David mourns for the death of Saul and Jonathan: he orders the man to be slain who pretended he had killed Saul.

¹ Now it happened that, after Saul died, David returned from the slaughter of Amalek, and he remained for two days at Ziklag.

² Then, on the third day, a man appeared, arriving from the camp of Saul, with his garments torn and dust sprinkled on his head. And when he came to David, he fell on his face, and he reverenced.

³ And David said to him, “Where have you come from?” And he said to him, “I have fled from the camp of Israel.”

⁴ And David said to him: “What is the word that has happened? Reveal it to me.” And he said: “The people have fled from the battle, and many of the people have fallen and died. Moreover, Saul and his son Jonathan have passed away.”

⁵ And David said to the youth who was reporting to him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan have died?”

⁶ And the youth, who was reporting it to him, said: “I arrived by chance on mount Gilboa. And Saul was lying upon his spear. Then the chariots and horsemen drew near to him.

⁷ And turning behind his back and seeing me, he called to me. And when I had responded, “I am here,”

⁸ he said to me, “Who are you?” And I said to him, “I am an Amalekite.”

⁹ And he said to me: “Stand over me, and kill me. For anguish has taken hold of me, and still my whole life is in me.”

¹⁰ And standing over him, I killed him. For I knew that he was not able to live after the fall. And I took the diadem that was on his head, and the bracelet from his arm, and I have brought them here to you, my lord.”¹

1. 1:10I killed him: This story of the young Amalecite was not true, as may easily be proved by comparing it with the last chapter of the foregoing book.(Challoner)

¹¹ Then David, taking hold of his garments, tore them, with all the men who were with him.

¹² And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening, over Saul and over his son Jonathan, and over the people of the Lord and over the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

¹³ And David said to the youth who had reported it to him, “Where are you from?” And he responded, “I am the son of a man who is a new arrival from the Amalekites.”

¹⁴ And David said to him, “Why were you not afraid to put forth your hand, so that you would kill the Christ of the Lord?”¹

1. 1:14The term Christ means anointed. However, it is better to translate the Latin Christum as Christ than as anointed, first, because it is closer to the Latin; second, because Saul, and David, and Solomon were each foreshadowings of Jesus the Christ; third, because using the term anointed would obscure the connection between these passages and Jesus Christ.(Conte)

¹⁵ And calling one of his servants, David said, “Draw near and rush against him” And he struck him, and he died.

¹⁶ And David said to him: “Your blood is upon your own head. For your own mouth has spoken against you, saying: ‘I have killed the Christ of the Lord.’ ”

¹⁷ Then David mourned a lamentation over Saul and over his son Jonathan, in this way.

¹⁸ (And he instructed that they should teach the sons of Judah the bow, just as it is written in the Book of the Just.) And he said: “Consider, O Israel, on behalf of those who are dead, wounded upon your heights:

¹⁹ The illustrious of Israel have been killed upon your mountains. How could the valiant have fallen?

²⁰ Do not choose to announce it in Gath, and do not announce it in the crossroads of Ashkelon. Otherwise, the daughters of the Philistines may rejoice; otherwise, the daughters of the uncircumcised may exult.

²¹ O mountains of Gilboa, let neither dew, nor rain fall over you, and may these not be the fields of the first-fruits. For in that place, the shield of the valiant was cast away, the shield of Saul, as if he had not been anointed with oil.

²² From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the strong, the arrow of Jonathan never turned back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty.

²³ Saul and Jonathan, worthy to be loved, and stately in their life: even in death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

²⁴ O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with scarlet finery, who offered ornaments of gold for your adornment.

²⁵ How could the valiant have fallen in battle? How could Jonathan have been slain on the heights?

²⁶ I grieve over you, my brother Jonathan: exceedingly stately, and worthy to be loved above the love of women. As a mother loves her only son, so also did I love you.

²⁷ How could the robust have fallen, and the weapons of war have perished?”