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Sunday, August 24th, 2025
the Week of Proper 16 / Ordinary 21
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Read the Bible

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

2 Samuel 1:25

How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - David;   Elegy;   Friendship;   Jonathan;   Mourning;   Poetry;   Song;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Jonathan;   Saul;   Temple;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - David;   Funeral;   Jonathan;   Saul, king of israel;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Friend, Friendship;   Funeral;   Psalms, Theology of;   Easton Bible Dictionary - David;   Gilboa;   Jasher;   Jonathan;   Lamentation;   Lamentations, Book of;   Poetry;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - David;   Lamentations;   Psalms;   Samuel, the Books of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Book(s);   Burial;   Gilboa;   Music, Instruments, Dancing;   Poetry;   Samuel, Books of;   Saul;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - David;   Israel;   Jashar, Book of;   Mourning Customs;   Samuel, Books of;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Mount gilboa;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Dwelling;   Jonathan;   Scripture;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Da'vid;   Saul;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - David;   How;   Psalms, Book of;   Samuel, Books of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - David;   Funeral Oration;   Poetry;   Strophic Forms in the Old Testament;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle!Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
Hebrew Names Version
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Yonatan is slain on your high places.
King James Version
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.
Lexham English Bible
How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle; Jonathan lies slain on your high places.
English Standard Version
"How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! "Jonathan lies slain on your high places.
New Century Version
"How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan is dead on Gilboa's hills.
New English Translation
How the warriors have fallen in the midst of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your high places!
Amplified Bible
"How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain upon your high places.
New American Standard Bible
"How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slaughtered on your high places.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Howe were the mightie slaine in the mids of the battel! O Ionathan, thou wast slaine in thine hie places.
Legacy Standard Bible
How have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!Jonathan is slain on your high places.
Contemporary English Version
Our warriors have fallen in the heat of battle, and Jonathan lies dead on the hills of Gilboa.
Complete Jewish Bible
"How the heroes have fallen in the heat of battle, Y'honatan killed on your high places!
Darby Translation
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain upon thy high places.
Easy-to-Read Version
"Strong men have fallen in the battle. Jonathan is dead on Gilboa's hills.
George Lamsa Translation
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, upon her high places are many slain.
Good News Translation
"The brave soldiers have fallen, they were killed in battle. Jonathan lies dead in the hills.
Literal Translation
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain on your high places!
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
How are the Worthies fallen so in the battayll? Ionathas is slayne vpon ye heigth of the.
American Standard Version
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain upon thy high places.
Bible in Basic English
How have the great ones been made low in the fight! Jonathan is dead on your high places.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Howe were the mightie slayne in the middest of the battel? O Ionathan thou wast slayne in thyne hye places.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan upon thy high places is slain!
King James Version (1611)
How are the mightie fallen in the midst of the battell! O Ionathan, thou wast slaine in thine high places.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, even the slain ones upon thy high places!
English Revised Version
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain upon thy high places.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Hou `felden doun stronge men in batel?
Young's Literal Translation
How have the mighty fallen In the midst of the battle! Jonathan! on thy high places wounded!
Update Bible Version
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain on your high places.
Webster's Bible Translation
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan [thou wast] slain in thy high places.
World English Bible
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain on your high places.
New King James Version
"How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan was slain in your high places.
New Living Translation
Oh, how the mighty heroes have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies dead on the hills.
New Life Bible
How have the powerful fallen in the center of the battle! Jonathan has been killed on your high places.
New Revised Standard
How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain upon your high places.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
How have fallen the mighty, in the midst of the battle! Jonathan, on thy high places, slain!
Douay-Rheims Bible
How are the valiant fallen in battle? Jonathan slain in the high places?
Revised Standard Version
"How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! "Jonathan lies slain upon thy high places.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"How have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain on your high places.

Contextual Overview

17Then David took up this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan, 18and he ordered that the sons of Judah be taught the Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar: 19"Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen! 20Tell it not in Gath; proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. 21O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil. 22From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not retreat, and the sword of Saul did not return empty. 23Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life, were not divided in death. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. 24O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and luxury, who decked your garments with ornaments of gold. 25How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.26I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were delightful to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

How: 2 Samuel 1:19, 2 Samuel 1:27, Lamentations 5:16, thou was, Judges 5:18, 1 Samuel 14:13-15

Reciprocal: Ezekiel 26:17 - How art

Cross-References

Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning-the second day.
Genesis 1:10
God called the dry land "earth," and the gathering of waters He called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:19
And there was evening, and there was morning-the fourth day.
Genesis 1:20
And God said, "Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky."
Job 26:13
By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
Jeremiah 27:5
By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!.... The mighty and valiant men of war, the common soldiers as well as their general officers, whose loss David mourns, and the repetition of shows how much it affected him:

O Jonathan, [thou wast] slain in thine high places; in the high places of the land of Israel, the mountains of Gilboa, which though high, and in his own country, could not protect him from his enemies, and from falling by their hands: he who had been so valiant and victorious a prince, and yet he fell, not in an enemy's country, but his own.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

How are the mighty fallen - The recurrenee of the same idea 2 Samuel 1:19, 2 Samuel 1:25, 2 Samuel 1:27 is perfectly congenial to the nature of elegy, since grief is fond of dwelling upon the particular objects of the passion, and frequently repeating them. By unanimous consent this is considered one of the most beautiful odes in the Bible, and the generosity of David in thus mourning for his enemy and persecutor, Saul, enhances the effect upon the mind of the reader.


 
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