1 Samuel 31:9

9 and they cut off his head, and strip off his weapons, and send into the land of the Philistines round about, to proclaim tidings [in] the house of their idols, and [among] the people;

1 Samuel 31:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 31:9

And they cut off his head
And fastened it in the temple of Dagon, ( 1 Chronicles 10:10 ) ; perhaps that which was at Ashdod, one of the principalities of the Philistines, ( 1 Samuel 5:1 1 Samuel 5:2 ) ;

and stripped off his armour;
or vessels ^F8, his clothes as well as his armour, and what he had about him; as for his crown on his head, and the bracelet on his arm, the Amalekite took them before the Philistines came, ( 2 Samuel 1:10 ) ;

and sent into the land of the Philistines round about:
not his head and his armour, for they were placed in the temple of their idols; unless we can suppose these were first carried about for show, and as proofs of the victory: but rather messengers, who were sent express with the news,

to publish [it in] the house of their idols, and among the people;
that so they might be glad and rejoice, and give praise to their idols, to whom they ascribed the success they had.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 (wylk ta) "vasa ejus", Munster, Montanus.

1 Samuel 31:9 In-Context

7 And they see -- the men of Israel, who [are] beyond the valley, and who [are] beyond the Jordan -- that the men of Israel have fled, and that Saul and his sons have died, and they forsake the cities and flee, and Philistines come in, and dwell in them.

8 And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that the Philistines come to strip the wounded, and they find Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa,

9 and they cut off his head, and strip off his weapons, and send into the land of the Philistines round about, to proclaim tidings [in] the house of their idols, and [among] the people;

10 and they place his weapons [in] the house of Ashtaroth, and his body they have fixed on the wall of Beth-Shan.

11 And they hear regarding it -- the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead -- that which the Philistines have done to Saul,