The Meaning of 2 Samuel 1:8 Explained

2 Samuel 1:8

KJV: And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.

YLT: And he saith to me, Who art thou? and I say unto him, An Amalekite I am.'

Darby: And he said to me, Who art thou? And I said to him, I am an Amalekite.

ASV: And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And he said  unto me, Who [art] thou? And I answered  him, I [am] an Amalekite. 

What does 2 Samuel 1:8 Mean?

Context Summary

2 Samuel 1:1-16 - Touch Not Mine Anointed
The scene changes from Gilboa to Ziklag, whither the tidings were carried by an Amalekite. It is remarkable to notice how David received them. Though he had spent years in the rough life of a freebooter, surrounded by coarse and hardened men, he had not lost the delicacy and refinement of his earlier days. To men like Nabal, he seemed an outlaw; but those who were admitted to the inner circle of David's friendship knew that there was a whole heaven of difference between him and the men who followed him. Let us see to it that by fellowship with God, we keep our nature uncontaminated by the world, its fine edge, not blunted, its bloom not brushed off.
It was genuine grief that made David rend his clothes, and a genuine emotion of horror that led to the execution of this self-confessed regicide. Then from the depths of a guileless heart there poured forth the "Song of the Bow," one of the noblest elegies in any tongue. Let us speak tenderly of the dead. Let God in His infinite pity judge them, while we scatter rose-leaves on their graves. [source]

Chapter Summary: 2 Samuel 1

1  The Amalekite who accused himself of Saul's death is slain
17  David laments Saul and Jonathan with a song

What do the individual words in 2 Samuel 1:8 mean?

And he said to me who [are] you - so I answered him an Amalekite I [am]
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר לִ֖י מִי־ ؟ אָ֑תָּה [ויאמר] (וָאֹמַ֣ר) אֵלָ֔יו עֲמָלֵקִ֖י אָנֹֽכִי

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר  And  he  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
לִ֖י  to  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
מִי־  who  [are] 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: מִי  
Sense: who?, whose?, whom?, would that, whoever, whosoever.
[ויאמר]  - 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
(וָאֹמַ֣ר)  so  I  answered 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, first person common singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
עֲמָלֵקִ֖י  an  Amalekite 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֲמָלֵקִי  
Sense: descendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esau.
אָנֹֽכִי  I  [am] 
Parse: Pronoun, first person common singular
Root: אָנׄכִי  
Sense: I (first pers.