1 Samuel 31 Footnotes

31:4-5 Suicide involves the unauthorized taking of a human life, and as such violates the sixth commandment (Ex 20:13); God does not sanction it. The apostle Paul prevented the Philippian jailer from taking his own life (Ac 16:27-28). But, as with all other sins (with the exception of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, Mt 12:31), suicide is not a sin that automatically excludes a person from heaven.

The biblical narrative records examples of several individuals who took their own lives. In each case the circumstances of the suicide were inglorious and regrettable. Samson, tortured and humiliated by the Philistines, took his own life with theirs after a ruinous career of disregard for the Lord (Jdg 16:30). Ahithophel committed suicide after being publicly humiliated by having his advice rejected, and in order to avoid being executed for treason (2Sm 17:23). Zimri, after murdering an Israelite king, ended his life to avoid being killed by his pursuers (1Kg 16:18). Judas committed suicide after his betrayal of Jesus (Mt 27:5). Saul’s attempted suicide was carried out to avoid the humiliation and torture the approaching Philistines would certainly have inflicted on him. There are no biblical examples of honorable suicide. An examination of the Bible’s accounts of these lives and deaths suggest two primary scriptural observations about suicide. (1) It is an option that some deeply troubled people will choose when facing desperate circumstances. (2) It is a pathetic and tragic end to a human life.