These studies cover the ancient grouping of Hebrew Bible writings called Nevi’im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings). These books include from Joshua through Malachi in the conventional Christian canon.
Saul is dead but David is not yet king over all of Israel. As the chapter begins “Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David grew steadily stronger, but the house of Saul grew weaker continually” (2nd Sam. 3:1). Most of Saul’s sons are dead but David’s family is growing.
David is anointed king of Yehudah (Judah), but he must now fight the house of Saul for control of all the tribes.
David discovers the result of the war between Saul and the Philistines. The 2nd Samuel 1 starts with David’s revealing his utter heartbreak at hearing of the death of his best friend, Yahunatan (Jonathan).
What do Yonatan/Yahunatan (Jonathan), Eliyahu (Elijah) and Yokhanan the Mikvatizer (John the Baptist) have in common? The pattern of the preparer and the anointed one repeats throughout Scripture and is evident in the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel.
The pattern we find in 1st Samuel is a pattern of preparing and delivering. He sends two witnesses for each delivery, a preparer and deliverer. We continue with this pattern with the beginning of Saul’s reign. These stories are not just history, or entertainment. The book of 1st Samuel also shows us how Sh’mu’el (Samuel), Sha’ul (Saul), Yahunatan/Yonatan (Jonathan) and David are a foreshadowing of the Messiah to come. This history helped the prophets see and reveal the Messiah to us.
We see a pattern of preparation and deliverance throughout the Bible. The book of Judges is one example but the pattern is even more obvious in 1st Samuel. God prepares the people of Israel to move from leadership of judges and priests to the leadership of monarchy.
Few generals and kings approach an upcoming battle and know for absolute certainty that they will be dead by the end of it. This was Saul’s predicament here. The burden of that knowledge must have been unbearable. Questions about how Saul actually died abound since there seems to be two different version of the story in the Scriptures which need to be reconciled. This chapter also sparked conversation about ancient Israelite burial methods and suicide.