(3) Out of the camp of Israel.--It has been questioned whether this Amalekite had actually been in the army of Israel, and the expression in 2Samuel 1:6, "As I happened by chance upon Mount Gilboa," has been cited to show that his presence there was merely accidental, but no one who is not concerned in the matter is likely to stray into the midst of a battle, and the expression "by chance" is better referred to his coming upon Saul when he was wounded. He certainly here claims to have been a part of the "camp of Israel." He tells David the general facts of the defeat, and the death of Saul and Jonathan, as they really occurred.

Verse 3. - Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped. Non-combatants would hang about the army, watching, as soon as the battle had begun, the fortunes of the day, and immediately that they saw the impending defeat of their own side, would think chiefly of their personal safety. But for an active young man the opportunity would then have come for booty. The Philistines, in pursuit of the enemy, would soon leave the battlefield in their rear, and multitudes would quickly prowl about it to plunder the dead. While so busied, the Amalekite falsely represents himself as having come by chance upon the wounded, but still living, Saul.

1:1-10 The blow which opened David's way to the throne was given about the time he had been sorely distressed. Those who commit their concerns to the Lord, will quietly abide his will. It shows that he desired not Saul's death, and he was not impatient to come to the throne.And David said unto him, from whence comest thou?.... It is very likely by his appearance and circumstances he suspected from whence he came:

and he said unto him, out of the camp of Israel am I escaped; which plainly suggested that that was in danger, confusion, and distress.