2 Samuel 1
Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
2 Samuel 1
Spurgeon reminds us that "Behold is a word of wonder; it is intended to excite admiration. Wherever you see it hung out in Scripture, it is like an ancient sign-board, signifying that there are rich wares within, or like the hands which solid readers have observed in the margin of the older Puritanic books, drawing attention to something particularly worthy of observation." I would add, behold is like a divine highlighter, a divine underlining of an especially striking or important text. It says in effect "Listen up, all ye who would be wise in the ways of Jehovah!" 2 Samuel 1:3 Then David said to him, "From where do you come?" And he said to him, "I have escaped from the camp of Israel." From: 2Ki 5:25 I: Job 1:15-19 2 Samuel 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries DAVID'S INTERROGATION Then - Term of progression in the narrative. David said to him, "From where do you come?" - It is interesting David does not ask who he is but where he is from. So clearly the statement came out of the camp from Saul in verse 2 is the writer's commentary, for David and his men did not yet know where the Amalekite was from, nor did they know he was an Amalekite. And he said to him, "I have escaped from the camp of Israel - The word escaped would have caused David's heart to sink, for one does not escape from a victorious setting. This "courier" had traveled from the scene of the battle at Mount Gilboa some 75-80 miles south to Ziklag, which would have taken several days on foot. The fact that he is an Amalekite suggests he was not likely a part of the camp of Israel! 2 Samuel 1:4 David said to him, "How did things go? Please tell me." And he said, "The people have fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also." How 1Sa 4:16 the people: 1Sa 31:1-6 1Ch 10:1-6 2 Samuel 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries David said to him, "How did things go? Please tell me." - As noted above, escaped in v3 has negative implications, but David still seems to hold out hope for a positive outcome. And he said, "The people have fled from the battle and also many of the people have fallen and are dead - He begins with a non-committal description the people, which still does not identify who fled and therefore who was defeated. Who are the dead? David will now find out to his dismay. And Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also - Now comes the news David dreaded to hear. He feared the worse and it had transpired. The people the man had referred to were Israelites. It is interesting he does not mention the other two sons. Possibly the covenant relationship between David and Jonathan was a story that had circulated among the people. Alternatively, this may simply be the writers way of helping understanding the intensity of David's subsequent response. It is interesting that he does not mention Saul's other sons or the armor bearer. Warren
2 Samuel 1
Spurgeon - Morning and Evening - "Thy love to me was wonderful.”2 Samuel 1:26 Come, dear readers, let each one of us speak for himself of the wonderful love, not of Jonathan, but of Jesus. We will not relate what we have been told, but the things which we have tasted and handled-of the love of Christ. Thy love to me, O Jesus, was wonderful when I was a stranger wandering far from thee, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Thy love restrained me from committing the sin which is unto death, and withheld me from self-destruction. Thy love held back the axe when Justice said, “Cut it down! why cumbereth it the ground?” Thy love drew me into the wilderness, stripped me there, and made me feel the guilt of my sin, and the burden of mine iniquity. Thy love spake thus comfortably to me when, I was sore dismayed—“Come unto me, and I will give thee rest.” Oh, how matchless thy love when, in a moment, thou didst wash my sins away, and make my polluted soul, which was crimson with the blood of my nativity, and black with the grime of my transgressions, to be white as the driven snow, and pure as the finest wool. How thou didst commend thy love when thou didst whisper in my ears, “I am thine and thou art mine.” Kind were those accents when thou saidst, “The Father himself loveth you.” And sweet the moments, passing sweet, when thou declaredst to me “the love of the Spirit.” Never shall my soul forget those chambers of fellowship where thou has unveiled thyself to me. Had Moses his cleft in the rock, where he saw the train, the back parts of his God? We, too, have had our clefts in the rock, where we have seen the full splendours of the Godhead in the person of Christ. Did David remember the tracks of the wild goat, the land of Jordan and the Hermonites? We, too, can remember spots to memory dear, equal to these in blessedness. Precious Lord Jesus, give us a fresh draught of thy wondrous love to begin the month with. Amen. QUESTION - What was the relationship between David and Jonathan? ANSWER - We know from 1 Samuel 18:1 that Jonathan loved David. Second Samuel 1:26 records David’s lament after Jonathan’s death, in which he said that his love for Jonathan was more wonderful than the love of a woman. Some use these two passages to suggest a homosexual relationship between David and Jonathan. This interpretation, however, should be rejected for at least three reasons. First, the Hebrew word for “love” (aheb/ahab) used here is not the typical word used for sexual activity. This word for “love” has clear political and diplomatic connotations (see 1 Samuel 16:21 and 1 Kings 5:1). Second, David’s comparison of his relationship with Jonathan with that of women is probably a reference to his experience with King Saul’s daughter. He was promised one of Saul’s daughters for killing Goliath. But Saul continued to add conditions upon this marriage with the underlying desire to have David killed in battle (1 Samuel 18:17, 25). The love David had received from Jonathan was greater than anything he could have received from Saul’s daughter. Third, the Bible clearly and consistently denounces homosexuality (Genesis 1:26-27; Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:18-25). Extolling a homosexual love between David and Jonathan would be contradicting the prohibitions of it found throughout the Bible. The friendship between David and Jonathan was a covenantal relationship. In 1 Samuel 18:1-5, we read of David and Jonathan forming an agreement. In this agreement, Jonathan was to be second in command in David’s future reign, and David was to protect Jonathan’s family (1 Samuel 20:16-17, 42; 23:16-18). Obviously, these two men were also very good friends. In their relationship we can see at least three qualities of true friendship. First, they sacrificed for one another. In 1 Samuel 18:4, we read that Jonathan gave David his clothes and military garb. The significance of this gift was that Jonathan recognized that David would one day be king of Israel. Rather than being envious or jealous, Jonathan submitted to God’s will and sacrificed his own right to the throne. Second, in 1 Samuel 19:1-3, we read of Jonathan’s loyalty toward and defense of David. King Saul told his followers to kill David. Jonathan rebuked his father and recalled David’s faithfulness to him in killing Goliath. Finally, Jonathan and David were also free to express their emotions with one another. In 1 Samuel 20, we read of a plan concocted by Jonathan to reveal his father’s plans toward David. Jonathan was going to practice his archery. If he told his servant that the arrows he shot were to the side of the target, David was safe. If Jonathan told his servant that the arrows were beyond the target, David was to leave and not return. Jonathan told the servant that the arrows were beyond the target, meaning that David should flee. After releasing his servant, Jonathan found David and the two men cried together. Rather than being evidence for a homosexual relationship in the Bible, the account of David and Jonathan is an example of true biblical friendship. True friendship, according to the Bible, involves loyalty, sacrifice, compromise, and yes, emotional attachment. That is what we should learn from David and Jonathan. The idea that David and Jonathan were practicing homosexuals (or bisexuals) has no biblical basis.GotQuestions.org NOTES FROM MY COMMENTS ON 1 SAMUEL 18:1-4 WHAT WAS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DAVID AND JONATHAN? - Some writers have suggested that the "love" between Jonathan and David was indicative of a homosexual relationship. A use of love which helps see that Jonathan's love for David was not homosexual is found earlier when "David came to Saul and attended him, and Saul loved (ahab) him greatly; and he became his armor bearer." (1Sa 16:21). Also against this "homosexual" interpretation is the fact that the Hebrew verb 'ahab is never used in the Old Testament to signify what is clearly (from context) a homosexual desire or activity. Instead the Old Testament uses the Hebrew verb, yada, which means "to know" to indicate close relationship in a sexual sense in both heterosexual and homosexual relationships. Thus yada refers to homosexual relationships in the following texts. Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter and they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations ('yada) with them." (Genesis 19:4, 5) While they were making merry, behold, the men of the city, certain worthless fellows (literally "sons of belial", belial being transliterated as a synonym for Satan in 2 Cor 6:15) , surrounded the house, pounding the door; and they spoke to the owner of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring out the man who came into your house that we may have relations ('yada) with him." (Judges 19:22). Finally, note that the verb 'yada is never used to describe the relationship between Jonathan and David.