1 Samuel 31:5

5 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.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 Sucton. Vit. Caesar. c. 89.

1 Samuel 31:5 In-Context

3 The battle pressed hard upon Saul; the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by them.
4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised may not come and thrust me through, and make sport of me." But his armor-bearer was unwilling; for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell upon it.
5 When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.
6 So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together on the same day.
7 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 towns and fled; and the Philistines came and occupied them.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.