF JASHER. <<BOOK OF JASHER>>: "Jasher" in Hebrew can connote "Upright" or "Uprighteousness". The name is explained to mean "Book of the Upright" according to the major opinion of the Sages (e.g. Talmud, Avodah Zarah 25;a Yerushalmi-Sotah 1:10) is another name for the Book of Genesis. Another opinion says it is the Book of Deuteronomy. Both opinions refer to the blessings to Judah in which the use of both hands is mentioned in overcoming the enemy: <<JUDAH, THOU ART HE WHOM THY BRETHREN SHALL PRAISE: THY HAND SHALL BE IN THE NECK OF THINE ENEMIES; THY FATHER'S CHILDREN SHALL BOW DOWN BEFORE THEE [Genesis 49:8]. <<AND THIS IS THE BLESSING OF JUDAH: AND HE SAID, HEAR, LORD, THE VOICE OF JUDAH, AND BRING HIM UNTO HIS PEOPLE: LET HIS HANDS BE SUFFICIENT FOR HIM; AND BE THOU AN HELP TO HIM FROM HIS ENEMIES [Deuteronomy 33:7]. In both verses Judah is versed with success over his enemies through the use of his hands: "THY HAND SHALL BE IN THE NECK OF THINE ENEMIES" (Genesis 49:8): Here the Sages interpreted (according to the abilities of the Hebrew language) the word "IN THE NECK" to refer to the neck of Judah as well as that of his enemy, i.e. someone who draws a bow raises his hand to the level of his neck. "LET HIS HANDS BE SUFFICIENT FOR HIM" (Deuteronomy 33:7): Here the drawing of the bow requires the almost use of both hands at one and the same time. The inference is that Saul understand from the Bible that Judah would have an innate proclivity for archery and therefore he trained the Warriors of Judah in this direction. Elsewhere we have pointed out that each Tribe had its own military speciality or a few specialized tasks in warfare of its own for which the Tribe was especially talented. In British history the use of the longbow was very important. The English received it from the Welsh and more often than not English victories in the Middle Ages were due to the presence of Welsh bowmen in the English ranks. WordNet http://www.answers.com/topic/longbow Extracts Wikipedia longbow <<The longbow (or English longbow, or Welsh longbow, see below) was a type of bow about 2.0 m (6 ft 6 in) long used in the Middle Ages both for hunting and as a weapon of war. It reached its zenith of perfection as a weapon in the hands of English and Welsh archers. Description <<The Royal Antiquaries Society of Great Britain says it is of 5 or 6 feet (1.5 or 1.83 m) in length. <<The range of the medieval weapon is unknown, with estimates from 165 to 228 m (180 to 249 yds). <<Modern longbows have a useful range up to 180 m (200 yd). <<A longbowman could shoot up to 12 arrows a minute, "The longbow was the machine gun of the Middle Ages: accurate, deadly, possessed of a long-range and rapid rate of fire, the flight of its missiles was liken to a storm." This rate of fire was much higher than crossbows or any other projectile weapon of the period, including firearms. <<The construction of a longbow consists of seasoning the yew wood for 1 to 2 years then slowly working the wood into shape, with the entire process taking up to 4 years. Origins <<In the British Isles the weapon was first recorded as being used by the Welsh in AD 633, when Offrid, the son of Edwin, king of Northumbria, was killed by an arrow shot from a Welsh longbow during a battle between the Welsh and the Mercians more than five centuries before any record of its military use in England. <<Weapons resembling a longbow have been discovered by archaeologists in Scandinavia dating from the Mesolithic period, made of elm wood found in the Holmegaard-bog in Denmark (although during the medieval period Scandinavians were characterized by the effective use of the shortbow). History <<During the Anglo-Norman invasions of Wales, Welsh bowmen took a heavy toll on the invaders by using this extraordinary weapon of war. The English were quick to realise the impact that the longbow could produce on the battlefield. As soon as the Welsh campaign was successfully over, Welsh conscripts began to be incorporated into the English army. The lessons the English learned in Wales were later used with deadly effect on their enemies on the battlefields of France and Scotland. <<Although longbows were much faster and more accurate than any black powder weapons, longbowmen were always difficult to produce because of the years of practice necessary before a war longbow...To train the average commoner to use a handgun required a mere fifteen minutes... Social importance <<The importance of the longbow in medieval English culture can be seen in the legends of Robin Hood who was increasingly depicted as a master archer and in the "Song of the Bow," a poem from The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. <<The longbow was the weapon of choice for rebels during the Peasants' Revolt. From the time that the yeoman class of England became proficient with the longbow, the nobility in England had to be careful not to push them into open rebellion. This was a check on power of the nobility of England which did not exist on the European continent.>> For Another interesting article on the longbow: see The Medieval English Longbow by Robert E. Kaiser, M.A. http://www.student.utwente.nl/~sagi/artikel/longbow/longbow.html For a technical description of an "Assyrian" composite bow found in Egypt see: http://www.student.utwente.nl/~sagi/artikel/ancient_composites/ The Welsh: An Anecdote One of my sons asked me why the Welsh are not noted for wishing to be independent of the English. The Welsh, like the Scottish and Irish, are of Celtic Culture. The Irish have the IRA, about the Scottish films like "Braveheart" are produced, but concerning the Welsh we hear very little other than that the English once offered them autonomy and they declined. [Incidentally "Braveheart" falsely depicted the Irish Contingent as deserting the English, something that did not happen. "Braveheart" did correctly show the Welsh as remaining loyal to England since even Mr Gibson realizes that one has to draw the line somewhere]. I replied that the Welsh for centuries managed to keep the English at bay but in the end bowed to the forces of history. Welsh legends and literature are full of dreams of achieving significance on the world scene. Wales had no ambition to be another "Switzerland". At some stage the national genius must have realized that on their own they would never achieve anything like their inner soul yearned for. Joining the English was the next best thing. The Rabbinical "Ethics of the Fathers" says: "Be thou a tail to lions rather than the head of foxes". The Welsh preferred to be at the least the tail of the British Lion rather than a non-entity on the fringes of Europe. In practice they were more than just a tail since quite a few of the greatest British leaders (beginning with Henry Tudor) were of Welsh extraction to some degree or other. "THE BOOK OF JASHER" is the title of a book written anywhere between 800-1100 CE. The book is a collection of legends and Midrashim presented as if it is the "Book of Jasher" mentioned in the Bible. It is an account of Biblical History from Adam to the Judges. <<In the 19th century, Moses Samuel of Liverpool, England, was given a copy of the Hebrew work and became convinced that the core of this work truly was the self-same Book of the Upright referenced in Hebrew scriptures. He translated it into English and 1839 sold it to Mordecai Manuel Noah, a Jewish New York publisher who published it the following year.>> Wikipedia Some Christian groups still sell it as the genuine article. There is also an opinion that "The Book of the Upright" was a kind of ancient chronicle that we have lost. BACK TO SAMUEL INDEX HOME |