Chuck Larsen

Samuel reported David’s weeping at the death of Saul and his son Jonathan. David has the Amalekite, who claimed to have been the one to put Saul out of his misery. Saul was God’s anointed, and David never lost respect for that fact and refused to take decisive action against Saul, even to save his own life. He expected everyone in Israel to weep over the loss of Saul and his defeat at the hand of their common enemy. David wants the nation to have great respect for God’s anointed. In 2 Samuel 1:17-18, David wanted the people to learn a lament that was contained in a non-canonical book, the Book of Jashar. The passage says, “And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar.”

 We don’t know a lot about the book of Jashar. The Yale Bible Dictionary tells us that it is quoted in three Old Testament passages; Joshua 10:12-13, 2 Samuel 1:18, and possibly in 1 Kings 8:12-13.^[1] Because it has been quoted as authoritative, several commentators recognize it as being of value. But it has remained extracanonical for most of its history. We have versions of the book from 1552 AD and then another from Venice, Italy, around 1625. These are the oldest manuscripts we have of the book. Or at least they were the oldest until 1947 when the little Bedouin shepherd boy threw his rock into a cave at Qum Ron, where the dead sea scrolls were discovered. There were only fragments discovered of the book, but many scholars have argued that the book of Jashar should date back as far as the other books of the Old Testament. Surely, if Samuel is quoting from the book as he says so here, it must date back to before his time. He uses the quotation as if it’s a well-known resource in his day.

The Book of Jashar appears to have been a book of songs. This seems to be clear from the way it is used in the three references to it in the Old Testament. The Joshua 10 passage refers to it as the song celebrating God holding back the night long enough for Joshua to conquer his enemies completely. Jashar says, “Sun, stand still in Gibeon! Moon, (stand still) in the valley of Aijalon! The Sun stood still. The Moon stayed until He had taken vengeance upon the nations of His enemies.” The second reference to the book of Jashar is seen in this passage, 1 Samuel 1:18. It records the depth of David’s mourning over the death of King Saul and Saul’s son, David’s friend, Jonathan. Bergen says, “This piece of oral and written literature played the valuable role of preserving the memory of a crucial event in Israelite history while reinforcing the office of kingship through its portrayal of the king as the agent through whom prosperity was brought to Israel.”^[2] The Book of Jashar was a collection of Patriotic songs that celebrate the war heroes of Israel. Saul had delivered Israel from their enemy on numerous occasions, and David memorialized that in this song and taught it to Israel. It’s the battle hymn of the theocracy.

^[1] Christensen, Duane L. 1992. “Jashar, Book of.” In The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel Freedman, 3:646. New York: Doubleday.

^[2] Bergen, Robert D. 1996. 1, 2 Samuel. Vol. 7. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Hannah, Elkanah’s first wife, was childless. But his second wife bore him many sons and daughters. Yet Elkanah had a profound affection for Hannah that Peninnah did not have from her husband. When they went on their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the great celebration with all of Israel, Elkanah would show Hannah favoritism before all the people. This did not sit well with Peninnah. 1 Samuel 1:6-7 tells us, “And her rival (Peninnah) used to provoke her (Hannah) grievously to irritate her because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore, Hannah wept and would not eat.”

The treatment that Hannah received from Peninnah caused great consternation. Commentators observed that Hannah’s “irritation” was as severe as a storm with thunder and lightning. One commentator says, “The Hebrew word used here literally ‘means ‘to thunder’ or ‘to roar,’ like a storm. This is the sort of word that would be used to describe being caught in a hurricane. In other words, Hannah’s emotions were thundering and roaring like a hurricane. The text even tells us that Peninnah’s harassment was continual. There was no relief for Hannah from the relentless reminders of her barrenness. To say that Hannah was a deeply distressed individual is an understatement. Verse 7 indicates that her depression was so intense that she even refused to eat. Hannah must have lain awake many nights in despair, feeling like a broken, hopeless failure.”^[1] That Hannah would not eat is an interesting remark because it follows the comment that Elkanah, her husband, gave her double portions of the sacrifices because he loved her so much. Hannah’s sorrow was so severe that food couldn’t help her in the least. The only thing she wanted was a child.

Many people know what it is like to have an antagonist in their life that they can do nothing about. It’s terribly disruptive in life. One cannot sleep or eat without the nagging presence of the one that strives to cause you pain. David lived with Saul, the King of Israel, as his antagonist. He found himself in such a predicament that it grieved his soul, yet there was nothing he could do about it. It drove David to write many songs. We call them the “Imprecatory” Psalms because David dumps his problems on God. He refused to take retaliatory action himself. Instead, he trusts God to deliver him from his antagonists. He trusts in the goodness and fairness of God and looks to God to take care of His problem. In Psalm 69, we read, “Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.  Hide not your face from your servant, for I am in distress; make haste to answer me. Draw near to my soul, redeem me; ransom me because of my enemies!” David trusted God to set things right. Hannah did the same thing.

^[1] Greear, J. D., and Heath A. Thomas. 2016. Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Samuel. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference.