2 Samuel 1:24

1:17-27 Kasheth, or the bow, probably was the title of this mournful, funeral song. David does not commend Saul for what he was not; and says nothing of his piety or goodness. Jonathan was a dutiful son, Saul an affectionate father, therefore dear to each other. David had reason to say, that Jonathan's love to him was wonderful. Next to the love between Christ and his people, that affection which springs form it, produces the strongest friendship. The trouble of the Lord's people, and triumphs of his enemies, will always grieve true believers, whatever advantages they may obtain by them.

Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,.... In their mournful elegies: who clothed you with scarlet, with other delights; not only with scarlet, but with other fine and delightful apparel, such as were very pleasing to the female sex, especially young people, who are delighted with gay apparel; this Saul was the means of, through the spoil he took from his enemies, and by other methods taken by him to the enriching of the nation, whereby husbands and parents were enabled to provide rich clothes for their wives and children: who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel; broidered work, jewels of gold, &c. See Isaiah 3:18.

(24) Clothed you in scarlet. —This refers to Saul’s division among the people of the spoil of his conquered foes, and to the prosperity resulting from his many successful campaigns. Notwithstanding that his light at last went out under the cloud of a crushing defeat, he had been on the whole a successful warrior. The Philistines, the Ammonites, the Amalekites, and others, had felt the power of his arm, and the relations of Israel to the surrounding nations had been wonderfully changed for the better during his reign.

2 Samuel 1:24 . Ye daughters of Jerusalem, weep over Saul — “Nothing,” says Dr. Dodd, “can be more elegant than this verse: while the warriors of Israel lamented their chiefs, the divine poet calls upon the women of the land to shed their tears over the ashes of princes, whose warlike exploits had so often procured them those ornaments which are most pleasing to the sex, and had enriched them with the spoils of their enemies.” Who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights — The word other seems to be unnecessarily supplied here by our translators, there being nothing for it in the Hebrew, which, literally rendered, is, Who clothed you in scarlet with delights; that is, in scarlet, wherewith you are so much delighted. For this seems to have been the colour in which the Israelitish women delighted.

24 . Ye daughters of Israel ] The women who had once celebrated Saul’s triumphs, and shared the spoil of his victories, are summoned to lament his loss. This incidental mention indicates how much Saul’s successful wars, so briefly alluded to in the history of his reign ( 1 Samuel 14:47 ), had enriched the nation. with other delights ] A possible rendering: but with delights perhaps rather means delicately or richly .

Verse 24. - Ye daughters of Israel. In old time, the women of Israel had celebrated Saul's triumphs (ver. 20), but now it is their sad office to bewail his death. And a touching reason is given for their sorrow. During Saul's reign the condition of the women had greatly improved. When a nation is in the miserable plight described in 1 Samuel 13:19-22 , there is neither safety nor comfort for the weak; but when the strong arm of Saul had won freedom for Israel, the women were the first to reap the benefit, and "their scarlet clothing with delights," that is, their delightful or delicate clothing of bright colours and their golden ornaments, prove that the nation had made a great advance in prosperity and culture during the happier years of Saul's reign. 2 Samuel 1:24

Ye daughters of Israel: these he mentions, partly because the women then used to make songs, both of triumph and of lamentation, as occasion required; and partly because they usually are most delighted with the ornaments of the body here following. Who clotheth you in scarlet: this he did, partly because he procured them so much peace as gave them opportunity of enriching themselves; and partly because he took these things as spoils from the enemies, and clothed his own people with them. Compare Psalm 68:12 .

24-27. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, &c.—The fondness for dress, which anciently distinguished Oriental women, is their characteristic still. It appears in their love of bright, gay, and divers colors, in profuse display of ornaments, and in various other forms. The inmost depths of the poet's feeling are stirred, and his amiable disposition appears in the strong desire to celebrate the good qualities of Saul, as well as Jonathan. But the praises of the latter form the burden of the poem, which begins and ends with that excellent prince.

In death as in life, the two heroes were not divided, for they were alike in bravery and courage. Notwithstanding their difference of character, and the very opposite attitude which they assumed towards David, the noble Jonathan did not forsake his father, although his fierce hatred towards the friend whom Jonathan loved as his own soul might have undermined his attachment to his father. The two predicates, נאהב, loved and amiable, and נעים, affectionate or kind, apply chiefly to Jonathan; but they were also suitable to Saul in the earliest years of his reign, when he manifested the virtues of an able ruler, which secured for him the lasting affection and attachment of the people. In his mourning over the death of the fallen hero, David forgets all the injury that Saul has inflicted upon him, so that he only brings out and celebrates the more amiable aspects of his character. The light motion or swiftness of an eagle (cf. Habakkuk 1:8 ), and the strength of a lion (vid., 2 Samuel 17:10 ), were the leading characteristics of the great heroes of antiquity. - Lastly, in 2 Samuel 1:24 , David commemorates the rich booty which Saul had brought to the nation, for the purpose of celebrating his heroic greatness in this respect as well. שׁני was the scarlet purple (see at Exodus 25:4 ). "With delights," or with lovelinesses, i.e., in a lovely manner.