1 Samuel 31:5

5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword, and died with him.

1 Samuel 31:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 31:5

And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead
By his own hands, and not by the hands of the Amalekite, which the armour bearer would scarcely have suffered:

he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him;
some think that Saul, and his armourbearer, died by the same sword, which was the armourbearer's; and if he was Doeg, they fell probably by the same sword with which the priests of the Lord were murdered at Nob, ( 1 Samuel 22:18 ) ; and it is observed by an historian ^F4, that the murderers of Julius Caesar slew themselves with the same dagger they destroyed him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Sucton. Vit. Caesar. c. 89.

1 Samuel 31:5 In-Context

3 The battle pressed hard upon 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 make sport of 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.

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 forsook their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.