1 Samuel 31:1-10

1 The Philistines made war on Israel. The men of Israel were in full retreat from the Philistines, falling left and right, wounded on Mount Gilboa.

2 The Philistines caught up with Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua, Saul's sons.

3 The battle was hot and heavy around Saul. The archers got his range and wounded him badly.

4 Saul said to his weapon bearer, "Draw your sword and put me out of my misery, lest these pagan pigs come and make a game out of killing me."

5 When the weapon bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him.

6 So Saul, his three sons, and his weapon bearer - the men closest to him - died together that day.

7 When the Israelites in the valley opposite and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that their army was in full retreat and that Saul and his sons were dead, they left their cities and ran for their lives. The Philistines moved in and occupied the sites.

8 The next day, when the Philistines came to rob the dead, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa.

9 They cut off Saul's head and stripped off his armor. Then they spread the good news all through Philistine country in the shrines of their idols and among the people.

10 They displayed his armor in the shrine of the Ashtoreth. They nailed his corpse to the wall at Beth Shan.

1 Samuel 31:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 31

This chapter gives an account of the battle between the Philistines and the Israelites, which had been preparing for, and the issue of it; in which Saul, his three sons, and his servants, were slain, upon which his army fled, and several of his cities were taken, 1Sa 31:1-7; what the Philistines did with his body and his armour, 1Sa 31:8-10; the former of which, together with the bodies of his sons, the men of Jabeshgilead rescued, and burnt them, and buried their bones under a tree at Jabesh, expressing great sorrow and concern, 1Sa 31:11-13.