KJV 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.
VERSE STUDY • KJV
2 Samuel 1:23
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.
Read it in 5 translations
BSB Berean Standard Bible
Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life, were not divided in death. They were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions.
WEB World English Bible
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives. In their death, they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles. They were stronger than lions.
ASV American Standard 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.
YLT Young’s Literal Translation
Saul and Jonathan! They are loved and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they have not been parted. Than eagles they have been lighter, Than lions they have been mightier!
Surrounding context — 2 Samuel 1
20 Tell [it] not in Gath, publish [it] not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
21 Ye mountains of Gilboa, [let there be] no dew, neither [let there be] rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, [as though he had] not [been] anointed with oil.
22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.
23 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.
24 Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with [other] delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.
25 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, [thou wast] slain in thine high places.
26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
Topics connected to this verse
Original-language word links
These Hebrew/Greek tokens are linked by Strong's number. Click one for its lexicon definition and other occurrences.
שָׁא֣וּלH7586 · sha.ulSaulוִיהוֹנָתָ֗ןH3083 · ye.ho.na.tanJonathanהַנֶּאֱהָבִ֤יםH157 · a.havto love: loverוְהַנְּעִימִם֙H5273 · na.impleasantבְּחַיֵּיהֶ֔םH2416 · chayaliveוּבְמוֹתָ֖םH4194 · ma.vetdeathלֹ֣אH3808 · lonotנִפְרָ֑דוּH6504 · pa.radto separateמִנְּשָׁרִ֣יםH5404 · ne.shereagleקַ֔לּוּH7043 · qa.lalto lightenמֵאֲרָי֖וֹתH738 · a.rilionגָּבֵֽרוּ׃H1396 · ga.varto prevail
Cross-references
Jeremiah 4:13Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots [shall be] as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.Judges 14:18And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What [is] sweeter than honey? and what [is] stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.Proverbs 30:30A lion [which is] strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;Job 9:26They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle [that] hasteth to the prey.Deuteronomy 28:49The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, [as swift] as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;Lamentations 4:19Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.1 Samuel 20:2And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it [is] not [so].1 Samuel 18:1And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.2 Samuel 23:20And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow:1 Chronicles 12:8And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, [and] men of war [fit] for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces [were like] the faces of lions, and [were] as swift as the roes upon the mountains;1 Samuel 31:1-5Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.2 Samuel 2:18And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel [was as] light of foot as a wild roe.
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION
Compare classic commentaries on 2 Samuel 1:23
Put Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, Calvin, Wesley, Barnes, Jamieson–Fausset–Brown, Aquinas’ Catena and other public-domain sources beside the passage.
Compare commentaries →