New English Translation
2 Samuel 1:21
21O mountains of Gilboa, may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil.
2 Samuel 1:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.
- New International Version (NIV)“Mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, may no showers fall on your terraced fields. For there the shield of the mighty was despised, the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“O mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, Nor fields of offerings. For the shield of the mighty is cast away there! The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
Context of 2 Samuel 1:21
19The beauty of Israel lies slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! 20Don’t report it in Gath, don’t spread the news in the streets of Ashkelon, or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate! O mountains of Gilboa, may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil. 22From the blood of the slain, from the fat of warriors, the bow of Jonathan was not turned away. The sword of Saul never returned empty. 23Saul and Jonathan were greatly loved during their lives, and not even in their deaths were they separated. They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.
Read all of 2 Samuel 12 Samuel 1:21 word by word
הָרֵ֣י בַגִּלְבֹּ֗עַ אַל־טַ֧ל וְאַל־מָטָ֛ר עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם וּשְׂדֵ֣י תְרוּמֹ֑ת כִּ֣י שָׁ֤ם נִגְעַל֙ מָגֵ֣ן גִּבּוֹרִ֔ים מָגֵ֣ן שָׁא֔וּל בְּלִ֖י מָשִׁ֥יחַ בַּשָּֽׁמֶן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Ye mountainsהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
- of Gilboaגִּלְבֹּעַgilbôa‛ · GilboaH1533
- no dewטַלţal · dewH2919
- rainמָטַרmâţâr · rainH4306
- upon you, nor fieldsשָׂדֶהώâdeh ώâday · land: countryH7704
- of offeringsתְּרוּמָהterûmâh terûmâh · contributionH8641
- for there the shieldמָגֵןmâgên meginnâh · shieldH4043
- of the mightyגִּבּוֹרgibbôr gibbôr · mighty manH1368
- is vilely cast awayגָּעַלgâ‛al · to abhorH1602
- of Saulשָׁאוּלshâ'ûl · SaulH7586
- anointedמָשִׁיחַmâshîyach · anointedH4899
- with oilשֶׁ֫מֶןshemen · oilH8081
Cross-references for 2 Samuel 1:21
- 1 Samuel 31:1Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. The men of Israel fled from the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa.
- 1 Chronicles 10:1Now the Philistines fought against Israel. The Israelites fled before the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa.
- Judges 5:23‘Call judgment down on Meroz,’ says the Lord’s angelic messenger; ‘Be sure to call judgment down on those who live there, because they did not come to help in the Lord’s battle, to help in the Lord’s battle against the warriors.’
- Job 3:3“Let the day on which I was born perish, and the night that said, ‘A man has been conceived!’
- Isaiah 5:6I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on it.
- Jeremiah 20:14Cursed be the day I was born! May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me.
- Joel 1:9No one brings grain offerings or drink offerings to the temple of the Lord anymore. So the priests, those who serve the Lord, are in mourning.
- Joel 2:14Who knows? Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve, and leave blessing in his wake – a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God!
- 1 Samuel 10:1Then Samuel took a small container of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head. Samuel kissed him and said, “The Lord has chosen you to lead his people Israel! You will rule over the Lord’s people and you will deliver them from the power of the enemies who surround them. This will be your sign that the Lord has chosen you as leader over his inheritance.
- Isaiah 21:5Arrange the table, lay out the carpet, eat and drink! Get up, you officers, smear oil on the shields!
Commentaries on 2 Samuel 1:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21As though he had not been - In stead of בלי beli, Not, I read כלי keley, Instruments. Anointed with oil - See the observations at the end. 2 Samuel 1:18, etc.: He bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow, קשת kasheth . The word kasheth is to be understood of the title of the song which immediately follows, and not of the use of the bow, as our translation intimates. Many of David's Psalms have titles prefixed to them; some are termed…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Let there be no dew - For a similar passionate form of poetical malediction, compare Job 3:3-10; Jeremiah 20:14-18. Nor fields of offerings - He imprecates such complete barrenness on the soil of Gilboa, that not even enough may grow for an offering of first-fruits. The latter part of the verse is better rendered thus: For there the shield of the mighty was polluted, the shield of Saul was not anointed with oil, but with blood). Shields were usually…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-27Verses 17-27 Kasheth, or "the bow," probably was the title of this mournful, funeral song. David does not commend Saul for what he was not; and says nothing of his piety or goodness. Jonathan was a dutiful son, Saul an affectionate father, therefore dear to each other. David had reason to say, that Jonathan's love to him was wonderful. Next to the love between Christ and his people, that affection which springs form it, produces the strongest friendship…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21Saul and Jonathan died in the mountains of Gilboa (1 Samuel 31:1). may you have no dew or rain: David was calling down a curse on the place where they died. In the ancient Near East, people sometimes spoke curses like this to express deep grief. A Canaanite text from the 1300s BC records a father speaking a very similar curse over the place where his son died. The shield of Saul represents his military victories as king. It would no longer be anointed…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. let there be no dew, neither let there be rain--To be deprived of the genial atmospheric influences which, in those anciently cultivated hills, seem to have reared plenty of first-fruits in the corn harvests, was specified as the greatest calamity the lacerated feelings of the poet could imagine. The curse seems still to lie upon them; for the mountains of Gilboa are naked and sterile. the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away--To cast away the…Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Samuel 1:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Samuel 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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