1 Samuel 31:5-13

5 And when his armourbearer saw this, to wit, that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.
6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men that same day together.
7 And the men of Israel, that were beyond the valley, and beyond the Jordan, seeing that the Israelites were fled, and that Saul was dead, and his sons, forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt there.
8 And on the morrow the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons lying in mount Gelboe.
9 And they cut off Saul’s head, and stripped him of his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the temples of their idols and among their people.
10 And they put his armour in the temple of Astaroth, but his body they hung on the wall of Bethsan.
11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad had heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
12 All the most valiant men arose, and walked all the night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Bethsan: and they came to Jabes Galaad, and burnt them there.
13 And they took their bones, and buried them in the wood of Jabes: and fasted seven days.

1 Samuel 31:5-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 31

This chapter gives an account of the battle between the Philistines and the Israelites, which had been preparing for, and the issue of it; in which Saul, his three sons, and his servants, were slain, upon which his army fled, and several of his cities were taken, 1Sa 31:1-7; what the Philistines did with his body and his armour, 1Sa 31:8-10; the former of which, together with the bodies of his sons, the men of Jabeshgilead rescued, and burnt them, and buried their bones under a tree at Jabesh, expressing great sorrow and concern, 1Sa 31:11-13.

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