Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 1:11-16
Here is, I. David's reception of these tidings. So far was he from falling into a transport of joy, as the Amalekite expected, that he fell into a passion of weeping, rent his clothes (Sa2 1:11), mourned and fasted (Sa2 1:12), not only for his people Israel and Jonathan his friend but for Saul his enemy. This he did, not only as a man of honour, in observance of that decorum which forbids us to insult over those that are fallen, and requires us to attend our relations to the grave with respect, whatever we lost by their life or got by their death, but as a good man and a man of conscience, that had forgiven the injuries Saul had done him and bore him no malice. He knew it, before his son wro…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 1:10
the crown--a small metallic cap or wreath, which encircled the temples, serving the purpose of a helmet, with a very small horn projecting in front, as the emblem of power.
the bracelet that was on his arm--the armlet worn above the elbow; an ancient mark of royal dignity. It is still worn by kings in some Eastern countries.
Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 1:10
The crown - and the bracelet - The crown was probably no more than a royal fillet or diadem, both being the ensigns of royalty. It is sometimes customary in the East for a sovereign prince to give a crown and bracelets, when investing others with dominion or authority over certain provinces. Had Saul these in token of his being God's vicegerent, and that he held the kingdom from him alone?
John Gill on 2 Samuel 1:11
When David took hold on his clothes,.... Not on the young man's but his own:
and rent them; on bearing of the death of Saul and Jonathan, see Genesis 37:34; from whence the Jews (l) gather, that a man is bound to rend his clothes for a prince, and for the father of the sanhedrim, since Saul, they say, was the prince, and Jonathan the father of that court:
and likewise all the men that were with him; rent their clothes also, in imitation of him; the same custom obtained among the Gentiles on mournful occasions (m).
(l) T. Bab. Moed. Katon, fol. 26. 1.((m) "-----it scissa veste Latinus". Virgil. Aeneid. 12. prope finem.
