2 Samuel 1:21
New International Version
“Mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, may no showers fall on your terraced fields. For there the shield of the mighty was despised, the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.

New Living Translation
O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fruitful fields producing offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty heroes was defiled; the shield of Saul will no longer be anointed with oil.

English Standard Version
“You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

Berean Standard Bible
O 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.

King James Bible
Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.

New King James Version
“O mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, Nor fields of offerings. For the shield of the mighty is cast away there! The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

New American Standard Bible
“Mountains of Gilboa, May there be no dew nor rain on you, or fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

NASB 1995
“O mountains of Gilboa, Let not dew or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings; For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

NASB 1977
“O mountains of Gilboa, Let not dew or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings; For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

Legacy Standard Bible
O mountains of Gilboa, Let not dew or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings; For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

Amplified Bible
“O mountains of Gilboa, Let not dew or rain be upon you, nor fields with offerings; For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, The shield of Saul, [dry, cracked] not anointed with oil.

Christian Standard Bible
Mountains of Gilboa, let no dew or rain be on you, or fields of offerings, for there the shield of the mighty was defiled — the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Mountains of Gilboa, let no dew or rain be on you, or fields of offerings, for there the shield of the mighty was defiled— the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.

American Standard Version
Ye mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, neither fields of offerings: For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Mountains of Gelbua, there will be neither dew nor rain on you and the fields that are choice, for there was broken the shield of the mighty ones, the shield of Shaul who was anointed with oil!

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Ye mountains of Gelbue, let not dew no rain descend upon you, nor fields of first-fruits be upon you, for there the shield of the mighty ones has been grievously assailed; the shield of Saul was not anointed with oil.

Contemporary English Version
Don't let dew or rain fall on the hills of Gilboa. Don't let its fields grow offerings for God. There the warriors' shields were smeared with mud, and Saul's own shield was left unpolished.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

English Revised Version
Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain upon you, neither fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You mountains in Gilboa, may there be no dew or rain on you or on your slopes, because warriors' shields were tarnished there. Saul's shield was never rubbed with olive oil.

Good News Translation
"May no rain or dew fall on Gilboa's hills; may its fields be always barren! For the shields of the brave lie there in disgrace; the shield of Saul is no longer polished with oil.

International Standard Version
Mountains of Gilboa, let no dew or rain fall on you, and may none of your fields be filled with plenty, because in that place the shield of the valiant ones was defiled, the shield of Saul without an anointing with oil.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Ye mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, Neither fields of choice fruits; For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

Literal Standard Version
Mountains of Gilboa! No dew nor rain be on you, | And fields of raised-offerings! For there has become loathsome | The shield of the mighty, | The shield of Saul—without the anointed with oil.

Majority Standard Bible
O 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.

New American Bible
O mountains of Gilboa, upon you be neither dew nor rain, nor surging from the deeps! Defiled there the warriors’ shields, the shield of Saul—no longer anointed with oil!

NET Bible
O mountains of Gilboa, may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil.

New Revised Standard Version
You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor bounteous fields! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, anointed with oil no more.

New Heart English Bible
You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain on you, nor fields of offerings. For there the shield of the mighty was dishonored. The shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.

Webster's Bible Translation
Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither rain upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.

World English Bible
You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain on you, and no fields of offerings; for there the shield of the mighty was defiled and cast away, the shield of Saul was not anointed with oil.

Young's Literal Translation
Mountains of Gilboa! No dew nor rain be on you, And fields of heave-offerings! For there hath become loathsome The shield of the mighty, The shield of Saul -- without the anointed with oil.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
David's Song for Saul and Jonathan
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.…

Cross References
1 Samuel 31:1
Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

Song of Solomon 4:4
Your neck is like the tower of David, built with rows of stones; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.

Isaiah 21:5
They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields!

Ezekiel 31:15
This is what the Lord GOD says: 'On the day it was brought down to Sheol, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it; I held back its rivers; its abundant waters were restrained. I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it.


Treasury of Scripture

You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, on you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.

mountains

1 Samuel 31:1
Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.

1 Chronicles 10:1,8
Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa…

no dew

Judges 5:23
Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.

Job 3:3-10
Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived…

Isaiah 5:6
And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

offerings

Joel 1:9
The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.

Joel 2:14
Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?

not.

1 Samuel 10:1
Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

Isaiah 21:5
Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.

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Anointed Cast Choice Deep Defiled Dew Fields Fruits Gilboa Gilbo'a Grain Longer Mighty Mountains Offerings Oil Rain Saul Shield Vilely Yield
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2 Samuel 1
1. The Amalekite who accused himself of Saul's death is slain
17. David laments Saul and Jonathan with a song














(21) Nor fields of offerings.--This somewhat obscure expression seems to mean, "Let there not be upon you those fruitful fields from which may be gathered the offerings of first-fruits." Of course, this malediction upon the mountains of Gilboa is to be understood as it was meant, only in a poetical sense.

Vilely cast away.--Another sense of this word is defiled. The ancient versions, as well as modern commentators, adopt some one, and some the other meaning, either of which is appropriate.

As though he had not been anointed.--This translation follows the Vulg., and makes a good sense = as though Saul had not been a king; but it is more than doubtful if the original can bear this construction. There is no pronoun in the Hebrew, and the word "anointed" refers to the shield, "the shield of Saul not anointed with oil." It was customary to oil metal shields, as well as those of wood and leather, for their preservation, and the idea here is that Saul's shield was thrown away uncared for.

Verse 21. - Fields of offerings; Hebrew, fields of terumoth. The terumoth were heave offerings (Leviticus 7:14, 32), and the Vulgate, regarding these as thank offerings, translates, "Fields of firstfruits." The sense would thus be, "Fields of corn such as was used for heave offerings." Still, this gives us no suitable meaning; for Gilboa was not a place fit for the growth of corn; and Theodoret, in his version, has preserved a different reading, which is probably right, namely, "Ye fields and mountains of death." The shield...is vilely east away. This rendering contains a classical idea derived from the Greeks and Romans, among whom it was a disgrace for a soldier to return without his shield. But this imputes personal cowardice to Saul - a reproach which is entirely undeserved; for he did not east away his shield, but remained steadfast unto death. The right translation is, "For there the shield of heroes, yea, the shield of Saul, was defiled," stained, that is, with blood. We have no proof whatsoever that the Israelites had the same notion as the Greeks, and if they had, David would certainly not have put such a stigma upon the fallen king. [As though he had] not [been] anointed with oil. By rejecting the inserted words, we get the original, with all its simplicity, but with all its difficulty.

"There the shield of the heroes was defiled:
The shield of Saul not anointed with oil."
The interpretation put upon these words in the Authorized Version is taken from the Vulgate, no mean authority, but it is one which cannot be reconciled with the Hebrew, where it is not Saul, but his shield, which is referred to. It was a Jewish custom to anoint the shield with oil before a battle (Isaiah 21:5), in order probably to make the missiles of the enemy glance off from it without injury. And bearing this in mind, David now contrasts the sad issue of the battle with the hopes with which the warrior had in old times gone forth to war. Then his shield glistened brightly; now it was defiled with blood. In the Revised Version the rendering, "vilely cast away," is retained, the Revisers not having perceived that "defiled," which they have placed in the margin, is absolutely required for the text by the contrast with "the shield not anointed with oil."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
O mountains
הָרֵ֣י (hā·rê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 2022: Mountain, hill, hill country

of Gilboa,
בַגִּלְבֹּ֗עַ (ḇag·gil·bō·a‘)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 1533: Gilboa -- a mountain in Northern Israel

may you have
עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם (‘ă·lê·ḵem)
Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

no
אַל־ (’al-)
Adverb
Strong's 408: Not

dew
טַ֧ל (ṭal)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2919: Night mist, dew

or rain,
מָטָ֛ר (mā·ṭār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4306: Rain

no fields
וּשְׂדֵ֣י (ū·śə·ḏê)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 7704: Field, land

[yielding] offerings [of grain].
תְרוּמֹ֑ת (ṯə·rū·mōṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 8641: Contribution, offering (for sacred uses)

For
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

there
שָׁ֤ם (šām)
Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

the shield
מָגֵ֣ן (mā·ḡên)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 4043: A shield, a protector, the scaly hide of the crocodile

of the mighty
גִּבּוֹרִ֔ים (gib·bō·w·rîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 1368: Powerful, warrior, tyrant

was defiled,
נִגְעַל֙ (niḡ·‘al)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1602: To detest, to reject

the shield
מָגֵ֣ן (mā·ḡên)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 4043: A shield, a protector, the scaly hide of the crocodile

of Saul,
שָׁא֔וּל (šā·’ūl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 7586: Saul -- first king of Israel, also an Edomite and two Israelites

no longer
בְּלִ֖י (bə·lî)
Adverb
Strong's 1097: Failure, nothing, destruction, without, not yet, because not, as long as

anointed
מָשִׁ֥יחַ (mā·šî·aḥ)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine singular
Strong's 4899: Anointed, a consecrated person, the Messiah

with oil.
בַּשָּֽׁמֶן׃ (baš·šā·men)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8081: Grease, liquid, richness


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OT History: 2 Samuel 1:21 You mountains of Gilboa let there be (2Sa iiSam 2 Sam ii sam)
2 Samuel 1:20
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