2 Samuel 1:21-23
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
21 O mountains of Gilboa,
upon you be neither dew nor rain,
nor surging from the deeps![a]
Defiled there the warriors’ shields,
the shield of Saul—no longer anointed with oil!(A)
22 From the blood of the slain,
from the bodies of the warriors,
The bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
nor the sword of Saul return unstained.[b](B)
23 Saul and Jonathan, beloved and dear,
separated neither in life nor death,
swifter than eagles, stronger than lions!
Footnotes
- 1:21 Surging from the deeps: this conjectural reading of the Hebrew yields a parallelism with dew and rain: the mountains where the warriors have fallen in battle are to be desiccated, deprived of water from above (rain, dew) and below (the primordial deeps).
- 1:22 Unstained: lit., “empty.” The sword was conceived as a devouring mouth; see, e.g., 2:26.
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