Bible Strands
2 Samuel 1:23
Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life, were not divided in death. They were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David addresses the mourning women of Israel, reciting a lament immediately after learning of King Saul and Prince Jonathan’s deaths on Mount Gilboa. The words — נִפְרָדוּ (nif.Ra.du) translates literally as "they were separated," while בְּ/חַיֵּי/הֶ֔ם (be./chai.yei./Hem) means "in their lives." The thread — The phrase "swifter than eagles" echoes the divine judgment imagery in Jeremiah 4:13 and Deuteronomy 28:49, while the strength metaphor parallels the riddle language of Judges 14:18. Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment of their unbreakable bond and martial speed, requiring the reader to weigh their heroic legacy against the historical reality of their fatal end.
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
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 4:13 Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!
- Judges 14:18 Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the city said to Samson: “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” So he said to them: “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle!”
- Deuteronomy 28:49 The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
- Job 9:26 They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
- Proverbs 30:30 a lion, mighty among beasts, refusing to retreat before anything;
- Lamentations 4:19 Those who chased us were swifter than the eagles in the sky; they pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.
- 1 Samuel 18:1 After David had finished speaking with Saul, the souls of Jonathan and David were knit together, and Jonathan loved him as himself.
- 1 Samuel 31:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
- 2 Samuel 23:20 And Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a man of valor from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions of Moab, and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion.
- 1 Chronicles 12:8 Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the wilderness. They were mighty men of valor, trained for battle, experts with the shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were as swift as gazelles on the mountains: