1 Samuel 31

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 hotly pursued 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 me through with it, 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.

• 1SA 31:4[NOTE]2 Samuel 1:6 to 10 tells it differently. An Amalekite says he killed Saul. Many think he lied to win a reward from David.

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.

• 1SA 31:6[FULFILLS]At Endor, Samuel said Saul and his sons would die the next day ← 1SA 28:19

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.

• 1SA 31:9[DEMONIC]The Philistines put Saul's armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths
• 1SA 31:10[FIELD NOTES]Beth Shan was a real city with Egyptian and Canaanite ruins. See the Beth Shean Field Notes page.

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.

• 1SA 31:11[NOTE]JABESH GILEAD remembered. Saul's first victory as king was saving their town, chapter 11. They never forgot it.

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.