Chapter Thirty-One
The Death of Saul
31:1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
The Philistines attacked Israel and the men of Israel fled from them, but were killed on Mount Gilboa (on the southeast end of the Jezreel Valley).
31:2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
The Philistines overtook (Hebrew yǎḏ·beqû’, clinging to, join with, stay with) Saul and killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, three of the sons of Saul.
31:3 The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 6 Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.
The battle continued, and the Philistines pressed hard against Saul who was wounded by the archers. Since this was a wound inflicted some distance from the soon-to-arrive Philistines, Saul knew he would be captured shortly, so he told his armor-bearer to thrust his sword through him and kill him now before the “uncircumcised” came and wound him further and mistreat (Hebrew hiṯ·‛ǎl·lelû, abuse, make a fool of someone, to defile) his body. But his armor-bearer was afraid to do that, so Saul positioned his sword and fell on it, killing him. When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead he killed himself, dying with him. The author summarizes by telling us that Saul, three of his sons, and his armor-bearer all died on the same day.
31:7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.
Continuing the summary, the author also tells us that when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the Jezreel Valley and those beyond the Jordan (Mount Gilboa can be seen on the east side of the Jordan River) saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they quickly fled from their homes and cities. The Philistines then moved into those cities.
31:8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
On the next day the Philistines came to where Saul had killed himself, they cut off his head, stripped off his armor, and then sent messengers to go throughout their land to herald the good news. They also went to the temple of Ashtaroth (a plural variation of Asherah, click here to read more) and fastened Saul’s body to the wall of Beth-Shan (a city located on the east end of the Jezreel Valley near the Jordan River).
31:11 But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
When the people of Jabesh-gilead (approximately twelve miles away and nearly opposite of the Jordan River from Beth-shan) found out what the Philistines had done, the men came at night and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan and brought them to Jabesh-gilead and burned them there. Their bones were then buried under the tamarisk tree there (the language implies that this tree was well known). Since the burning of dead bodies was not a common practice in Israel, some believe that the verb translated as ‘burned’ (Hebrew yiś·rep̄û’, to anoint, embalm, to burn completely) should read “anointed with spices,” like what is seen in the New English Bible, “the bravest of them journeyed together all night long and recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; they brought them back to Jabesh and anointed them there with spices.”[1] (1 Samuel 31:13, NEB) Perhaps in remembrance of Saul’s rescue of Jabesh-gilead, their mourning for Saul began with a seven-day fast. The bones of Saul were later moved to his family’s burial place at Zelah by David (see 2 Samuel 21:11-14).
In 1 Chronicles, we read that Saul’s head was taken by the Philistines to the temple of Dagon, “The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. And they put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.” (1 Chronicles 10:8-10, ESV) The books of 1 & 2 Chronicles only chronicle the people and events associated with what will be known as the southern kingdom of Judah. While much is redundant with the events recorded in 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, there is some additional information provided, but much of what might be considered bad is not included, for example the burning of the bodies of Saul and his sons is not mentioned in 1 Chronicles (see 1 Chronicles 10:11-12).
Since this book and 2 Samuel were initially one book, this last chapter ends somewhat abruptly, the narrative continues with no time gap in 2 Samuel.
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[1] The New English Bible (1 Sa 31:12). (1970). Oxford University Press; Cambridge University Press.