Bible Strands
2 Samuel 1:15
Then David summoned one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him!” So the young man struck him down, and he died.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David commands one of his young men to execute the Amalekite who claimed to have killed Saul. This occurs immediately after David questions the Amalekite’s courage for striking down the Lord’s anointed.
The words — The command includes גּשׁ (gash), meaning "draw near," and פגע (pega'), meaning "fall upon" or "strike." These terms frame the execution as a direct, physical act of judgment.
The thread — David’s order mirrors his earlier execution of the man who reported Saul’s death in 2 Samuel 4:10, while contrasting with the fearful young man in Judges 8:20 who refused to carry out a royal command. It also aligns with the king’s directive to execute the priests in 1 Samuel 22:17.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that authority over the Lord’s anointed belongs to God alone, not to human judgment. A reader must account for the weight of executing someone solely on the basis of their own confession.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.
Cross-references
- Judges 8:20 So he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” But the young man did not draw his sword; he was fearful because he was still a youth.
- 1 Samuel 22:17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they did not tell me.” But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.
- 2 Samuel 4:10 when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was a bearer of good news, I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was his reward for his news!
- 1 Kings 2:25 So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonijah and he died.
- 1 Kings 2:34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and killed him. He was buried at his own home in the wilderness.
- 1 Kings 2:46 Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. Thus the kingdom was firmly established in the hand of Solomon.
- Job 5:12 He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- Proverbs 11:18 The wicked man earns an empty wage, but he who sows righteousness reaps a true reward.