Now it came to pass, after Saul was dead, that David returned from the slaughter of the Amalecites, and abode two days in Siceleg.

Factum est autem, postquam mortuus est Saul, ut David reverteretur a cæde Amalec, et maneret in Siceleg duos dies.

Saul was already dead when David came back from routing Amelec, and spent two days in Siceleg;

And on the third day, there appeared a man who came out of Saul’s camp, with his garments rent, and dust strewed on his head: and when he came to David, he fell upon his face, and adored.

In die autem tertia apparuit homo veniens de castris Saul veste conscissa, et pulvere conspersus caput: et ut venit ad David, cecidit super faciem suam, et adoravit.

then, on the third day, a man from Saul’s army came in view, his garments torn, his head covered with dust, who, upon sight of David, bowed down to earth and did reverence.

And David said to him: From whence comest thou? And he said to him: I am fled out of the camp of Israel.

Dixitque ad eum David: Unde venis? Qui ait ad eum: De castris Israël fugi.

Whence comest thou? David asked, and on learning that he had made his way there from the Israelite army,

And David said unto him: What is the matter that is come to pass? tell me. He said: The people are fled from the battle, and many of the people are fallen and dead: moreover Saul and Jonathan his son are slain.

Et dixit ad eum David: Quod est verbum quod factum est? indica mihi. Qui ait: Fugit populus ex prælio, et multi corruentes e populo mortui sunt: sed et Saul et Jonathas filius ejus interierunt.

Tell me, how went the day? We were routed, said he, in the battle, and many of the common folk fell slain; worse yet, Saul and his son Jonathan are among the dead.

And David said to the young man that told him: How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son, are dead?

Dixitque David ad adolescentem qui nuntiabat ei: Unde scis quia mortuus est Saul, et Jonathas filius ejus?

What proof hast thou, David asked the messenger, that Saul and Jonathan were slain?

And the young man that told him, said: I came by chance upon mount Gelboe, and Saul leaned upon his spear: and the chariots and horsemen drew nigh unto him,

Et ait adolescens qui nuntiabat ei: Casu veni in montem Gelboë, et Saul incumbebat super hastam suam: porro currus et equites appropinquabant ei,

I chanced, said he, to reach mount Gelboe, and there I found Saul, leaning on his spear. Chariots and horsemen were in close pursuit,

And looking behind him, and seeing me, he called me. And I answered, Here am I.

et conversus post tergum suum, vidensque me, vocavit. Cui cum respondissem: Adsum:

and he turned to look behind him; saw, and hailed me, and learned I was ready at his command;

And he said to me: Who art thou? And I said to him: I am an Amalecite.

dixit mihi: Quisnam es tu? Et aio ad eum: Amalecites ego sum.

asked who I was, and learned that I was an Amalecite.

And he said to me: Stand over me, and kill me: for anguish is come upon me, and as yet my whole life is in me.

Et locutus est mihi: Sta super me, et interfice me: quoniam tenent me angustiæ, et adhuc tota anima mea in me est.

Then he said, Stand close, and give me my death-blow; the toils are closing round me, and I am a whole man yet.

So standing over him, I killed him: for I knew that he could not live after the fall: and I took the diadem that was on his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither to thee, my lord.

Stansque super eum, occidi illum: sciebam enim quod vivere non poterat post ruinam: et tuli diadema quod erat in capite ejus, et armillam de brachio illius, et attuli ad te dominum meum huc.

So I stood close, and dealt the blow, knowing well that there could be no life for him after his fall; then I took the crown from his head and the bracelet from his arm, and here I bring them to my lord.

Then David took hold of his garments and rent them, and likewise all the men that were with him.

Apprehendens autem David, vestimenta sua scidit, omnesque viri qui erant cum eo,

At that, David rent his garments, and so did all the men who were with him;

And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword.

et planxerunt, et fleverunt, et jejunaverunt usque ad vesperam super Saul, et super Jonathan filium ejus, et super populum Domini, et super domum Israël, eo quod corruissent gladio.

mourned they and wept, and fasted till evening came, for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the Lord’s people, men of Israel’s race, that lay fallen in battle.

And David said to the young man that told him: Whence art thou? He answered: I am the son of a stranger of Amalec.

Dixitque David ad juvenem qui nuntiaverat ei: Unde es tu? Qui respondit: Filius hominis advenæ Amalecitæ ego sum.

And now David asked the messenger, Whence is it thou camest? My father, he answered, was an alien, a man of Amalec.

David said to him: Why didst thou not fear to put out thy hand to kill the Lord’s anointed?

Et ait ad eum David: Quare non timuisti mittere manum tuam ut occideres christum Domini?

And wast thou not afraid, said David, to lay hands on the king the Lord had anointed, and slay him?

And David calling one of his servants, said: Go near and fall upon him. And he struck him so that he died.

Vocansque David unum de pueris suis, ait: Accedens irrue in eum. Qui percussit illum, et mortuus est.

Then he bade one of his men go up and make an end of the Amalecite, and when the blow had fallen, said over his dead body,

And David said to him: Thy blood be upon thy own head: for thy own mouth hath spoken against thee, saying: I have slain the Lord’s anointed.

Et ait ad eum David: Sanguis tuus super caput tuum: os enim tuum locutum est adversum te, dicens: Ego interfeci christum Domini.

Thou hast brought death on thy own head, by owning thyself the murderer of an anointed king.

And David made this kind of lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son.

Planxit autem David planctum hujuscemodi super Saul, et super Jonathan filium ejus

This is the lament David made over Saul and his son Jonathan,

(Also he commanded that they should teach the children of Juda the use of the bow, as it is written in the book of the just.) And he said: Consider, O Israel, for them that are dead, wounded on thy high places.

(et præcepit ut docerent filios Juda arcum, sicut scriptum est in libro justorum), et ait: Considera, Israël, pro his qui mortui sunt, super excelsa tua vulnerati.

and would have this lament of his, The Bow, taught to the sons of Juda; the words of it are to be found in the Book of the Upright. Remember, Israel, the dead, wounded on thy heights,

The illustrious of Israel are slain upon thy mountains: how are the valiant fallen?

Inclyti Israël super montes tuos interfecti sunt: quomodo ceciderunt fortes?

the flower of Israel, cut down on thy mountains; how fell they, warriors such as these?

Tell it not in Geth, publish it not in the streets of Ascalon: lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

Nolite annuntiare in Geth, neque annuntietis in compitis Ascalonis: ne forte lætentur filiæ Philisthiim; ne exultent filiæ incircumcisorum.

Keep the secret in Geth, never a word in the streets of Ascalon; shall the women-folk rejoice, shall they triumph, daughters of the Philistine, the uncircumcised?

Ye mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew, nor rain come upon you, neither be they fields of firstfruits: for there was cast away the shield of the valiant, the shield of Saul as though he had not been anointed with oil.

Montes Gelboë, nec ros, nec pluvia veniant super vos, neque sint agri primitiarum: quia ibi abjectus est clypeus fortium: clypeus Saul, quasi non esset unctus oleo.

Mountains of Gelboe, never dew, never rain fall upon you, never from your lands be offering made of first-fruits; there the warrior’s shield lies dishonoured, the shield of Saul, bright with oil no more.

From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the valiant, the arrow of Jonathan never turned back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty.

A sanguine interfectorum, ab adipe fortium, sagitta Jonathæ numquam rediit retrorsum, et gladius Saul non est reversus inanis.

Where the blood of slain men, the flesh of warriors beckoned, never the bow of Jonathan hung back, never the sword of Saul went empty from the feast.

Saul and Jonathan, lovely, and comely in their life, even in death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

Saul et Jonathas amabiles, et decori in vita sua, in morte quoque non sunt divisi: aquilis velociores, leonibus fortiores.

Saul and Jonathan, so well beloved, so beautiful; death no more than life could part them; never was eagle so swift, never was lion so strong.

Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with scarlet in delights, who gave ornaments of gold for your attire.

Filiæ Israël, super Saul flete, qui vestiebat vos coccino in deliciis, qui præbebat ornamenta aurea cultui vestro.

Lament, daughters of Israel, lament for Saul, the man who dressed you bravely in scarlet, who decked your apparel out with trinkets of gold.

How are the valiant fallen in battle? Jonathan slain in the high places?

Quomodo ceciderunt fortes in prælio? Jonathas in excelsis tuis occisus est?

How fell they, warriors such as these, in the battle? On thy heights, Gelboe, Jonathan lies slain.

I grieve for thee, my brother Jonathan: exceeding beautiful, and amiable to me above the love of women. As the mother loveth her only son, so did I love thee.

Doleo super te, frater mi Jonatha, decore nimis, et amabilis super amorem mulierum. Sicut mater unicum amat filium suum, ita ego te diligebam.

Shall I not mourn for thee, Jonathan my brother, so beautiful, so well beloved, beyond all love of women? Never woman loved her only son, as I thee.

How are the valiant fallen, and the weapons of war perished?

Quomodo ceciderunt robusti, et perierunt arma bellica?

How fell such warriors, what could blunt such swords as these?