HOW ARE THE MIGHTY FALLEN!
2 Samuel 1:1, 2 Samuel 1:17-27.
The first verse of the second book of Samuel follows on from the report of the death of King Saul and his three sons at the end of the previous book. They died in a battle against the Philistines in Mount Gilboa (cf. 1 Samuel 31:1-6). At this time David and his men were over one hundred miles south of there, having returned to Ziklag after pursuing and defeating the invading Amalekites, and had abode there two days already (2 SAMUEL 1:1).
On the third day, a young man brought the news of the death of Saul and Jonathan from Mount Gilboa (cf. 2 Samuel 1:2-16). David and his men ‘mourned, and wept, and fasted’ for Saul and Jonathan, and for all who had fallen with them (cf. 2 Samuel 1:12). And David, ‘the sweet Psalmist of Israel’ (cf. 2 Samuel 23:1) spoke forth an impromptu lamentation over Saul and Jonathan (2 SAMUEL 1:17).
The Hebrew of 2 SAMUEL 1:18a tells us that David bade them teach the children of Judah, literally, “the bow.” The interpreters of the King James Version suggest that this should be ‘the use of the bow’ – whereas more modern interpreters (including the New King James Version) prefer ‘the song of the bow.’ Even If we just leave the text as it stands in the Hebrew, ‘The Bow’ could certainly sound like a song title, celebrating “the bow of Jonathan” that “turned not back” (cf. 2 SAMUEL 1:22).
“Behold it is written in the book of Jasher” (2 SAMUEL 1:18b). “Jasher” means ‘Righteous,’ or ‘Upright One.’ This book has been lost to posterity, but it is also mentioned in Joshua 10:13, about the day when the sun stood still until Israel had avenged themselves on their enemies. Both these events are commemorated there, perhaps in song.
Thankfully, a copy of the lamentation is preserved here in Scripture (2 SAMUEL 1:19-27). It is a well-structured poem, with the refrain “How are the mighty fallen” occurring three times (2 SAMUEL 1:19; 2 SAMUEL 1:25; 2 SAMUEL 1:27).
2 SAMUEL 1:19. The “beauty,” or ‘glory’ of Israel is slain, like the untimely death of a ‘gazelle’ (as the word may also mean). “Upon thy high places” - there is something quite tragic in seeing a majestic animal lying dead in his natural habitat (Mount Gilboa, 1700 feet). “How are the mighty fallen!”
There are possibly two varying reactions to this great loss. So, do not tell it in the cities of the Philistines, lest their daughters rejoice (2 SAMUEL 1:20). But tell the daughters of Israel to weep over Saul (cf. 2 SAMUEL 1:24).
There is a kind of imprecation against the very ground where Saul had fallen, where his shield had been cast away as if he (or it) had not been anointed with oil (2 SAMUEL 1:21). Despite his own anointing, David had always insisted upon the validity of the anointing of Saul. But now, at last, would be manifested the transfer of power predicted by the prophet Samuel.
2 SAMUEL 1:22. Saul and Jonathan are both described as great warriors. They shed “the blood of the slain,” and pierced “the fat of the mighty” – in language reminiscent of sacrifice to the LORD. It is here that “the bow” of Jonathan “turned not back,” and “the sword” of Saul “returned not empty.”
2 SAMUEL 1:23. Saul and Jonathan are accorded equal dignity. This is all the more surprising in that Saul had so often sought David’s life, whereas Jonathan (to all intents and purposes the Crown Prince) made every effort to preserve David’s life, interceding with his father, and warning David of Saul’s impending attacks. Yet, in David’s inspired view, he sees them both as “lovely and pleasant in their lives,” and it seems quite appropriate that they were “in their death not divided.” Both were proverbially “swifter than eagles” and “stronger than lions.”
It is not for us to judge those who have passed from this scene of time, but in a eulogy we recall the deceased’s good points. Saul was not always an enemy to David, but in his better moments might have mentored the younger man. It is here that David instructs “the daughters of Israel” to “weep over Saul,” whose military prowess had at least brought some security and economic stability to Israel (2 SAMUEL 1:24).
The second occurrence of the refrain, “How are the mighty fallen” (2 SAMUEL 1:25) explains the circumstances of their deaths: “in the midst of the battle.” David now eulogises Jonathan, who was also slain in the heights of Mount Gilboa along with his father and brothers. David expressed his grief, and described Jonathan’s love as “passing the love of women” (2 SAMUEL 1:26). Significantly, in the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the word used here for ‘love’ is ‘agape’ - the same word for love as is used of God’s ‘love’ for the world in John 3:16.
With the final occurrence of the refrain, “How are the mighty fallen” (2 SAMUEL 1:27) we are left with a sense of the whole tragedy of war.
