Ii Samuelis 1
1 Factum est autem, postquam mortuus est Saul, ut David reverteretur a cæde Amalec, et maneret in Siceleg duos dies.
After Saul died, David [and the men who were with him] returned to Ziklag [town] after defeating the descendants of Amalek. They stayed in Ziklag for two days.
2 In die autem tertia apparuit homo veniens de castris Saul veste conscissa, et pulvere conspersus caput: et ut venit ad David, cecidit super faciem suam, et adoravit.
On the third day, unexpectedly a man arrived there who had come from where Saul’s army was camped. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head [to show that he was grieving]. He came to David, and prostrated himself on the ground [in front of David to show respect for him].
3 Dixitque ad eum David: Unde venis? Qui ait ad eum: De castris Israël fugi.
David asked him, “Where have you come from?” The man replied, “I escaped from where the Israeli army had been camped.”
4 Et dixit ad eum David: Quod est verbum quod factum est? indica mihi. Qui ait: Fugit populus ex prælio, et multi corruentes e populo mortui sunt: sed et Saul et Jonathas filius ejus interierunt.
David asked him, “What happened? Tell me [about the battle]!” The man replied, “The Israeli soldiers ran away from the battle. Many of them were killed. And Saul and his son Jonathan (are dead/were also killed).”
5 Dixitque David ad adolescentem qui nuntiabat ei: Unde scis quia mortuus est Saul, et Jonathas filius ejus?
David said to the young man, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
6 Et ait adolescens qui nuntiabat ei: Casu veni in montem Gelboë, et Saul incumbebat super hastam suam: porro currus et equites appropinquabant ei,
The young man replied, “It happened that I was on Gilboa Mountain [where the battle occurred], and I saw Saul, leaning on his spear. The [enemy] chariots and their drivers had come very close to Saul.
7 et conversus post tergum suum, vidensque me, vocavit. Cui cum respondissem: Adsum:
Saul turned around and saw me, and he called out to me. I answered him and said, ‘What do you want me to do?’
8 dixit mihi: Quisnam es tu? Et aio ad eum: Amalecites ego sum.
He replied, ‘Who are you?’ I replied, ‘I am a descendant of Amalek.’
9 Et locutus est mihi: Sta super me, et interfice me: quoniam tenent me angustiæ, et adhuc tota anima mea in me est.
Then he said to me, ‘Come over here and kill me. I am still alive, but I am enduring a lot of pain.’
10 Stansque super eum, occidi illum: sciebam enim quod vivere non poterat post ruinam: et tuli diadema quod erat in capite ejus, et armillam de brachio illius, et attuli ad te dominum meum huc.
So I went to him and killed him, because I knew that he was wounded very badly and would (not continue to live/soon die). I took the crown that was on his head and the band/bracelet that was on his arm, and I have brought them to you.”
11 Apprehendens autem David, vestimenta sua scidit, omnesque viri qui erant cum eo,
Then David and all the men who were with him tore their clothes [to show that they were very sad].
12 et planxerunt, et fleverunt, et jejunaverunt usque ad vesperam super Saul, et super Jonathan filium ejus, et super populum Domini, et super domum Israël, eo quod corruissent gladio.
They mourned for Saul and his son Jonathan, and they cried and (fasted/abstained from eating food) until it was evening. They also mourned for all the army of Yahweh, and for all the Israeli people, because many of their soldiers had been killed in the battle [MTY].
13 Dixitque David ad juvenem qui nuntiaverat ei: Unde es tu? Qui respondit: Filius hominis advenæ Amalecitæ ego sum.
Then David asked the young man who had told him [about the battle], “Where are you from?” He replied, “My father is a descendant of Amalek, but we live in Israel.”
14 Et ait ad eum David: Quare non timuisti mittere manum tuam ut occideres christum Domini?
David asked him, “(Why were you not afraid [that you would be punished if you] killed Saul, whom Yahweh had appointed [MTY] [to be the king]?/You should have been afraid [that you would be punished if you] killed Saul, whom Yahweh had appointed [MTY] [to be the king].) [RHQ]
15 Vocansque David unum de pueris suis, ait: Accedens irrue in eum. Qui percussit illum, et mortuus est.
You yourself said, ‘I killed the man whom Yahweh appointed to be the king.’ So you have caused yourself to be guilty [MTY] of causing your own death!” Then David summoned one of his soldiers and said to him, “Kill him!” So the soldier killed him by striking him [with a sword].
16 Et ait ad eum David: Sanguis tuus super caput tuum: os enim tuum locutum est adversum te, dicens: Ego interfeci christum Domini.
17 Planxit autem David planctum hujuscemodi super Saul, et super Jonathan filium ejus
Then David composed/wrote this sad song about Saul and Jonathan,
18 (et præcepit ut docerent filios Juda arcum, sicut scriptum est in libro justorum), et ait: [Considera, Israël, pro his qui mortui sunt, super excelsa tua vulnerati.
and he commanded that it be taught to the people of Judah. [The song is called] ‘The Bow [and Arrow]’ and it has been written in the Book of Jashar:
19 Inclyti Israël super montes tuos interfecti sunt: quomodo ceciderunt fortes?
“You Israeli people, your glorious [MTY] leaders have been killed on the mountains! [It is very sad that] those mighty men have died!
20 Nolite annuntiare in Geth, neque annuntietis in compitis Ascalonis: ne forte lætentur filiæ Philisthiim; ne exultent filiæ incircumcisorum.]
“Do not tell it [to our enemies in the Philistia area]; do not tell to the people who live in Gath [city] what happened; do not proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon [city], because if you tell them, [even] the women in that area will be happy; do not allow those (pagan women/women who do not know God) to rejoice.
21 [Montes Gelboë, nec ros, nec pluvia veniant super vos, neque sint agri primitiarum: quia ibi abjectus est clypeus fortium: clypeus Saul, quasi non esset unctus oleo.]
I hope/desire that there will be no rain or dew on the mountains of [the] Gilboa [area] [APO], and that no grain will grow in the fields there, because there the shield of Saul, the mighty [king], fell on the ground. No one rubbed [olive] oil on Saul’s shield;
22 [A sanguine interfectorum, ab adipe fortium, sagitta Jonathæ numquam rediit retrorsum, et gladius Saul non est reversus inanis.
instead, it was stained with the blood of those whom he had killed, and the fat of mighty enemy soldiers was smeared on it. Jonathan [PRS] did not retreat carrying his bow [and arrows], and Saul always [defeated his enemies when he fought them] with his sword. [PRS, LIT]
23 Saul et Jonathas amabiles, et decori in vita sua, in morte quoque non sunt divisi: aquilis velociores, leonibus fortiores.]
“Saul and Jonathan were loved and they pleased many people. They were together [LIT] while they lived and when they died. [In battles] they were swifter than eagles and they were stronger than lions.
24 [Filiæ Israël, super Saul flete, qui vestiebat vos coccino in deliciis, qui præbebat ornamenta aurea cultui vestro.]
“You Israeli women, cry about Saul; He provided beautiful scarlet/red clothes for you and he gave you gold ornaments/jewelry to fasten on those clothes.
25 [Quomodo ceciderunt fortes in prælio? Jonathas in excelsis tuis occisus est?
“[It is very sad that] this mighty soldier has died! Jonathan has been killed on the mountains/hills.
26 Doleo super te, frater mi Jonatha, decore nimis, et amabilis super amorem mulierum. Sicut mater unicum amat filium suum, ita ego te diligebam.
Jonathan, my dear friend, I grieve for you; you were very dear to me. You loved me in a wonderful manner; it was better than the way that a woman loves [her husband and her children].
27 Quomodo ceciderunt robusti, et perierunt arma bellica?]
“It is very sad that those mighty men have died, and their weapons are now abandoned!
