1 Samuel 31:6

6 And that is how Saul, his three sons, and the young man died; all of Saul's men died that day.

1 Samuel 31:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 31:6

So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer
Only with this difference, his three sons died honourably in the field of battle, but he and his armourbearer destroyed themselves. Josephus says ^F5 he reigned eighteen years in the life of Samuel, and after his death twenty two years, which make the forty years the apostle ascribes to him, ( Acts 13:21 ) ; Eupolemus ^F6, an Heathen writer, makes him to reign twenty one years; but of the years of his reign, both before and after the death of Samuel, chronologers are not agreed, see ( 1 Samuel 25:1 ) ; and (See Gill on Acts 13:21);

and all his men that same day together;
not all the soldiers in his army; for many of them fled and escaped, and even Abner the general of the army, but his household servants, or those that were near his person, his bodyguards.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 14. sect. 9.
F6 Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 3. p. 447.

1 Samuel 31:6 In-Context

4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won't gloat over me and kill me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.

5 The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his own sword and died with Saul.

6 And that is how Saul, his three sons, and the young man died; all of Saul's men died that day.

7 When the Israelites on the other side of Jezreel Valley and east of the Jordan River heard that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had been killed, they abandoned their towns and fled. Then the Philistines came and occupied the towns.

8 The day after the battle the Philistines went to plunder the corpses, and they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa.