2 Samuel 1: 1 – 27
Dealing with a weasel
1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag, 2 on the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. So, it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.3 And David said to him, “Where have you come from?” So he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” 4 Then David said to him, “How did the matter go? Please tell me.” And he answered, “The people have fled from the battle, many of the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.” 5 So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?” 6 Then the young man who told him said, “As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear; and indeed the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. 7 Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ So, I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 9 He said to me again, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, for anguish has come upon me, but my life still remains in me.’ 10 So I stood over him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.” 11 Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 13 Then David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?” And he answered, “I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.” 14 So David said to him, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go near, and execute him!” And he struck him so that he died. 16 So David said to him, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD’s anointed.’ ” 17 Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, 18 and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher: 19 “The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! 20 Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon— Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. 21 “O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain upon you, Nor fields of offerings. For the shield of the mighty is cast away there! 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 did not turn back, And the sword of Saul did not return empty. 23 “Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions. 24 “O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury; who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. 25 “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan was slain in your high places. 26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, Surpassing the love of women. 27 “How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!”
After reading this chapter a few times over I have this incredible urge to name this chapter ‘Dealing with a weasel.’
When you compare someone to a ‘Weasel' you have many possibilities to consider.
When you call a person a weasel you are suggesting the person may be able to say one thing and do another; they are untrustworthy, in other words a weasel is deceitful, false, two-faced, underhanded, calculating, cunning and a crooked person.
Weasel personalities are closely related to badgers and skunks and are suave and disarmingly charming. With their quick minds and lithe physiques, they might appear to be promising companions, but are notorious for the scheming streak that underscores their personalities.
Their behavior is motivated by the fact that they are one of the world's smallest carnivores, and while lions and wolves may be able to afford a direct approach in acquiring resources the smaller personality of the weasel requires more devious tactics. Its survival strategy is based on the manipulation of others and it uses charm as its chief weapon.
Weasels lack the emotional and spiritual maturity found in the larger carnivores. They are masters of chaos and their above average intelligence allows them to think quite well on their feet. Weasels are attracted to unorthodox environments. Their quick minds can take advantage of rapidly changing situations and they'll always emerge with more than their fair share of the booty. The weasel is a relentless killer. Sometimes weasels will follow larger Predators, wait for them to make the kill, then scurry off with a piece of the prey.
Weasels will disguise their intelligence if they believe it to be in their best interest. Natural liars, their earnest persuasions make it difficult to discern their true motives. They have no internal moral struggle with their behavior, since they believe that the end justifies the means.
Weasels have an uncanny knack of sensing weakness in others and they'll often team up with more successful animal personalities, gaining their trust and then milking them for all they're worth. These relationships are completely one sided. Taking what they need, they soon scuttle off to prey on their next victim.
It says in our bibles this fact in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse 33, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” We read in the last chapter of the book of 1 Samuel chapter 31 about the deaths of Saul and Johnathan.
31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. 3 The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and [b]abuse me.” But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore, Saul took a sword and fell on it. 5 And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him. 6 So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.”
Now I want you to remember these words for in today’s scriptures it seems like we have two different stories. So, up front I am going to tell you that chapter 31 of 1 Samuel is the correct version. What we will read today is a version of a weasel. Please make note as we go through this chapter that the person who came to David was an Amalekite. This fact was pointed out a few times.
The Amalekites did not join in with the Philistines in the battle with the Israelites. If you remember just a couple of chapters past these weasels snuck in and kidnapped the women and children of Ziklag, David’s city. In addition, The Amalekites were cursed by God for utter extinction.
We read in chapter 31 that Saul fell on his sword and died. We will see after David questions the weasel that the young man said that Saul fell on his spear. It is kind of hard to fall on a spear but not that difficult to fall on your sword.
In my opinion the Amalekite came upon the dead and noticed Saul and Jonathan’s crowns of leadership so he thought he could get a nice reward for bringing them to David. His problem was that David was in the business of exterminating vermin.
The result was that David saw through the man and had him slain for treachery and deceit, and because he had demonstrated his ungodliness in claiming to have committed sacrilege by slaying Yahweh’s anointed. He saw him as having sullied the name of Yahweh as the Amalekites had always done from the first, and therefore as deserving the same fate.
1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag,
In preparing for the bad news about the death of Saul and the defeat of Israel our Precious Holy Spirit first draws attention to the triumph of David over the hosts of the Amalekites, and the fact that he had entered into rest as a result. He was relaxing in Ziklag. Like the success of the men of Jabesh-gilead it was an indication that Yahweh was still active and working on behalf of His people even while the heart of Israel was being torn out. While Saul was fighting the Philistines and had consequently perished because of his sin regarding the Amalekites way back in our Holy Father’s command to destroy this culture, David was active through the living God, and had gloriously triumphed over the Amalekites. He was walking in the will of God and preparing for the time when he would establish Israel securely in Yahweh’s inheritance.
This reference to the Amalekites can also be preparation for the arrival of the Amalekite in what follows.
2 on the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. So, it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.
For two days David and his men had been able to relax and enjoy the fruits of victory, but now on the third day something disturbing happened. A man arrived from the camp of Saul over sixty miles away, with his clothes ritually torn and with earth on his head. Both these were symbols of mourning and catastrophe. He clearly brought bad news. And when he was brought before David he fell to the earth and did obeisance. He gave the appearance of a man genuinely distressed. But inwardly he was not so, for he had come hoping for reward and was simply desirous of benefiting by Saul’s death.
3 And David said to him, “Where have you come from?” So, he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”
David then questioned him as to where he had come from, and the man indicated that he had escaped from the camp of Israel. That very description was enough to indicate that he was the bearer of bad news.
4 Then David said to him, “How did the matter go? Please tell me.” And he answered, “The people have fled from the battle, many of the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.”
David then asked how the battle had gone and learned that the men of Israel had fled from the battle and that the king and his heir, Saul and Jonathan, were dead.
5 So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?”
David was a wise man and had learned to check out various stories because had turned out to be untrue, and so he pressed the man further. How did he know that Saul and Jonathan were dead?
6 Then the young man who told him said, “As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear; and indeed, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.
So, the young man, changed the story a little. We know from 31.3 that Saul had been beset by the Philistine archers who had wounded him severely, but the young man wanted the credit for his death and said nothing about that. Instead he invented a tale about his being fighting near the king and his son and like a faithful soldier also being attacked by chariots and horsemen, noticed Saul attempt suicide by leaning on his spear in exhaustion because of fear of capture. It never seems to have struck him that David would be sure that in such a situation Saul’s bodyguard would be gathered around him, not leaving him deserted on the battlefield, even if they would not kill him.
7 Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ So, I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’
He then explained how Saul had spotted him during the battle and had asked who he was, to which he had replied that he was an Amalekite. He was innocently unaware by this that he was betraying his whole deceit to David who knew Saul as well as he knew himself, for David would know that the last thing that Saul would do was request death at the hands of an Amalekite. An Amalekite would, of course, never dream that it was anything but a privilege, but no Israelite would have seen it in that way. They would have considered it as being as bad if not worse than being slain by a Philistine, for to them the Amalekites were an accursed race.
9 He said to me again, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, for anguish has come upon me, but my life still remains in me.’
The young man then got himself into deeper trouble, for he claimed that Saul had asked for death because of his anguish, and because, while he was wounded, he was not yet dead. But David knew from experience Saul’s courage and grit, and that he would never have given up in this way while his men needed him. He knew that he would have fought bravely to the end. He would have seen it very differently had he been told the true story, for he would have known that the one thing that might have made Saul seek death was the desire to preserve the honor of Yahweh by at the last moment avoiding death at the hand of the Philistines, but he would also know that he would have done it at the hands of a trusted Israelite, so that no ‘foreigner’ could slay the anointed of Yahweh. Thus, David would have seen the holes in the young man’s story.
10 So I stood over him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.”
The young man then explained that he had done what Saul had ordered him and had slain him because he knew that he was mortally wounded, thus compounding his error and deceit. To David his whole story would not have rung true.
The young man then produced Saul’s crown and bracelet, and informed David that he had brought them to him. His intention was clearly that David himself would take the crown and wear it. He was basically offering David the kingship of Israel.
His intention in all this was to receive honor and reward for himself, but what he overlooked was that he was giving himself away, for while he himself thought like an Amalekite, David thought like an Israelite. The question would also immediately have arisen in David’s mind as to why the Amalekite had not at least done something to preserve the honor of the anointed of Yahweh. Instead he had clearly been so keen to seize the symbols of royalty that he had given no thought either to helping Saul to escape, or to taking his body from the battlefield so that it would not be defiled by the ‘uncircumcised Philistines’. He was revealing that instead of being loyal and playing his full part in the battle, and honoring the dead king of Israel, he had thought only in terms of his own benefit and had failed in his solemn duty. That would not be something that David could easily forgive. The man was a renegade, a deserter – a weasel.
11 Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
The crown and bracelet were sufficient evidence that Saul was dead, for David knew that he would never have relinquished them while he was still alive. The result was that he and his men went into instant mourning. At the dreadful news that they had heard they ritually tore their clothes as an indication of deep distress, and they began to weep loudly, which was the custom in Israel on receiving news of the death of one who was ‘near and dear’. They also fasted until the evening, a further indication of respect and mourning for the dead. And it was not only for Saul. It was also mourning for the whole of Israel, and especially for their dead in battle, for it was for ‘Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Yahweh, and for the house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword.’ Jonathan is presumably mentioned as the heir apparent, as well as because he was David’s particular friend.
What follows appears to be in the form of a judicial enquiry, for in it David formally requests information that he already knows, and the Amalekite gives a reply. The Amalekite clearly stuck to his story that it was he who had slain Saul. And although he probably did not realize it he was signing his own death warrant.
13 Then David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?” And he answered, “I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.”
Having been brought again before David, he was now being called on officially to identify himself again. He was probably quite unaware of the seriousness of his position, and no doubt was even hoping for a reward.
14 So David said to him, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”
The enquiry being concluded David now prepared to pronounce sentence. He asked him how it was that he had not been afraid to lift his hand against Yahweh’s anointed. The man was being judged on his own words. He could have no complaint.
We know already how unwilling a true worshipper of Yahweh would have been to slay someone who was ‘Yahweh’s anointed’ and thus wholly sanctified to Yahweh even if you were an illegal alien. David had constantly been unwilling to do it even when he was being hounded by Saul with a view to his death. To claim to have done such a thing was therefore seen as gross sacrilege.
15 Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go near, and execute him!” And he struck him so that he died.
David then called on one of his young men to carry out the sentence by ordering a young soldier to kill the Amalekite.
16 So David said to him, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD’s anointed.’ ”
David then pronounced as the Amalekite was dying the official verdict which cleared the enquiry of all guilt in the matter. The man’s blood was on his own head because he had admitted to slaying Yahweh’s anointed. There was a certain irony in that Saul had been found guilty by Yahweh because he had refused to slay an Amalekite king who had been ‘devoted’ to Yahweh under The Curse, and now an Amalekite was being found guilty because he claimed to have slain an anointed king of Israel.
In this lamentation the writer crowns the life of Saul and leads on into the life of David. As far as the whole book is concerned Saul was an unfortunate but necessary interlude between the lives of two successful Yahweh inspired leaders, Samuel, with whom the book began, and David, who throughout the life of Saul has been trained up and prepared for this moment. This lamentation, in which David reveals how highly he valued both Saul and Jonathan, aptly closes off the life of Saul in readiness for David’s triumph. Except to the cynically minded there is really no doubt that David truly admired Saul and saw him as a great king and war-leader despite his faults, an assessment which is clearly reflected in the background to the narratives, narratives which have themselves tended to focus in on Saul’s failures through unbelief.
Furthermore, humanly speaking David would never have been the king he was (despite his failures) without Saul. It was Saul who introduced him to court life. It was Saul who made him a company commander, and at first encouraged and nurtured his military prowess. It was Saul who then constantly persecuted him and hunted him down and threw him in God. And it was those experiences, together with his time as a shepherd, and as a petty king at Ziklag, that honed him for kingship, and firmly established his faith and trust in Yahweh.
17 Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son,
The composing of a lamentation over a dead ‘hero’ was a regular practice of those days, for what happened at the time of death was important and it ensured in a small way the ‘survival’ of those spoken of. Through the lamentation they lived on in the memory. It would thus be natural for David, ‘the sweet Psalmist of Israel’ (2 Samuel 23.1), to compose such a lamentation.
18 and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher:
It is clear from this that the lamentation was included in the Book of Jashar (literally ‘the book of the upright one’, Joshua 10.13) under the title of ‘The Bow’. This was a regularly maintained book containing tributes to famous heroes of Israel, in a similar way to that in which cities kept a special roll of those who had brought most honor to their city. That this lamentation was given the title of ‘The Bow’ was possibly partly because it was the title already given to it by David in honor of Jonathan the bowman (verse 22), and partly because to the Benjaminite’s, who were skilled bowmen, (and were the tribe from which Saul and Jonathan came), the bow represented the highest form of weaponry (1 Chronicles 12.2). It was thus a title of martial honor.
19 “The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!
In a moving opening tribute David describes Saul and Jonathan as ‘the glory’ of Israel. They were the ones to whom the nation had looked and who had striven to maintain its glory, security and independence, and they had maintained that position honorably. But now ‘the glory of Israel’ was no more. It was slain on the heights of Israel, the mountains of Gilboa. Those who had once been mighty had fallen, and how they had fallen! It is being made clear that it was a national tragedy.
20 Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon— Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
David was now concerned lest the streets of the Philistine cities be filled with rejoicing women (in contrast with the lamenting women of Israel in verse 24), for it was then the custom for the women to unite to celebrate the victories of their nation by singing and dancing. Thus, he calls for a blanket on the news and the silencing of the criers in the streets of Gath and Ashkelon, the former the Philistine city with which he was most familiar, and the latter closely associated with it on the coast, possibly also as the city to which Saul’s armor had been taken, for it contained a famous Temple of Ashtoreth. The thought of ‘the daughters of the uncircumcised’ celebrating the death of the anointed of Yahweh filled David with abhorrence. He saw it as an act of religious defilement.
21 “O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain upon you, nor fields of offerings. For the shield of the mighty is cast away there! The shield of Saul not anointed with oil.
He next calls on the mountains of Gilboa to bear the brunt of Yahweh’s displeasure at what had happened. They had been the scene of the disaster, and had received the blood, and the cast-off weapons, of the heroes. Let them therefore from henceforth not receive rain or dew from the heavens (the absence of which was a sign of God’s displeasure) and let them no longer enjoy the fruitfulness that would result in offerings to Yahweh. Let them rather be places of perpetual mourning. For this was the place where the shields of Saul and Jonathan had been soiled with their blood at the height of battle, and unanointed because they were dead (it was a regular practice to oil shields after a battle, to remove the grime of battle and preserve the material- in most cases the shield would be covered in animal hides). How then could such ‘guilty’ soil, produce anything that could be pleasing to The Great and Holy Yahweh?
22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, And the sword of Saul did not return empty.
In Memorial Services we are familiar with an Eulogy which means to say nice things about the deceased person. David now recounts the glory of Saul and Jonathan. They had never returned from battle with their weaponry unused. Rather they would be covered with the blood of those whom they had slain, and with the flesh of the mighty warriors that they had defeated. They never turned back until it was so. They never came back ‘empty’. The description is simply intended to indicate what mighty and intrepid warriors they were.
23 “Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, and in their death, they were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions.
The thought now turns back to the deaths of the two heroes, paralleling verse 21. They had lived lovely and pleasant lives, and as in life, so in death, they were in full accord and not separated. They, as it were, died together in full harmony. The eulogy then continues. They could be compared with advantage to the most voracious of hunters, the swift eagle and the powerful lion, for they were ‘swifter than eagles, stronger than lions’. The speed of an eagle’s strike was renowned, and the lion was the most ferocious of beasts, but as hunters (of men) Saul and Jonathan outdid them both.
24 “O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury; who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
In contrast with the rejoicing daughters of the Philistines in verse 20 David calls on the daughters of Israel to weep over the loss of Saul, reminding them that it was due to his prowess and victories that they had been able to clothe themselves in finery, and be ornamented with gold. It was only the victors who could afford such things for all. They had much to be grateful to Saul for.
25 “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan was slain in your high places. 26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, surpassing the love of women. 27 “How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!”
David then closes his song with the same thought with which he had begun, the fall of the mighty (verses 25 and 27). He had previously singled out Saul to receive the lamentations of the daughters of Israel, now he singles out Jonathan to receive his own lamentations. Previously it was ‘the glory of Israel’ who had been slain on the high places (verse 19), now it was specifically Jonathan. And David then goes on to emphasize his own personal distress over Jonathan’s death. It slightly disturbs the balance of the poem, but it adequately expresses his own personal grief distress. For the death of his beloved comrade-in-arms had distressed him greatly, and he remembered what a good friend Jonathan had been to him, and especially the love that Jonathan had had for him, that noble love that exceeds that of a woman because it is pure and wholly altruistic. Jonathan had had absolutely nothing to gain by it. It had been freely given.
The lamentation then closes with a repetition of the thought of the fall of the mighty already spoken of in verse 25, and it is paralleled with the idea of their weapons of war being destroyed because there is no further use for them. Those who would have used them have gone. Alternately we might see ‘the weapons of war’ as indicating Saul and Jonathan. The two ideas in fact go together. The whole poem is magnificent, and exalts Saul and Jonathan, as king and crown prince, to the heights. None could now doubt their glory and splendor, and the dreadfulness of what their deaths meant for Israel.
