2 Samuel 1:16

THE MESSAGE

"You asked for it," David told him. "You sealed your death sentence when you said you killed God 's anointed king."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood is on your own head because your own mouth testified against you by saying, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

Hebrew Names Version
David said to him, Your blood be on your head; for your mouth has testified against you, saying, I have slain the LORD's anointed.

King James Version
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.

Lexham English Bible
David said to him, "Your blood is on your head, for your mouth has testified against you by saying, ‘I killed Yahweh's anointed one!'"

English Standard Version
And David said to him, "Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord 's anointed.'"

New Century Version
David had said to the Amalekite, "You are responsible for your own death. You confessed by saying, ‘I have killed the Lord 's appointed king.'"

New English Translation
David said to him, "Your blood be on your own head! Your own mouth has testified against you, saying ‘I have put the Lord 's anointed to death.'"

Amplified Bible
David said to the [fallen] man, "Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have killed the LORD'S anointed.'"

New American Standard Bible
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.'"

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then said Dauid vnto him, Thy blood be vpon thine owne head: for thine owne mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I haue slaine the Lords Anoynted.

Legacy Standard Bible
And David said to him, "Your blood is on your head, for your mouth has answered against you, saying, ‘I have put the anointed of Yahweh to death.'"

Complete Jewish Bible
David said to him, "Your blood is on your own head. Your own mouth convicted you when you said, ‘I killed Adonai 's anointed.'"

Darby Translation
And David said to him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth has testified against thee, saying, I have slain Jehovah's anointed.

George Lamsa Translation
And David said to him, Your blood be upon your head; for your mouth has testified against you, for you have said, I have slain the LORDS anointed.

Good News Translation
and David said to the Amalekite, "You brought this on yourself. You condemned yourself when you confessed that you killed the one whom the Lord chose to be king."

Literal Translation
And David said to him, Your blood be on your own head, for your mouth has testified against you, saying, I caused to die the anointed of Jehovah.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde Dauid vnto him: Thy bloude be vpon thyne owne heade. For thy mouth hath spoken against thyselfe and sayde: I haue slayne the anoynted of the LORDE.

American Standard Version
And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain Jehovah's anointed.

Bible in Basic English
And David said to him, May your blood be on your head; for your mouth has given witness against you, saying, I have put to death the man marked with the holy oil.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then said Dauid vnto him, Thy blood be vpon thyne owne head: For thyne owne mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I haue slayne the lordes annoynted.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
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.'

King James Version (1611)
And Dauid said vnto him, Thy blood be vpon thy head: for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I haue slaine the Lords Annoynted.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And David said to him, Thy blood be upon thine own head; for thy mouth has testified against thee, saying, I have slain the anointed of the Lord.

English Revised Version
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.

Berean Standard Bible
For David had said to the Amalekite, "Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth testified against you, saying, 'I killed the LORD's anointed.'"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Dauid seide to hym, Thi blood be on thin heed; for thi mouth spak ayens thee, and seide, Y killide the crist of the Lord.

Young's Literal Translation
and David saith unto him, `Thy blood [is] on thine own head, for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I -- I put to death the anointed of Jehovah.'

Update Bible Version
And David said to him, Your blood be on your head; for your mouth has testified against you, saying, I have slain Yahweh's anointed.

Webster's Bible Translation
And David said to him, Thy blood [be] upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD'S anointed.

World English Bible
David said to him, Your blood be on your head; for your mouth has testified against you, saying, I have slain Yahweh's anointed.

New King James Version
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."'

New Living Translation
"You have condemned yourself," David said, "for you yourself confessed that you killed the Lord 's anointed one."

New Life Bible
David said to him, "Your blood is on your head. Because your mouth has spoken against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord's chosen one.'"

New Revised Standard
David said to him, "Your blood be on your head; for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord 's anointed.'"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And David said unto him, Thy blood, be upon thine own head, - for, thine own mouth, hath testified against thee, saying, I myself, put to death the Anointed of Yahweh.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Revised Standard Version
And David said to him, "Your blood be upon your head; for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have slain the LORD'S anointed.'"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
David said to him, "Your blood is on your head, for your mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have killed the LORD'S anointed.'"

Contextual Overview

¹¹In lament, David ripped his clothes to ribbons. All the men with him did the same. They wept and fasted the rest of the day, grieving the death of Saul and his son Jonathan, and also the army of God and the nation Israel, victims in a failed battle. ¹³ Then David spoke to the young soldier who had brought the report: "Who are you, anyway?" "I'm from an immigrant family—an Amalekite." ¹⁴"Do you mean to say," said David, "that you weren't afraid to up and kill God 's anointed king?" Right then he ordered one of his soldiers, "Strike him dead!" The soldier struck him, and he died. ¹⁶ "You asked for it," David told him. "You sealed your death sentence when you said you killed God 's anointed king."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Thy blood: Genesis 9:5, Genesis 9:6, Leviticus 20:9, Leviticus 20:11-13, Leviticus 20:16, Leviticus 20:27, Deuteronomy 19:10, Joshua 2:19, Judges 9:24, 1 Samuel 26:9, 1 Kings 2:32, 1 Kings 2:33, 1 Kings 2:37, Ezekiel 18:13, Ezekiel 33:5, Matthew 27:25, Acts 20:26

mouth: 2 Samuel 1:10, Job 15:6, Proverbs 6:2, Luke 19:22, Romans 3:19

Reciprocal: Genesis 37:26 - conceal 1 Samuel 26:11 - that I should 2 Samuel 3:29 - rest 2 Samuel 16:8 - the blood 2 Samuel 18:13 - wrought Ecclesiastes 10:12 - but Ezekiel 33:4 - his blood Hosea 12:14 - therefore Acts 18:6 - Your

Cross-References

Genesis 1:9
God spoke: "Separate! Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place; Land, appear!" And there it was. God named the land Earth. He named the pooled water Ocean. God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:14
God spoke: "Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven's sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth." And there it was.

Psalms 8:3
I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?

Psalms 19:6
That's how God's Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset, Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith.

Matthew 24:29
"Following those hard times, Sun will fade out, moon cloud over, Stars fall out of the sky, cosmic powers tremble.

Matthew 27:45
From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around midafternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"

Revelation 21:23
Everything New I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea. I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband. I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone." The Enthroned continued, "Look! I'm making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate." Then he said, "It's happened. I'm A to Z. I'm the Beginning, I'm the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty. Conquerors inherit all this. I'll be God to them, they'll be sons and daughters to me. But for the rest—the feckless and faithless, degenerates and murderers, sex peddlers and sorcerers, idolaters and all liars—for them it's Lake Fire and Brimstone. Second death!" One of the Seven Angels who had carried the bowls filled with the seven final disasters spoke to me: "Come here. I'll show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb." He took me away in the Spirit to an enormous, high mountain and showed me Holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God, resplendent in the bright glory of God. The City shimmered like a precious gem, light-filled, pulsing light. She had a wall majestic and high with twelve gates. At each gate stood an Angel, and on the gates were inscribed the names of the Twelve Tribes of the sons of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west. The wall was set on twelve foundations, the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb inscribed on them. The Angel speaking with me had a gold measuring stick to measure the City, its gates, and its wall. The City was laid out in a perfect square. He measured the City with the measuring stick: twelve thousand stadia, its length, width, and height all equal. Using the standard measure, the Angel measured the thickness of its wall: 144 cubits. The wall was jasper, the color of Glory, and the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. The foundations of the City walls were garnished with every precious gem imaginable: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate a single pearl. The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple. The City doesn't need sun or moon for light. God's Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp! The nations will walk in its light and earth's kings bring in their splendor. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there won't be any night. They'll bring the glory and honor of the nations into the City. Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will get in.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And David said unto him, thy blood [be] upon thy head,.... The blood that he had shed, let him suffer for it; for as he had shed blood, his blood ought to be shed, according to the law of God; and for proof of this, that he had so done, he appeals to his own confession:

for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed; and what might serve to confirm the truth of what he had said were the crown and bracelet which he brought along with him; and besides he was an Amalekite, of a nation that was devoted to destruction; and, as Abarbinel thinks, David might suppose that he killed Saul to take vengeance on him for what he had done to their nation; but, after all, both he and Maimonides n allow the punishment of him was not strictly according to law, but was a temporary decree, an extraordinary case, and an act of royal authority; for in common cases a man was not to be condemned and put to death upon his own confession, since it is possible he may not be in his right mind o; but David chose to exercise severity in this case, partly to show his respect to Saul, and to ingratiate himself into the favour of his friends, and partly to deter men from attempting to assassinate princes, who himself was now about to ascend the throne.

n Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 18. sect. 6. o T. Bab. Yehamot, fol. 25. 2. Maimon. ibid.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

David might well think his sentence just though severe, for he had more than once expressed the deliberate opinion that none could lift up his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless (see 1 Samuel 24:6; 1 Samuel 26:9, 1 Samuel 26:11, 1 Samuel 26:16).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 1:16. Thy blood be upon thy head — If he killed Saul, as he said he did, then he deserved death; at that time it was not known to the contrary, and this man was executed on his own confession.