Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Samuel 1:17

"And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son" — 2 Samuel 1:17 (ASV)

The words "lamented" and "lamentation" must be understood in the technical sense of a funeral dirge or mournful elegy (see similar dirges in 2 Samuel 3:33–34 and 2 Chronicles 35:25). This lamentation and the brief stanza on the death of Abner are the only examples that have been preserved of David’s secular poetry.