O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.
Parallel translations
- WEB You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain on you, and no fields of offerings; For there the shield of the mighty was defiled and cast away, The shield of Saul was not anointed with oil.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV “O mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, Nor fields of offerings. For the shield of the mighty is cast away there! The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
- NASB “Mountains of Gilboa, May there be no dew nor rain on you, or fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
- NLT O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fruitful fields producing offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty heroes was defiled; the shield of Saul will no longer be anointed with oil.
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 curses the mountains of Gilboa where Saul fell and his shield lay defiled. The poetic curse expresses the depth of the tragedy.
Overview
Calling for no dew or rain on Gilboa is a poetic way of marking the place as accursed for the disaster it witnessed. The shield not anointed with oil pictures the king cut down, his royal dignity disgraced in death. The imagery conveys how deeply Saul's fall wounded the nation's sense of God-given kingship.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Sam 31:1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
- Isa 21:5They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields!
- 1 Sam 10:1Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?
- Job 3:3–10“May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’
- Jer 20:14–16Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.
- 1 Chr 10:8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
- Joel 1:9Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD.
- Judg 5:23‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’
- Joel 2:14Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him—grain and drink offerings for the LORD your God.
- Isa 5:6I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
- Ezek 31:15This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the day it was brought down to Sheol, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it; I held back its rivers; its abundant waters were restrained. I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it.
- 1 Chr 10:1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
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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 1:21 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
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