Limitless Word
For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”
2 Samuel 1:16 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB David said to him, “Your blood be on your head; for your mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have slain Yahweh’s anointed.’”
  • KJV And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD’s anointed.
  • NKJV So David said to him, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’ ”
  • NASB And David said to him, “Your blood is on your head, because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have finished off the Lord’s anointed.’ ”
  • NLT “You have condemned yourself,” David said, “for you yourself confessed that you killed the Lord’s anointed one.”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

David declares the man's blood is on his own head, condemned by his own confession. His self-incriminating testimony seals his fate.

Overview

David pronounces the man guilty by his own mouth, a principle echoed throughout Scripture that one's words can testify against oneself. The execution rests on the man's claim to have slain Yahweh's anointed. David thus publicly establishes that he neither sought nor sanctioned the king's death, preserving his integrity as the rising king.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • Matt 27:25All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
  • Luke 19:22His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?
  • Rom 3:19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
  • Lev 20:9If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.
  • 1 Sam 26:9But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can lift a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”
  • 2 Sam 1:10So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”
  • Josh 2:19If anyone goes out the door of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if a hand is laid on anyone with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads.
  • Prov 6:2if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,
  • 1 Kgs 2:37On the day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will die; your blood will be on your own head.”
  • Gen 9:5–6And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
  • Judg 9:24in order that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the leaders of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.
  • 1 Kgs 2:32–33The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to the sword Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.
  • Ezek 18:13He engages in usury and takes excess interest. Will this son live? He will not! Since he has committed all these abominations, he will surely die; his blood will be on his own head.
  • Lev 20:27A man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist must surely be put to death. They shall be stoned; their blood is upon them.’”
  • Deut 19:10Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.
  • Ezek 33:5Since he heard the sound of the horn but failed to heed the warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life.
  • 2 Sam 3:28–29Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.
  • Lev 20:16If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
  • Acts 20:26Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
  • Lev 20:11–13If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
  • Job 15:6Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 2 Samuel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 2 Samuel 1:16YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 2 SamuelMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.

How 2 Samuel 1:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.