Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them — David's response is visceral, mirroring his earlier mourning (1:2) but now intensified: he learns that someone has killed the anointed king. The tearing of clothes becomes a covenant act—grief not merely for Saul's death but for the violation of sacred law. All the men with David do likewise, showing unified covenant mourning. The collective grief (וְכָל־הָאֲנָשִׁים אִתּוֹ, vəḵāl-hā'ănāšîm 'itô) establishes David as the proper center of Israel's loyalty; they mourn with him, acknowledging his role in the people's covenant renewal. The Amalekite's deed has transgressed not merely against Saul but against Israel's sacred order.

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