2 Samuel 1:20

¹⁸ and 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!

Tell 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.

²¹ 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.

²² From 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.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Tell 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.
KJV: 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.
WEB: Don’t tell it in Gath. Don’t publish it in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
ASV: Tell it not in Gath, Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon; Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
DARBY: Tell [it] not in Gath, carry not the tidings in the streets of Ashkelon; Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
BLB: Declare [it] not in Gath, proclaim [it] not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

ÅB: Forkynn det ikke i Gat, meld det ikke på gatene i Askalon, at ikke filistrenes døtre skal glede seg, de uomskårnes døtre juble!
OTB: Forkynn det ikke i Gat,
Rop det ikke ut i gatene i Asjkelon,
For at ikke filisternes døtre skal glede seg,
For at ikke de uomskårnes døtre skal triumfere.
B1930: Forkynn det ikke i Gat, meld det ikke på gatene i Askalon, at ikke filistrenes døtre skal glede sig, de uomskårnes døtre juble!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Micah 1:10
Do not tell it in Gath; do not weep at all. Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.
Read in context
1 Samuel 18:6
As the troops were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and with tambourines and other instruments.
Read in context
Exodus 15:20–21
Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.
Read in context
Judges 11:34
And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.
Read in context
1 Samuel 17:26
David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
Read in context
1 Samuel 31:8–9
The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 32:26–27
I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,
Read in context
Judges 14:19
Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave their clothes to those who had solved the riddle. And burning with anger, Samson returned to his father’s house,
Read in context