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II Samuel

In the books of I and II Samuel, we see the narrative of the action in the life of David. Many of the Psalms should be studied at the same time, because they tell us what the people were thinking while the action occurred. The Psalms are often songs of happiness or sorrow.

The prophet Samuel wrote these books up to the time of his death. From that point on, either Nathan or Gad completed the books - all under the guidance of God the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 1

{David hears of the death of Saul and Jonathan}
1-2~~Now it came to pass { 'achar - used for a new subject}
after the death of Saul
  {this subject line will not stop - the story of David will continue},
that David had returned from the annihilation of the Amalekites
  {this was the sign of the promotion of David to SuperGrace Status -
  this victory was how God was able to make David very very
  wealth - wealth is NOT the only sign of SuperGrace blessing, it is
  just one that God can give to a person who has the capacity to
  enjoy the wealth}.

And David 'was relaxing'/
'had dwelled in relaxation' {yashab - David's R&R}
two days in Ziklag.

{Note: This verse tells us that while Saul was in battle (I Samuel 30) David was having some time off (an R & R). Both the story of Saul and David are being covered in this section of the Bible. This will now bring the two stories together. This is typical Jewish manner in narrative of bringing two events together.}

{Another Amalekite Test for David}
2~~Now It came even to pass on the third day
  {time for David to get moving after 2 days of rest},
that, behold, a man
  {we will find he is an Amalekite who enlisted in Saul's army}
came out of the bivouac/camp from being with Saul
with his uniform/tunic in the process of being torn
  {qara` - did this himself as he went along}
and the ground/dust {mud or sand} upon his head.

And so it was, when he arrived at David {his command post},
he fell to the earth and kept on bowing himself
  {on his knees doing the up and down routine - bowing down and
  kissing someone's feet can be a true sign of love OR a hypocritical
  demonstration without meaning - this was a pseudo and overt
  recognition of David's authority because he wanted to gain
  something from David}.

{Note: We saw from above and in I Samuel 30 that David is now returning from slaughtering the Amalekite race. That was a test of the grace in his soul by God. Now David is being tested again by another Amalekite. We will find he is an Amalekite serving with Saul and 1) was a deserter from the Jewish army, 2) was a blunderer of Saul's crown and arm band and 3) was a liar (said HE killed Saul thinking this would impress David). So he was an opportunist - leaving his tribe to serve with Saul and now will do anything - lie, steal, etc. - to try and promote himself.}

{Verses 3-5: Interrogation of Messenger}
3~~And David said unto him,
"From where do you keep on coming?"
  {gets the man talking - first principal of interrogation}

And he {the Amalekite} said unto him {David},
"I have escaped/'was delivered' {malat} from the army of Israel."
  {probably his first lie - from the facts we will see next, he was
  probably a deserter from Saul's army he is trying to appear as a
  great hero, so he is carefully watching the words he uses. Malat
  gives the wrong impression - that he fought nobly and was
  delivered from the battle. He should have used 'nuwc/nus'
  which means to dissert under fire.}

{Note: Interrogation is a true means of getting true information out of a liar. This is one of the greatest abilities in history. This can be done without torture and without brutality - by being SMARTER then they are.}

4~~And David said unto him,
"Tell me please, How did things {the battle} go?"
  {Idiom: literally 'how was the word {dabar}?}

And he replied,
"The people {Saul's army} have run away {nuwc} from the battle.
  {they fought nobly but he fled! Another lie}.

And many of the people also are wounded and many dead.

And Saul and Jonathan, his son, are dead also
  {apparently this man is aware of the great friendship of David and
  Johathan so two other sons also died, but he only mentions Saul
  and Jonathan. He saw what happened to Saul and lies about it,
  but says nothing about Jonathan because he had no idea how
  Jonathan died - a good liar avoids traps where his lie could be
  exposed}."

5~~And David said to the private
  {na`ar - means a newborn infant, a boy not fully grown, and, in
  military terms, with a definite article it means an enlisted man who
  has not advanced - a private}
who was caused to report to him {nagad - Hiphil causative stem},

"How do you know that Saul and Jonathan, his son, have died?"

{Note: David is starting to smell a rat. How could he know Saul and Jonathan both died? Did he personally see them both die? How then did HE live? Or did someone else 'say' this . . . and then it might be a rumor. Will turn out he probably did see Saul die but was guessing (correctly) about Jonathan.}

{Verses 6-10: The Falsified Report}
6~~Now the private who was caused to report to him, replied,
"By chance, I happened to be on mount Gilboa . . .
  {qarah qara' - just by chance . . . he was in the middle of this
  great slaughter?? Not likely, more likely a deserter hiding from the
  Philistines in the rocks}

and, behold
  {transitional expletive - used to distract the listener from the lie
  mixed in the truth},
Saul was resting upon his spear
  {See I Samuel 31:2-6 for the true details of Saul's death, a spear
  was not mentioned and does not ring true - Saul was on the
  ground trying to draw his sword with a gut full of arrows}

and, behold, the chariots and horsemen pursued aggressively
after him {Saul was actually pursued by archer cavalry}."

7~~"And when he {Saul} turned around {panah},
he saw me, and called unto me
  {Hebrew syntax indicates Private is a big shot - dramatizing his
  importance}.

And I answered, "Behold . . . me {himeni}."

{Note: David would know right here that Saul would not talk to this man in this manner. He would ORDER the private into action.}

8~~And he {Saul} said unto me, "Who . . . {are} you?"
  {He was in uniform! Saul would not care what his name was!
  Saul, in the middle of a battle, would just say 'PRIVATE get your
  butt over here'! - nothing sweet or polite in battle!}

And I answered him, "{I am an} . . . Amalekite."

9~~He {Saul} said unto me again,
"Please {a polite entreaty}, stand by me {an order},
and kill me {muwth -Polel stem - intensive}
because I am seized with the cramps {shabats},
  {Saul probably said this to his adjutant with those arrows in his
  guts - and is hard for Saul to lean on a spear and be seized with
  cramps - the lie is falling apart}

because all my soul {nephesh} . . . {is} still in me
  {Hebrew idiom meaning 'I am still alive' - and here he does not
  want to be - because the Philistines will capture and slowly
  torture him to death}."

{Note: Saul was not polite for years. Saul would not say please in the palace and certainly not on a battlefield as a General Officer speaking to a private. Saul asked his adjutant to kill him and this man must have overheard and inserted himself into the adjutant's part to impress David.}

{Falsified Account of Saul's Death}
10~~"So I stood by him
 {idiom meaning he did what Saul allegedly told him to do - all a lie}
and slew him {Saul},
because I was sure that after his fall {defeat in battle}
he would not live
  {here is a contradiction in his report - he said Saul was leaning on
  a spear instead of the truth which was Saul WAS on the ground
  with arrows in him so Saul's fall was true for Saul personally and
  also the army's defeat/fall}.

And I hastily seized the crown that was upon his head
  {a golden battle crown was usually worn in battle},
and the 'royal arm band' that was on his arm,
  {'ets`adah - a golden arm band like an MP wears in the US army -
  Saul's would have had 'melek' on it meaning King}
and was motivated to bring them {bow' - Hiphil causative stem}
here to my lord {'adown - referring to David}.

Here they are {henah}
  {Amalekite would have displayed them for the first time - probably
  tossed them to the feet of David - David knows Saul is dead but
  believes the report is a mixture of truth and fiction}."

{Note: This Amalekite must have been hiding in the rocks when he saw Saul and his adjutant commit suicide. He must have come down and stole Saul's crown and arm band. He formed an idea on how to ingratiate himself with the new King David by lying and saying he killed Saul personally. Now he sees all the great wealth that David and his men have taken from the Amalekites. He sees this as his opportunity to get some of that wealth from David. Principal: you can not advance your happiness on the unhappiness or bad circumstances of others - this is a soul distortion.}

{Verses 11-18: David Reacts to News of the Death of Saul and Jonathan}
{Verses 11-12: Lamentations}
11-12~~Then David grabbed his clothes and ripped them
  {chazaq - Hiphil stem - means - to be so overcome - to do what
  you do vigorously}
and also all the men who were with him
  {custom of the day in times of great grief was to tear apart their
  own clothes} 12~~
and they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening . . . over Saul
  {represents the highest person in authority in Israel - mourned for
  the loss of the nation's leader}

and over Jonathan his son
  {represents mourning for personal friendship, love, respect for the
  person - David's greatest personal friend had died},

and over the 'people of Jehovah/God'
  {technical for the army of Israel},

and over the house of Israel . . .
  {technical for the civilians - conquering army is brutal on civilians}

because they had 'fallen by the sword' {idiom for military defeat}.

{Verses 13-14: After Period of Mourning Interrogation Continues}
13~~And David said to the private
  {interrogation resumes - this time a court-martial}
who was caused to report to him
  {nagad - Hiphil causative stem},
"From where are you?"

And he {the Amalekite} answered,
"I am the son of a man . . . a foreigner/stranger . . . an Amalekite."

{Note: Lamentations is not compatible with objectivity. David had to wait until their grieving was over and the state of mind of objectivity could be obtained again. Another test for David's SuperGrace status is being tested. David just destroyed the Amalekite's in battle. Could he deal with this Amalekite fairly and with objectivity? David will amalgamate many gentiles into his army. Race is NEVER an issue to a SuperGrace believer. It is only an issue to sloppy thinkers - those who are trying to assuage their own guilt complex (or, for those who are in the minority, exercising one of their mental attitude sins of envy, jealousy, greed, etc. - the 'entitlement syndrome' - all from the source of arrogance).}

14~~And David said unto him {the Amalekite},
"How come you were not afraid
to stretch forth your hand
  {shalach - here from the individual volition in his soul}
to destroy {shachath} Jehovah/God's anointed
  {Saul was the commanding General AND the legitimate King of
  Israel - either would bring down the punishment of immediate
  death - the Amalekite should have been afraid}?

{Note: The basic principal of virtually all armies - ever - was and still is 'you can not kill an officer (unless he is a coward)'. If you do, you are executed immediately in front of a large number of the men - so the rest of the men also get the point.}

15~~And David summoned one from among his soldiers
  {the Provo Marshal department},
and ordered, "Approach him face to face . . . and attack him
  {an order - look him in the eye when you do this}."

So, he {the soldier} struck him {the Amalekite} with the result that he died."

{Note: Principal: You are just as responsible for the lies that you tell as for the truth that you do. This man thought he could advance himself with David by saying he killed Saul (a lie). It cost him his life. He confessed to violating one of the Jewish articles of War - killing a commanding officer and killing the King of Israel - penalty for either is immediate death.}

{Jewish Style - Retrospective View - The action of This Verse Preceded Action in Verse 15 - Verdict Given}
16~~And David had said {prior to the execution}
unto him, "Your bloods/'blood's guiltiness' {dam} be upon your head
  {idiom meaning you are responsible for your own decisions and
  actions - so his life was forfeit for taking the life of Saul (which
  he said he did)}."

"For your mouth has testified against you, saying,
'The anointed of the Jehovah/God's, I have killed/assassinated.'
  {in this court-martial the Amalekite continued his lie, thinking this
  would ingratiate himself with David. This lie cost him his life.}"

Continued