1 Samuel 31:5-13

5 When his armor bearer saw that Sha'ul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword, and died with him.

6 So Sha'ul died, and his three sons, and his armor bearer, and all his men, that same day together.

7 When the men of Yisra'el who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were beyond the Yarden, saw that the men of Yisra'el fled, and that Sha'ul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Pelishtim came and lived in them.

8 It happened on the next day, when the Pelishtim came to strip the slain, that they found Sha'ul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

9 They cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Pelishtim round about, to carry the news to the house of their idols, and to the people.

10 They put his armor in the house of the `Ashtarot; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beit-Shan.

11 When the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gil`ad heard concerning him that which the Pelishtim had done to Sha'ul,

12 all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Sha'ul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beit-Shan; and they came to Yavesh, and burnt them there.

13 They took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Yavesh, 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.