1 Samuel 31:10

10 They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

1 Samuel 31:10 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.
English Standard Version (ESV)
10 They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
New Living Translation (NLT)
10 They placed his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of the city of Beth-shan.
The Message Bible (MSG)
10 They displayed his armor in the shrine of the Ashtoreth. They nailed his corpse to the wall at Beth Shan.
American Standard Version (ASV)
10 And they put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
10 They put his armor in the temple of their goddesses--the Asherahs--and fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
10 Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
10 They put Saul's armor in the temple where they had set up statues of goddesses that were named after Ashtoreth. They hung his body up on the wall of Beth Shan.

1 Samuel 31:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 31:10

And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth
A temple dedicated to their deities, called by this name; of which (See Gill on Judges 2:13); Nothing was more common with the Gentiles than to place in their temples the arms they took from their enemies, as is strongly expressed by Homer F9 and Virgil F11; and indeed the Jews did the same, as appears by the sword of Goliath being laid up in the tabernacle, ( 1 Samuel 21:9 ) . Here also the Heathens F12 hung up their own arms when the war was ended:

and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan;
which Josephus F13 says is the same which in his time was called Scythopolis, from the Scythians that possessed it, before called Nysa, according to Pliny {n}: it was given to the tribe of Manasseh, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of it, so that it was always in the possession of others, ( Joshua 17:11 ) ( Judges 1:27 ) ; where it is called Bethshean; to the wall of the city they fastened the body of Saul with nails, as it is commonly understood; but it is more likely they hung it on a gibbet without, and near the walls of the city; so the Targum, they hung his body; or, as Josephus F15, they crucified it there; and so they did also the bodies of his sons, as appears from ( 1 Samuel 31:12 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (teucea sulhsav) , Iliad. 7. ver. 83.
F11 "Multaque praeterea sacris in postibus arma" Aeneid. 7. ver. 183. So Persius, Satyr. 6. ver. 45.
F12 Messal. Corvin. de August. Progen.
F13 Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 14.) l. 8.
F14 Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 18. Vid. Solin. Polyhistor. c. 49.
F15 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 14. l. 8.)

1 Samuel 31:10 In-Context

8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
9 They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people.
10 They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.
11 When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
12 all their valiant men marched through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them.

Cross References 2

  • 1. S Judges 2:12-13; S 1 Samuel 7:3
  • 2. S Joshua 17:11; 2 Samuel 21:12
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