2 Samuel 1:20 Explained in Context

Read It With

• 2 Samuel 1:17–27

Read 2 Samuel 1:20 with 1:17–27. The wording “Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the…” supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: David teaches Judah a lament that grieves Israel's fallen, honors Saul and Jonathan, and gives special voice to his bond with Jonathan.

Why This Verse Appears Here

Within “The Bow Lament Honors Saul and Jonathan,” 2 Samuel 1:20 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 2 Samuel 1:11–16 establishes this prior movement: David and his men mourn before David tests the messenger's identity and orders his death for claiming to strike the LORD's anointed. 2 Samuel 1:17–27 interprets or reframes what the preceding narrative has established; that demonstrated relationship, rather than sequence alone, explains its placement.