Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
The use of the bow - Omit "the use of." "The bow" is the name by which this dirge was known, being so called from the mention of Jonathan' s bow in II Samuel 1:22. The sense would then be: And he commanded them to teach the children of Israel the song called Kasheth (the bow), i. e. he gave directions that the song should be learned by heart (compare Deuteronomy 31:19). It has been further suggested that in the Book of Jasher there was, among other things, a collection of poems, in which special mention was made of the bow. This was one of them. I Samuel 2:1-10 was another; Numbers 21:27-30 was another; Lam. 2 was another; Lam. 3 was another; Jacob' s blessing Gen. 49; Moses' song Deut. 32; perhaps his Blessing (Deut. 33. See 2 Sam. 1:29); and such Psalms as Ps. 44; Psalms 46:1-11; Psalms 76:1-12, etc.; Hab. 3; and Zechariah 9:9-17, also belonged to it. The title by which all the poems in this collection were distinguished was ׁ qesheth , "the bow." When therefore the writer of II Samuel transferred this dirge from the Book of Jasher to his own pages, he transferred it, as we might do any of the Psalms, with its title.
The book of Jasher - See the marginal reference note.
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