Introduction for 2 Samuel:
2 Samuel is continuation of 1 Samuel (probably 1 and 2 Samuel were originally one book) and as 1 Samuel is about prophet Samuel who anointed Saul and David as kings and their struggle, 2 Samuel deals with David as a representative of the ideal shepherd king, though he had many human weaknesses. David initially established kingdom at Hebron by the tribe of Judah (Chap 1-4), subsequently was accepted by the whole Israel after the murder of Ish-Bosheth, one of Saul’s surviving sons (5:1-15), and established the united kingdom. David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14), and his kingship pleased God. He laid the solid foundation of his kingdom; he captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites and made it his royal city (5:6-14). Shortly afterward, he brought the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem, publicly celebrated the Lord’s kingship and rule over himself and the nation (Ch. 6). Under David’s rule the Lord caused the nation to prosper, to defeat its enemies and, in fulfillment of his promise (Ge 15:18), to extend its border from Egypt to the Euphrates (Ch. 8).
Ch. 7 culminates with the Lord’s promise that this Davidic dynasty would endure forever. This chapter also describes the establishment of the Davidic covenant, a covenant that promised ultimate victory over Satan through the offspring of Eve (Ge 3:15). This promise - which had come to be focused on Shem and his descendants (Ge 9:26-27), then on Abraham and his descendants (Ge 12:2-3, 13:16, 15:5), and then on Judah and his descendants (Ge 49:8-11) - now focused specifically on the royal family of David. Later the prophets make clear that a descendant of David who sits on David’s throne will perfectly fulfill the role of messiah. He will complete the redemption of God’s people (Isa 9:6-7, 11:1-6, Jer 23:5-6, 30:8-9), thus enabling them to achieve the promised victory with him (Ro 16:20).
Ch 10-20 also depicts the darker side of his reign and describes David’s weaknesses and failure and their results. The book ends with David’s own words of praise to God, who had delivered him from all his enemies, with words of expectation for the fulfillment of God’s promise that a king will come from the house of David and rule ‘over men in righteousness’.
How the mighty have fallen!
2 Samuel 1:1-27
Key Verse: 19
“A gazelle lies slain on your heights, Israel. How the mighty have fallen!”
This first chapter deals with David who mourns Saul and his sons. Even though Saul pursued for David and wanted to kill him to the end, David mourned sincerely over Saul and his son Jonathan’s tragic death and made a deeply moving lament song.
1. Read 1:1-10. Where is David after the death of Saul? (1) Who comes to tell David what happened to Saul? (2, 3,8) What happened in the battle according to his account? (4) What does the man say about Saul and Jonathan’s fate? (5,6) What does he say about the final moments of Saul’s life? (7-10)
Read 1:1-10.
After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days. 2 On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor. 3 “Where have you come from?” David asked him. He answered, “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.” 4 “What happened?” David asked. “Tell me.” “The men fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.” 5 Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” 6 “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” the young man said, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and their drivers in hot pursuit. 7 When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, ‘What can I do?’
8 “He asked me, ‘Who are you?’“‘An Amalekite,’ I answered.9 “Then he said to me, ‘Stand here by me and kill me! I’m in the throes of death, but I’m still alive.’ 10 “So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.”
Where is David after the death of Saul? (1)
After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.
Who comes to tell David what happened to Saul? (2, 3, 8)
An Amalekite man from Saul’s camp came to David and told what happened to Saul and testified Saul’s last moment.
What happened in the battle according to his account? (4)
4 “What happened?” David asked. “Tell me.” “The men fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”
What does the man say about Saul and Jonathan’s fate? (5, 6)
5 Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” 6 “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” the young man said, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and their drivers in hot pursuit.
What does he say about the final moments of Saul’s life? (7-10)
When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, ‘What can I do?’ 8 “He asked me, ‘Who are you?’“‘An Amalekite,’ I answered.9 “Then he said to me, ‘Stand here by me and kill me! I’m in the throes of death, but I’m still alive.’ 10 “So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.”
He was mortally wounded and he asked the Amalekite man to kill him, so this man killed him knowing that he could not survive for long.
2. Read 1:11-16. How do David and his men respond to the news that was brought to them? (11-12) How does David deal with the young man who brought the report of Saul’s death? (13-15) Why does David say that he deserves death? (16)
2-1) Read 1:11-16.
11 Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. 12 They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 13 David said to the young man who brought him the report, “Where are you from?” “I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite,” he answered. 14 David asked him, “Why weren’t you afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of his men and said, “Go, strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died. 16 For David had said to him, “Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”
2-2) How do David and his men respond to the news that was brought to them? (11-12)
11 Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. 12 They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
Though Saul and his army were their personal enemy, David and his men deeply mourned and wept and fasted for Saul, his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord because they were utterly defeated by the Philistine.
2-3) How does David deal with the young man who brought the report of Saul’s death? (13-15)
13 David said to the young man who brought him the report, “Where are you from?” “I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite,” he answered. 14 David asked him, “Why weren’t you afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of his men and said, “Go, strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died.
He ordered his men to kill him.
2-4) Why does David say that he deserves death? (16)
16 For David had said to him, “Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”
Although he did Saul as a mercy killing, he could not avoid his punishment because he testified against himself saying I killed the Lord’s anointed. It seems that only God, not any man, can take the Lord’s anointed, and participating in even mercy killing is not without punishment.
Mercy killing is against God’s will and a sin against God.
3. Read 1:17-27. What does David do concerning Saul and his son Jonathan’s death? (17, 18) What is the theme of David’s lament? (19b, 25a, 27a) What do we learn from David mourning after the deaths of Saul and Jonathan? (19-27)
3-1) Read 1:17-27.
17 David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, 18 and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar): 19 “A gazelle[HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20samuel%201&version=NIV" \l "fen-NIV-8042a" \o "See footnote a"a] lies slain on your heights, Israel. 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 be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.21 “Mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain,
may no showers fall on your terraced fields.[HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20samuel%201&version=NIV" \l "fen-NIV-8044b" \o "See footnote b"b] For there the shield of the mighty was despised, the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil. 22 “From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied. 23 Saul and Jonathan—in life they were loved and admired, and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. 24 “Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and finery, who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.25 “How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
26 I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me.
Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.27 “How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!”
3-2) What does David do concerning Saul and his son Jonathan’s death? (17, 18)
17 David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, 18 and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):
He wrote the lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan’s death and ordered the people of Judah to learn his lament of bow.
3-3) What is the theme of David’s lament? (19b, 25a, 27a)
How the mighty have fallen! (19b, 25a, 27a).
He mourns the heroes and the mighty men (Saul and Jonathan) from Israel who have fallen in the battle against the Philistine.
3-4) What do we learn from David mourning after the deaths of Saul and Jonathan? (19-27)
We can see David’s big heart as a leader and a shepherd king mourning for Saul and Jonathan’s death. During his life, Saul was the persistent enemy of David who gave him lots of trouble, but David sincerely mourned for his death and praised his valor and exploits. He also mourned for his dear friend, Jonathan’s death, and his valor.
In conclusion, David received the news of Saul and his sons’ death and utter defeat of the Israelites. Humanly speaking, it was a great news removing his enemy by the hand of Philistine. But he deeply mourned for Saul and his sons’ death and made the lament. He showed his deep respect for Saul, the king of Israel, whom the Lord anointed and praised his heroism and valor.
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