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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadGreater Men and Women of the Bible by James Hastings: 280. The Crowning Close
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The Crowning Close
And in their death they were not divided;
They were swifter than eagles,
They were stronger than lions.- 2Sa_1:23.
1. The closing scene in Jonathan's career came, a few years later, on the heights of Mount Gilboa, in battle against the Philistines. Jonathan dies fighting for his country, fighting for his kingdom. The decree had been issued by the mouth of Samuel that they who went forth that day to battle should not return. Jonathan and Saul were both included: “To-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me.” And yet Jonathan did not linger or turn away. The bow of Jonathan turned not back, though the sword of Saul must return empty. He had gone forth once to conquer; he could go forth once more to die. And his death proved that what Jonathan had been willing to sacrifice was no disregarded possession, no unprized treasure, no wealth of which he was weary. It had been something for which he was ready to die; it was something for which he did die. Gilboa throws back its lurid light upon the scene of morning love and makes it doubly beautiful. It lends to that morning what the morning itself did not reveal-the vision of a great sacrifice.
2. No words can do such justice to the memory of Saul and Jonathan as the beautiful dirge composed, possibly by David himself, on the result of the battle of Gilboa. It is drawn from one of the oldest collections of national lyrics, and may be taken as expressive of David's appreciation and sorrow. David was debtor not to Jonathan alone but also to Saul, for he, too, though in very malice, had helped him to the realization of his nobler self. Between them they made him. Perhaps it was a consciousness of this fact that made him join in one noble threnody the names of Saul and Jonathan, his bitterest enemy and his dearest friend, when they lay dead together on the cold mountains of Gilboa. It seemed as though the singer had forgotten the rough experiences which had fallen to his lot through the jealous mania of the king; and, passing over recent years, he was a minstrel-shepherd once more, celebrating the glory and powers of his king.
“Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places!
How are the mighty fallen!
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives,
And in their death they were not divided.”
After thus extolling Saul in lofty words, and claiming the dues of sorrow for him as a great warrior king who had enriched the nation, he goes on to express his personal feelings for Jonathan, the closing lines sounding like the last sigh over a loss too great for utterance:
“I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan:
Very pleasant hast thou been unto me:
Thy love to me was wonderful,
Passing the love of women.
How are the mighty fallen,
And the weapons of war perished!”