“Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.”
My Notes
What Does 2 Samuel 1:20 Mean?
David's lament over Saul and Jonathan opens with a plea for secrecy: "Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon." Gath and Ashkelon are Philistine cities — the enemy that killed Saul and Jonathan. David doesn't want the Philistines celebrating Israel's loss. The grief is personal; the shame would be national.
The phrase "lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice" reveals David's concern: the enemy's women will celebrate what Israel's women are mourning. The dance and song that accompanied military victory in the ancient world (Exodus 15:20-21, 1 Samuel 18:7) would now celebrate Israel's defeat. David can bear the grief but not the gloating.
The lament's opening is about controlling the narrative of loss. David can't undo the death, but he can try to limit who celebrates it. The request is futile (the Philistines already know — they have the bodies), but the impulse reveals David's heart: even in grief, he's protecting Israel's dignity.
Reflection Questions
- 1.When has your grief taken the form of an impossible request — trying to control what can't be controlled?
- 2.How does David's concern for national dignity coexist with personal devastation?
- 3.What does the fear of the enemy celebrating teach about the public dimension of private loss?
- 4.Where is your grief compounded by the knowledge that someone is rejoicing in your pain?
Devotional
Don't tell Gath. Don't publish it in Ashkelon. David's first response to the deaths of Saul and Jonathan isn't theological reflection. It's the desperate plea to keep the enemy from celebrating.
The grief is real — David loved Jonathan with a love he called surpassing (verse 26). And Saul, despite trying to kill David for years, was still the LORD's anointed. David mourns both genuinely. But the first words of the lament aren't about his grief. They're about the Philistines' joy. The enemy's celebration would add humiliation to the devastation.
The daughters of the Philistines singing victory songs is what David can't bear. In the ancient world, women's victory songs were the ultimate expression of military triumph — public, communal, devastating to the defeated. When Israel won, Israel's women sang (Exodus 15, 1 Samuel 18). When Philistia wins, Philistia's women will sing. And the song will be about the death of Israel's king.
The futility of the request is part of its beauty. David knows the Philistines already have Saul's body (31:9-10 — they displayed it on the wall of Beth-shean). The plea to hide the news is impossible to fulfill. But the impossible request is itself the grief — the desire to undo what can't be undone, to prevent what's already happening, to control one small part of a catastrophe that's completely beyond control.
Grief sometimes sounds like impossible requests. Don't tell them. Don't let them know. Don't let the enemy celebrate. The plea can't be fulfilled, but the speaking of it is the mourning.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Tell it not in Gath,.... One of the five principalities of the Philistines, and the chief of them, being raised to a…
Gath, the royal city of Achish 1Sa 21:10; 1Sa 27:2. Askelon, the chief seat of worship (1Sa 31:10 note).
When David had rent his clothes, mourned, and wept, and fasted, for the death of Saul, and done justice upon him who…
Tell it not in Gath, &c. Gath on account of its political importance, Askelon as a great religious centre, are chosen as…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture