Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 1:18
(Also he bade them teach the children of Judah [the use of] the bow: behold, [it is] written in the book of Jasher.)
18. also he bade, &c.] And he gave commandment to teach the children of Judah the Bow. The E. V. cannot be right in inserting “the use of,” for the bow was a weapon already in common use. If the text is sound, “the Bow” must be a title given to David’s elegy from the mention of Jonathan’s bow in 2Sa 1:22. Somewhat similarly the section of Exodus containing the account of the burning bush is called “the Bush” in Luk 20:37, and the second chapter of the Koran is called “the Cow” from the incidental mention in it of the sacrifice of a cow.
It must be noted however that the Vatican MS. of the LXX. omits the word bow, and reads simply “And he commanded to teach [it] to the children of Judah.” Possibly therefore the word over which much discussion has been spent, has found its way into the text through some scribe’s mistake, and should be struck out.
The elegy was to be learnt by heart by the people in order to preserve the memory of Saul and Jonathan fresh among them. Compare the direction concerning the Song of Moses (Deu 31:19), and the title of Psalms 60.
behold, it is written in the book of Jasher ] The elegy was included in the volume known as The Book of Jashar, or, the Upright. (LXX. ; Vulg. liber iustorum.) This book is mentioned only here and in Jos 10:13. “The Upright” is explained by some to mean Israel as the covenant people of God, and connected in etymology and sense with the title Jeshurun (Deu 32:15); by others it is referred to the heroes whose praises were celebrated in the book. All that can be inferred from the references to it is that it contained a collection of ancient poems, commemorating remarkable events or great heroes of the national history: so that it formed a “book of Golden Deeds” for the instruction of posterity, a “national anthology” to which additions would be made from time to time as occasion offered.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The use of the bow – Omit the use of. The bow is the name by which this dirge was known, being so called from the mention of Jonathans bow in 2Sa 1:22. The sense would then be: And he commanded them to teach the children of Israel the song called Kasheth (the bow), i. e. he gave directions that the song should be learned by heart (compare Deu 31:19). It has been further suggested that in the Book of Jasher there was, among other things, a collection of poems, in which special mention was made of the bow. This was one of them. 1Sa 2:1-10 was another; Num 21:27-30 was another; Lam. 2 was another; Lam. 3 was another; Jacobs blessing Gen. 49; Moses song Deut. 32; perhaps his Blessing (Deut. 33. See 2 Sam. 1:29); and such Psalms as Ps. 44; Psa 46:1-11; Psa 76:1-12, etc.; Hab. 3; and Zec 9:9-17, also belonged to it. The title by which all the poems in this collection were distinguished was qesheth, the bow. When therefore the writer of 2 Samuel transferred this dirge from the Book of Jasher to his own pages, he transferred it, as we might do any of the Psalms, with its title.
The book of Jasher – See the marginal reference note.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Sa 1:18
The use of the bow,
I.
Activity is a valuable solace for sorrow:–The people were very grieved; for Saul and Jonathan, the king and the crown prince, were slain. David indulges their grief: he writes them a plaintive song which the daughters of Israel may sing. But to take off their minds from their distress he at the same time issues the order to teach the children of Judah the use of the bow, for activity is an effectual remedy in the time of sorrow. Certainly the opposite of it would tend towards blank despair. Do not be tempted to brood over your affliction. Do not shut yourself up alone to ruminate upon the great ill that has befallen you, so as to nurse your wrath against God: this can do you no good whatever. You have heard of Alexander Cruden. Perhaps you do not know that he was crossed in love, and met with certain other trims which drove him nearly mad; and yet Alexander Cruden did not become insane, for he engaged upon the immense work of forming a concordance of sacred Scripture. This work kept him from becoming altogether insane. A valuable solace for sorrow is activity, especially, I think, in reference to new work. The poet Rogers tells us of a rich man in Venice who was the subject of despair, and became such a hypochondriac that he went down to the canal to drown himself; but on the way he was met by a poor little boy who tugged at his skirts, and begged for bread. When the rich man called him an impostor, the boy besought him to come home with him, and see his father and mother who were dying of starvation. He went up into the room, and found the family literally perishing for lack of food. He laid out the money which he had in his pocket in making them all glad with a hearty meal, and then said to himself that there was something worth living for after all. He had found a novel enjoyment, which gave a fresh motive for living. I would like to ask you who have suffered a great trouble whether the Lord may not be pressing you by this means into a new path of delight, directing you to a fresh method of glorifying God and doing good to your fellow-men.
II. An admirable use of disaster is to learn its lessons. What was the disaster? Saul and Jonathan had been shot by archers. The Philistines were evidently strong in the use of the bow; but Saul’s army was short of archers, and so they were not able to smite the Philistines at a distance. Before they came to close quarters, where Israel might have been a match for Philistia, the arrows of the Philistines had reached their king. Had they known how to use the bow, they might have been conquerors; and therefore David hastens to teach the men of Judah the use of the bow.
1. Find out where your weakness is. Search and see. Is it a sin beguiled? Is it some point where you ought to have been guarded, but where you have been unwatchful? Is it weakness in prayer? Is it neglect of the word of God? Is it indifference to Divine truth? It is coldness of heart? Or what is it? If you have been defeated, there is a cause for it. If you have been cast down and brought low, say unto God, Show me wherefore Thou contendest with me.
2. Learn the way to victory. David judged that if they were defeated by the bow they might yet win by the bow. It is right to learn from our adversaries. There is something to be learnt from Satan. If he goes about, let us be diligent; if he seeks whom he may devour, let us seek whom we may save; and if he watches carefully to find out our weak points, let us watch those whom we would bless to find out how we may best reach their hearts.
3. A call to action–to general action. Saul had a little standing army, and did not drill all the nation for war; but David says, I will teach all my own tribe the use of the bow. Now, whenever a church begins to get low, dull, stupid, then it is time to teach the children-of Judah the use of the bow, and to wake them all up to holy enterprise. It was the glory of the Moravians that all their members were missionaries; and such ought to be the glory of every church: every man, woman, and child in the church should take part in the battle for Jesus. This, by God’s grace, is the cure for spiritual decline: teach the people the use of the bow.
III. A noble monument to a friend is to imitate his excellencies. When Jonathan and David communed together they fixed the meeting by Jonathan shooting certain arrows: it is evident that Jonathan was a man who greatly favoured the use of the bow; and though his father did not largely introduce it into the army, yet Jonathan was well skilled therein. Well then, says David, in memory of Jonathan, instead of piling up a great monument, we will teach the children of Judah the use of the bow.
IV. It is great advantage to believers to learn the use of the bow spiritually. There is the bow of prayer. Its use has not gone out of date; but I wish that all of us knew how to shoot the arrows of the Lord’s deliverance much better than we do. Holy men of old would pick out an arrow, and when they had chosen it they knew how to use it. They knew what they wanted, and they prayed for it. They fitted their arrow on the string: that is to say, they took God’s promise, the promise that answered to their desire, and fitting the one to the other, they took straight aim at heaven, and watched the flight of the arrowy petition. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The song of the bow
David, after the bloody battle of Gilboa, in which he lost his old enemy, Saul, and his dear friend, Jonathan, infused into the hearts of the people a spirit of national pride. The words in the text, the use of, you will notice are not in the original; they are supplied, carefully printed by our translators in italics, to show that they are an interpolation, from the supposition that they were wanted to mark the sense of what followed. In fact, they are not needed. The Bow is the title of the poem which is then given, and it would rather read, Also he bade them teach the children of Israel the song of the bow,–the bow, by which their King and Prince had been slain; the bow, dear to the poet’s memory as the means by which the young prince, Jonathan, had saved his friend’s life, in that tender story when the unwitting lad through its instrumentality warned him; the bow, by which they were to assert and maintain their nationality. So he taught them not only the use, but he taught the song of the bow. Song filtrates and refines, gives passion and fervour to national feeling, and this, though so old, is a very wonderful song–surely one of the most pathetic and wonderful of all elegies, and it furnishes the key, and gives the fulness to that most wonderful of all funeral wails, the Dead March in Saul. The bow became representative of every kind of furniture of war. Just as bread stands for every kind of food in the Hebrew, so also the bow represents every kind of furniture for war. He turned, therefore, the death of Saul in his song into the means of bringing all the energies, the glowing patriotism of the land, upon national defence. He roused and concentrated the military spirit, and taught them the use, while he taught them the song, of the bow. History is inspiring. The bow, in Scripture, stands for something more than the mere engine of earthly war. Joseph was not a soldier, but it is the grand commendation of his character that his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the mighty God of Jacob. And you will notice that in the Bible no name becomes permanently great, no name is recorded of sterling and lasting worth, which is not moved by the Spirit of God, and which does not represent a firm compliance with His will. God spoke to each of these old heroes, God separated each, usually early in life. The heart looked up, knew the voice, owned it, and followed it. Life is no more matched and mastered without a struggle, without discipline and endeavour, than you are likely to be accomplished in your service of arms without training and trial. You know we speak of a Standard Bearer, and somebody has said that that means stand hard, and bear well.
2. The Song of the Bow is, therefore, a song of war. In the old Hebrew fashion, this is full of the grief of life. Nature is called, as it were, to put on mourning for the illustrious dead; Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be on you no dew, no refreshing shower, no bubbling desert spring. It is as if the plants and the woods were called to join in the melancholy wail, and the very flowers to sigh forth their grief; and it is so that in a great and sorrowful deprivation, trees and herbs, flowers and forests are called to sympathise with human sorrow; the rose to blush mournfully, and the anemone and the hyacinth to speak forth in their floral leaves the tokens of grief, what conquers, what overcomes this. The Song of the Bow is not only the song of battle, discipline, and trial, but a song of victory and triumph. In Christ we adore the God of resurrections. We see Him, indeed, whose bow was made quite naked in the sight of all the tribes; there brake He the arrows of the bow, the spear, the shield in the battle; there He brake the bow, and snapped the spear in sunder. Verily, when I think of the death of Christ and His resurrection, I feel that we may teach the children the Song of the Bow. Life is, indeed, full of resurrections. In many a floral and insect world she seems to exhibit something of the gospel of the resurrection, and hangs over the grave resurrection lights. From repulsive shells which look forbidding to the eye and the touch, emerge creatures delicate and beautiful, bursting their harsh black prison, and on gossamer wings soaring and sailing through light and air. Out of the body of crawling worms comes forth the winged splendour of the butterfly; it spun its shroud, its coffin, its grave, and so prepared for its resurrection; then, instead of creeping on the earth, and feeding on the dust, it indulges its variable flight and sucks the pollen from the fragrant flowers. (E. Paxton Hood.)
It is written in the book of Jasher.—
Lessons from a lost book
Without entering into the controversy on the book of Jasher, let us consider the text as it is presented in our version. We have in the text an illustration of–
I. The combination of the poetical and the practical in one person. Where will you find a truer, sweeter, deeper, more gifted poet than David? Where will you find a more natural and soul-moving lyrical outburst of grief than this over Jonathan? Tennyson’s tender and touching, delicate and profound, and, to bereaved hearts, unspeakably precious In Memoriam is poor compared with this Davidic ode. Yet the poet, in his sorrow and his dirge, is wise, forecasting, politic, practical. With the bow and arrow Saul and Jonathan had been slain, so David would have the children of Judah well trained in the use of the bow.
1. When the poetic is unpractical, merely dreamy, unsubstantial, vain, it loses all true worth–ceases, indeed, to be poetry; for the poet, as the name indicates, is a maker, a creator.
2. When the practical is dissociated from the poetic, it becomes dreary, unexalting, ignoble. When men aim at the merely utilitarian, they miss even their own low mark. We need the ideal, the poetic, in combination with the practical and utilitarian, to attain to completeness and symmetry. The use of the bow and the use of the lyre must go together, if we would have a symmetrical order of things–a cosmos.
II. the disorder of human nature. Saul and Jonathan are slain. The earth has not yet absorbed their blood. A deep, genuine, sacred sorrow is wailing in sad minor key through the soul of David. Surely it is a most pathetic, reverent time with the poet king! Yet he must give instructions as to the use of the bow. Sorrowing for the absent ones removed by skilful archers, yet he deems it prudent to have the children of Judah made skilful archers, that they in their turn may make wives widows, happy children orphans, and take other Jonathans away from other Davids. There must be some cursed obliquity in human nature; the normal must have given place to the abnormal, ere this could have come to pass. The Biblical narrative of human apostasy is, we believe, the key to the enigma.
III. The impermanence of human works. Where is the book of Jasher? Who knows it? What did it contain? Was it in prose or poetry? Was it dialectical or didactic? We know something of the theories concerning it; but with any theory we must feel how impermanent are human doings. Suppose it means:
1. A book by some one named Jasher. Well, who was he? What was his character? What was his book about? Where now is all the treasure of his heart and brain, which he poured forth in his book? Alas! Jasher, we condole with thee.
2. A book for the regulation of equity between man and man. How sad that any attempt, even the feeblest, to rectify the disordered state of human affairs, should fail! Surely, in any normal state, any effort to promote equity should succeed and be remembered. But even such a book is not permanent.
3. A book in which the heroic deeds of righteous men were recorded. That must live !A righteous man–how grand! But what adjective is adequate to set forth the heroic deeds of a righteous man? A righteous man and heroic worker–surely the book that speaks of such must live! Alas, no! This book of the heroic deeds of the upright has gone.
IV. The permanence of life, as contrasted with its temporary human records. The book of Jasher is no more; but the men and their deeds of whom it contained records, they are not no more; the men live, the influence of the deeds lives. Books pass away, men endure; records of deeds are soon lost, the influence of deeds lives on. Do not write a poem; live a poem. Trouble not about the record of the life; but be careful of the life. The book of Jasher may be unimportant; but the life of Jasher is of incalculable importance, perhaps to many, certainly to Jasher. (William Jones.)
The book of Jasher
There is great diversity of opinion as to the book of Jasher, or, as it is given in the margin, the book of the upright. It is mentioned only here and in Jos 10:13. Here are some of the opinions concerning it which seem to us more or less probable:
1. That it was a book of upright or authentic records or chronicles, probably those of the high priest, and from which much of the Old Testament history was compiled.
2. That Yashar is better taken as a collective term for Israelites, like y’sharim in Num 23:10; Psa 111:1; and so translated Book of the Israelites, i.e. national book (Fuerst). The same theory is put thus by Mr. Aldis Wright: The book of Jasher . . . so called because it contained the relation of the deeds of the people of Israel, who are elsewhere spoken of under the symbolical name Jeshurun.
3. That it was a collection of state poems, written by some one named Jasher, and probably a continuation of the book of the wars of Jehovah (Num 21:14).
4. Others assert that it was a collection of national songs, and in proof of this allege that Yashar is equivalent to Hashshir, the song or poem.
5. That the book of Jasher contained the deeds of national heroes of all ages celebrated in verse, and included Joshua’s victory over the five kings of the Amorites (Jos 10:1-43.), and David’s lament over Saul and Jonathan.
6. That it was a choice collection of ancient songs, and was called the book of the just or upright, because it celebrated the praise of upright men. We may fairly conclude that it was written in verse from the only specimens extant, which exhibit unmistakable signs of metrical rhythm; but with regard to the contents nothing can be confidently affirmed. We ought also, perhaps, to call attention to the difference of opinion as to the meaning of the bow. Instead of supplying the use of, as the translators of the A.V. have done, some would read the song of the bow. He bade them teach the children of Judah the bow, i.e. the following threnody, which was so called either because Saul was shot by an archer, or because the bow of Jonathan is here celebrated (verse 22). Others regard the bow as the name of some musical instrument. (William Jones.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 18. The use of the bow] The use of is not in the Hebrew; it is simply the bow, that is, a song thus entitled. See the observations at the end. 2Sa 1:21.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Also: having mentioned Davids lamentation in general, before he comes to the particular description of it, he interposeth this verse by way of parenthesis; to signify, that David did not so give up himself to lamentation as to neglect his great business, the care of the commonwealth, which now lay upon him; but took particular care to fortify them against such further losses and calamities as he bewails in the following song; and by his example, and this counsel, to instruct the people, that they should not give up themselves to sorrow and despondency for their great and general loss; but should raise up their spirits, and betake themselves to action.
He bade them: David being now actually king upon Sauls death, takes his power upon him, and gives forth his commands.
The children of Judah: these he more particularly teacheth, because they were the chief, and now the royal tribe, and likely to be the great bulwark to all Israel against the Philistines, upon whose land they bordered; and withal, to be the most friendly and true to him, and to his interest.
The use of the bow, i. e. the use of their arms, which are all synecdochically expressed under the name of the bow, which then was one of the chief weapons; and for the dexterous use whereof Jonathan is commended in the following song: which may be one reason why he now gives forth this order, that so they might strive to imitate Jonathan in the military skill, and to excel in it, as he did.
It is written; not the following song, as many think, for that is written here, and therefore it was needless to refer us to another book for it; but this foregoing counsel and course which David took to repair the last loss, which is here mentioned but briefly, and in general terms; but, as it seems, more largely and particularly described in the book of Jasher; of which see on Jos 10:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
(Also he bade them teach the children of Judah [the use] of the bow,…. These words, with what follow in this verse, are rightly put into a parenthesis, since they do not begin nor make any part of the elegiac song, or lamentation of David; and are here inserted to show, that, amidst his sorrow and lamentation, he was not unmindful of the welfare of the people, and to provide for their defence and security; and therefore gave orders that care should be taken, especially in the tribe of Judah, which was his own tribe, and where he had the greatest authority, and for whom he might have the chiefest concern, that they should be trained up in military exercises, learn the art of war, and the use of every weapon of war, particularly of the bow, which, being a principal one, may be put for all; and which may be the rather mentioned, because the Philistines were expert in the use of it, and seemed to have done much execution with it in the recent battle, see 1Sa 31:3. They are said p to be the inventors of it; though Pliny q ascribes it to others; and it may be the people of Israel and of Judah had of late neglected to learn the use of it, and to make use of it, and instead of that had taken to other sort of arms in fighting; for that that was not unknown to them, or wholly disused, is clear from this song, 2Sa 1:22; see also 1Ch 12:2. Moreover, as the Philistines, especially the Cherethites, were expert in archery, David found ways and means to get some of them afterwards into his service, and by whom he might improve his people in the art, see 2Sa 8:18; though some r are of opinion that the word “keshet”, or bow, was the title of the following lamentation or song, taken from the mention of Jonathan’s bow in it; which song the children of Judah were to be taught to sing; but then, as has been observed by some, for this there would have been no need of the following reference, since the whole this song is here recorded:
behold, it is written in book of Jasher); which the Targum calls the book of the law; and Jarchi and Ben Gersom restrain it to the book of Genesis, the book of the upright, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and suppose respect is had to the prophecy concerning Judah, Ge 49:8, but Kimchi, extending it to all the five books of Moses, adds his blessing, in De 33:7. In the Arabic version it is explained of the book of Samuel, interpreted the book of songs, as if it was a collection of songs; which favours the above sense. Jerom s interprets it of the same book, the book of the righteous prophets, Samuel, Gad, and Nathan: hut this book seems to have been a public register or annals, in which were recorded memorable actions in any age, and had its name from the uprightness and faithfulness in which it was kept; and in this were set down the order of David for the teaching the children of Judah the use of the bow, and perhaps the method which he directed to for instruction in it; [See comments on Jos 10:13].
p Bedford’s Chronology, p. 245. q Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56. r See Gregory’s Notes and Observations, &c. ch. 1. and Weemse of the Judicial Laws, c. 44. p. 171. s Trad. Heb. in 2 lib. Reg. fol. 77. D.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(18) The use of the bow.The words in italics, the use of, are not in the original, and should be omitted. David bade them teach the children of Judah the bow: i.e., the following dirge called the bow, not merely from the allusion to Jonathans bow in 2Sa. 1:22, but because it is a martial ode, and the bow was one of the chief weapons of the time with which the Benjamites were particularly skilful (1Ch. 12:2; 2Ch. 14:8; 2Ch. 17:17). The word is omitted in the Vatican LXX. He taught this song to the children of Judah rather than to all Israel, because for the following seven and a half years, while the memory of Saul was fresh, he reigned only over Judah and Benjamin.
In the book of Jasher.This book is also referred to in Jos. 10:13, and nothing more is really known about it, although it has been the subject of endless discussion and speculation. It is supposed to have been a collection of songs relating to memorable events and men in the early history of Israel, and it appears that this elegy was included among them.
The song is in two parts, the first relating to both Saul and Jonathan (2Sa. 1:19-24), the second to Jonathan, alone (2Sa. 1:25-26), each having at the beginning the lament, How are the mighty fallen ! and the whole closing with the same refrain (2Sa. 1:27).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Teach the children of Judah the use of the bow Because, say some of the older interpreters, the chiefs of Israel had fallen by the arrows of the enemy, therefore David thought it necessary that the warriors of Judah should also become skilled in archery. This interpretation our translators have countenanced by adding the words the use of, which are not in the original. But the Israelites were already skilled in the use of the bow, and in 2Sa 1:22 the poet celebrates the fearful power of the bow of Jonathan. The word Bow is therefore to be regarded as the title of this elegy. The second chapter of the Koran is entitled THE COW, because it contains the words, “God commands you to sacrifice a cow.” So this dirge is called THE BOW from the mention in 2Sa 1:22 of the bow of Jonathan.
This title would tenderly remind David of that affectionate interview with Jonathan when the latter shot from his bow the arrows that were to warn him of his danger. 1Sa 20:20; 1Sa 20:36. Compare, also, the titles to some of the Psalms. (Psalms 23; Psalms 45.) David commanded his own tribe to learn to sing this mournful strain in order to show that they had no hardness and jealousy towards Benjamin, the tribe of Saul. At a later time all the singing men and singing women were required to learn Jeremiah’s lamentation over the good Josiah. 2Ch 35:25.
Book of Jasher A book of national songs; a Hebrew anthology. It was probably a compilation begun early in the history of Israel, enlarged by additions at later periods. Like several other ancient works quoted by writers of the Old Testament, this book is now lost. See on Jos 10:13.
“In a fighting age the bard stands in the same relation to civilization as the newspaper of the present day. He was the organ of intelligence, the bearer of news, the representative of the ideas of his times. When men take to reading, the bard becomes a plaything. He may beguile the long hours of a winter evening, or increase the pleasures of a feast, but no more. In early times he was the educator also. His days, as sung by himself, and repeated from mouth to mouth, formed the minds of his countrymen. The song, the ballad, these were the intellectual food of the people. Of such ballads probably consisted the book of Jasher, and the book of the wars of Jehovah, mentioned in the Bible.” SMITH’S Bampton Lecture for 1869.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Sa 1:18. Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow Read, says Mr. Locke, the bow; the words, the use of, not being in the original; for that which the sons of Judah were commanded to learn, was not the use of the bow, but the BOW, as it is originally set down; i.e. a song of David’s so called; or this song of lamentation over Saul and Jonathan, as says the learned Gregory. Houbigant, Saurin, Dr. Lowth, Dr. Waterland, and many others, are of the same opinion. Houbigant renders the verse thus: Which also he commanded that the children of Judah should learn: this is the song, which is inscribed the bow, in the book of Jasher, or the righteous; a poetical book, long since lost, which had its name, like many other of the Hebrew books, from the first word in it. It is well known too, that the Hebrews gave titles to their sacred hymns, or compositions, alluding to the subject; of which we have sufficient examples in the book of Psalms. Probably this lamentation was called, the bow, either in memory of the slaughter received from the archers of the enemy, 1Sa 31:3 or from the bow of Jonathan, of which particular mention is made in the 22nd verse. See Dr. Hunt’s note, p. 306 of Lowth’s Prelections, 8vo. edit., where a pleasing critique upon this fine poem will be found; which is not only most excellent, but the first piece of the kind that remains among the monuments of antiquity. Scaliger thinks, that the custom of funeral songs passed from the ancient Hebrews to the heathens. Herodotus speaks of those of the Egyptians; and Homer has preserved to us the elegy which Achilles made in honour of Patroclus, and that of Hecuba and Andromache upon Hector. The bursts of sorrow in the poem are so strong, so sudden, so pathetic, so short, so various, so unconnected; no grief was ever painted in such living and lasting colours; and it is one sure sign and beautiful effect of it, that David’s heart was so softened and melted by it, as to lose all traces of Saul’s cruelty to him. He remembered nothing in him now, but the brave man, the valiant leader, the magnificent prince; the king of God’s appointment; his own once-indulgent master; his Michal’s and his Jonathan’s father.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Sa 1:18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah [the use of] the bow: behold, [it is] written in the book of Jasher.)
Ver. 18. Also he bade them teach. ] Or, And he spake it to teach, &c., sc., in honour of Jonathan, so skilful a bowman, 2Sa 1:22 and for their own future defence against the Philistine archers, who had wounded and slain Saul and his sons with these weapons, 1Sa 31:3 for which end also, among others, David made this doleful ditty to be sung by all sorts for their instruction and comfort. After the discomfiture of the Athenians in Sicily, those were relieved who could repeat somewhat out of Euripides, the tragedian.
The children of Judah the use of the bow.
Behold, it is written in the Book of Jasher.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
children = sons.
the use of. The Ellipsis is wrongly supplied. The word “Lamentation” should be repeated from 2Sa 1:17; “The Bow” being the subject of the Lamentation (2Sa 1:22). the
bow. This is the name of the Lamentation, be-cause it is mentioned in 2Sa 1:22; and it is what the tribe of Saul and Jonathan (Benjamin) was noted for (compare 1Ch 8:40; 1Ch 12:2. 2Ch 14:8; 2Ch 17:17). For a similar reason the scripture (Ex. 3) about “The Bush” is so called in Mar 12:26. Luk 20:37.
behold. Figure of speech . Asterismos. App-6.
written, &c. In the Book of Jasher (or The Upright One) = ” Thy hart, Israel, lies slain”, &c.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
teach: Gen 49:8, Deu 4:10
bow: Kasheth, or the bow, was probably the title of the following threnody; so called, in the oriental style, because Saul’s death was occasioned by that weapon, and because the bow of Jonathan, out of which “the arrow was shot beyond the lad,” – 1Sa 20:36, is celebrated in this song.
the book: Jos 10:13
Jasher: or, the upright, So LXX ; Targum, siphra deooritha, “the book of the law;” the Arabic, “the book of Ashee: this is the book of Samuel.” This book was probably a collection of divine odes, written to commemorate remarkable events.
Reciprocal: Num 21:14 – in the book
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE SONG OF THE BOW
Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow.
2Sa 1:18
I. The Song of the Bow.We never come to this Song of the Bow without being struck afresh with its beauty, its pathos, its lofty patriotism, its tender recollection of a dead friend, and, perhaps, best of all, its generous forgetfulness of all that is bad in a dead enemy. The news has just been brought to David that his archenemy Saul is dead; and David, anointed by God to be Sauls successor, has been for seven years outcast. An outlaw in daily fear of his life, surrounded by a company of men desperate as he, and yet he has never lifted his hand against his enemy because he was Gods anointed. And now at last the end has comeDavid is free from persecution, he is free at last to take his long-appointed place as king. But when the truth is established he and his six hundred outlaws stand, with their clothes rent, mourning, and weeping, and fasting. Then at last David rouses himself to action, and he finds vent for his grief in two waysfirst of all in the exaction of the life of the unhappy messenger, according to the fierce temper of those times; and then in that touching song of lamentation to which he gives the title The Song of the Bow. You will remember, as David must have remembered as he sang it, how Jonathan in the days gone by gave to him his bow as a present, and how it was by the use of the bow, too, that Jonathan warned David to flee from the jealous anger of Saul, and so the first command of the new king was to order that the Song of the Bow should be taught to all Gods people from henceforth to keep green the memory of Saul and his son.
II. The note of the song.This is the beautiful note of the song. The excitement of action is over, and all suffer because their natural head is cut off, and the singer suffers because, beyond the sorrow at the death of his early benefactor and of his truly loved friend, he has only recollection now of the valour and splendour of the departed king. Tell it not in Gath, etc. His heart is sorry, and he calls on nature to join him in his mourning. Ye mountains of Gilboa, etc. Even the earth should feel with him, he thinks. In his passion of sorrow he calls upon the beautiful fertile country to go into mourning and never again to produce tempting harvests for sorrow, that nature should feel that the arms of the dead king can no longer give battle. But, if he is dead, still there is comfort in thinking of those brave men as he knew themtheir love for one another, their faithful comradeship. As you read all this, in the light of the twentieth century, you think the praise of the king unnatural and stilted. At any rate, the words in which he commemorated his dead friend are beautiful indeed. Then comes that strongly generous reminder of how greatly Sauls successful wars had benefited the nationYe daughters of Israel, etc. He praises Jonathan for his bravery and skill in war, and for his fidelity to his father, and the singer gives a tender thought to his love for himselfI am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. You cannot but see the beauty of the song; you cannot but feel that in their defeat and death Saul and Jonathan are happy.
III. The purpose of the song.Yet this song is not religious poetry, it is not a psalm, it is not a hymn. The Name of God never once occurs in it; it is simply a battle-song. But God has put it in for a purpose, as He has put everything in the Bible. Nothing in this book refers only to the circumstances of the moment; all that is there is a teaching or a warning, a reproof or a blessing, for all time. And so here, underlying the sorrows of David, there are lessons for us in the twentieth century. One of them is that we must not usurp the prerogatives of God. It is Gods place to judge; it is ours only to remember the good of the departed, and to leave the rest to Him. Another lesson surely is that a pure, self-denying love is the greatest of all great blessings.
Illustrations
(1) The poem seems to suggest some simple thoughts on genuine friendship. When a friend is taken from us, what are the things we should love to recall; what are the things we should grieve to recall? I believe one of the most grave thoughts for any of us is thisthese who are my friendsif one of them were to die to-morrow could I answer the question, Has he helped me to be better, nobler, purer, more of a Christian, more of a man; was there anything in what passed between us which could smoothen and define the paths of life and ennoble them? The thought is simple and trite, and yet we scruple not to press it. Your friendship may have begun early in life; you hope it will continue to the end; it is the delight and pride of your life; but your friend is suddenly taken away. You stand beside his grave, literally as he is slowly lowered into it, or afterwards in the coldness of thought, and you ask yourself whether you can find anything which has ennobled your life, and whether what you gathered from him was worthy of the stately name of friendship. If not, if the bond was unholy or unprofitable, what shame, what grief is yours as you think of your departed friend.
(2) In Memoriam calls us back to the wild and stormy times when the Hebrew race was emerging from the troubled and anarchical period of the era of the Judges, and was on the verge of the more settled and ordered stage of national life which begins with the reign of David. We seem as we turn to it to be leaving behind us all the broad, rich, harvest-fields of later and of Christian teaching, and to be mounting, as it were, to the misty highlands of the remote past, where every light is broken and uncertain, and every track may mislead or baffle. Yet those far-off times, even as those mountain scenes, have a colour, and a life, and a freshness of their own; and they remind us not only how all Scripture was written for our instruction, but of the links that bind together human hearts, alike in those far-off days that knew not Christ, and now in our own, near nineteen centuries since the Prince of Peace was born.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
2Sa 1:18. And bade them teach the children of Judah Among whom he now was, and over whom he first reigned; the use of the bow While he made lamentation for the dead, he did not neglect the living: that they might be provided with better means to defend themselves, as the king designed of God to reign over them, he ordered that they should immediately learn to be skilful in the use of bows and arrows, by which principally the Philistines had gained this victory. The Israelites seem hitherto to have chiefly used slings, spears, and swords; but were now taught to shoot with bows and arrows. As, however, the words, the use of, are not in the original, but literally translated it is, He bade them teach the children of Judah the bow; many learned men are of opinion that it was not the use of the bow, which they were to learn, but this song of David, termed The Bow. There does not appear, however, to be any proof that this song bore any such title, nor is any sufficient reason given why it should bear any such. It seems much more probable, for the reason just named, that our translators have given us the true interpretation of the passage. Behold it is written in the book of Jasher That David enjoined the use of the bow to be taught. It is more largely and particularly described there. Or, if The Bow meant this song, the sense is, that the song was recorded in that book, which some think to have been a book of odes and hymns, in which were recited the successes or misfortunes of the Israelites in battle.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1:18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah {g} [the use of] the bow: behold, [it is] written in the book of Jasher.)
(g) That they might be able to match their enemies the Philistines in that art.