1 Samuel 31
BSB
Saul’s Overthrow and Death
(2 Samuel 1:1–16; 1 Chronicles 10:1–6)
1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
2The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically.
4Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!”
But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
5When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died with him.
6So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died together that same day.
The Philistines Possess the Towns
(1 Chronicles 10:7–10)
7When the Israelites along the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.
8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people. 10They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.
Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul
(1 Chronicles 10:11–14)
11When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12all their men of valor set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan.
When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there. 13Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.
Introduction
1 Samuel 31
In the foregoing chapter we had David conquering, yea, more than a conqueror. In this chapter we have Saul conquered and worse than a captive. Providence ordered it that both these things should be doing just at the same time. The very same day; perhaps, that David was triumphing over the Amalekites, were the Philistines triumphing over Saul. One is set over against the other, that men may see what comes of trusting in God and what comes of forsaking him. We left Saul ready to engage the Philistines, with a shaking hand and an aching heart, having had his doom read him from hell, which he would not regard when it was read him from heaven. Let us now see what becomes of him. Here is, I. His army routed (Sa1 31:1). II. His three sons slain (Sa1 31:2). III. Himself wounded (Sa1 31:3), and slain by his own hand (Sa1 31:4). The death of his armour-bearer (Sa1 31:5) and all his men (Sa1 31:6). IV. His country possessed by the Philistines (Sa1 31:7). His camp plundered, and his dead body deserted (Sa1 31:8). His fall triumphed in (Sa1 31:9). His body publicly exposed (Sa1 31:10) and with difficulty rescued by the men of Jabesh-Gilead (Sa1 31:11-13). Thus fell the man that was rejected of God.
Cross-references: 1Sam 31:1 · 1Sam 31:2 · 1Sam 31:3 · 1Sam 31:4 · 1Sam 31:5 · 1Sam 31:6 · 1Sam 31:7 · 1Sam 31:8 · 1Sam 31:9 · 1Sam 31:10 · 1Sam 31:11