1 Samuel Chapter 31

THE DEATH OF SAUL AND HIS SONS
A. King Saul and his sons die in battle

1. (1 Sam 31:1) The battle turns against Israel
Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

The Philistines fought against Israel: The narrative here is very abrupt. The Philistines attacked deep into Israeli territory (1 Samuel 28:4). Saul's army assembled and prepared for battle at Mount Gilboa (1 Samuel 28:4). Because of his deep rebellion against the LORD, Saul was not ready for battle. Instead of taking his fear to the LORD, Saul made things worse by seeking God's voice through a spirit medium. Strangely, God did speak to Saul, but He spoke words of judgment through an unusual appearance of the prophet Samuel. Samuel told Saul that he and his sons would die the next day (1 Samuel 28:19). First Samuel 31:1 is the next day.

Four memorable battles in the history of Israel were fought on or near the plain of Esdraelon "The Great battlefield of Israel".

1. The battle of Kishon, in which Deborah and Barak defeated the host of Sisera (Judges 4:15, Judges 5:21).

2. The battle of Jezreel, in which Gideon's three hundred routed the vast horde of the Midianites (Judges 7).

3. The disastrous battle of Mount Gilboa recorded here.

4. The battle of Megiddo, where Josiah lost his life fighting against Pharaoh Necho (2 Chronicles 35:20-24).

The men of Israel fled: The battle took place on the plain of Jezreel. The men of Israel were driven back in their camp. In confusion, they fled up the heights of Gilboa pursued by the Philistines.


2. (1 Sam 31:2) The death of Saul's sons
The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul.

The Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua: Tragically, Saul's sons were affected in the judgment of God against their father, Saul. The brave and worthy Jonathan dies as we might expect him to--loyally fighting for his God, his country and his father to the very end.

Sons of Saul: Their death was tragic, yet important in God's plan. In taking the heirs to Saul's throne, God cleared the way for David to become the next king of Israel. We know that if Jonathan would have survived, he would have gladly yielded the throne to David (1 Samuel 18:1-4). But, the same could not be said of Saul's other sons. God was merciful to Jonathan by sparing him the ordeal of having to side with David against his own brothers.


3. (1 Sam 31:3-6) The tragic end of King Saul
The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and pierce me through and make sport of me." But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.

The battle went heavily against Saul: The great king, no doubt, fought like a lion. But one by one, his brave soldiers fell by his side. The enemy seems to have directed their principal attention to killing or capturing Saul.

He was badly wounded by the archers: In the deadly combat, it would have been very difficult to strike down King Saul in hand to hand combat as he would have been heavily guarded. Instead, archers assaulted the king, eventually striking him down. Gradually weakened through blood loss, and perhaps with the words Saul had heard only a few hours before at Endor from the prophet Samuel ringing in his ears, "Tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me," the great undaunted courage of the king at last fails Saul. In desperation, he turns to his armor bearer, who was still by his side.

His armor bearer: Jewish tradition states that Saul's faithful armor bearer was Doeg, the Edomite. Moreover, the sword which belonged to his armor bearer was the sword with which Doeg had massacred the priests at Gibeon and at Nob.

Make sport of me: Saul seems to remember how these same Philistines in former years had treated the hero, Samson, when he fell into their hands. (Judges 16:18-26)

But his armor bearer would not: Love and devotion to his master, we can imagine, hindered the armor bearer from carrying out the king's command. If the armor bearer was indeed Doeg, the Edomite, Saul and Doeg would have had a very long friendship spanning many years. Some dread of the after consequences, too, might have weighed on the armor bearer's mind, as he would have been responsible for ending the king's life.

So Saul took his sword and fell on it: This is one of the rare instances in which a person self-destructs. It seems to have been almost unknown among the Israeli people. Prior to Saul, the only other recorded example of this seems to have been of Samson. The hero sacrificed his life in order to destroy the great crowd of Philistine men. Samson's death in the Dagon Temple at Gaza is more often considered an act of heroism, like that of dying in battle, than that of self-destruction.

In the way most people think of suicide, Saul's death was not suicide. Saul was mortally wounded when he begged his armor bearer to end his life. Although this would accelerate his death, it would not be the cause of it as Saul was mortally wounded before. Saul acted on the conviction that he would not survive his injuries.

When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead: In 2 Samuel 1:4-10, an Amalekite came to David with the report that Saul had died and that he had actually delivered the death blow to Saul. Does this Amalekite's statement contrdict this passage where it seems Saul killed himself? It may be that Saul fell on his sword, and life still lingered in him. So, he asked this Amalekite to end his life. Or it may be that the Amalekite simply lied and was the first person to come upon Saul's dead body. The Amalekite then told David that he killed him because the Amalekite thought that David would be pleased and would give him a reward.

Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together: As sad as anything was in this account, there was no sorrow or repentance or crying out to God on Saul's part. He was told the previous day that he would die (1 Samuel 28:19). Yet, he did not seem to prepare his soul to meet God in any way. At the end of his life, Saul became so hard in sin that he did not want to repent. Many people put off getting right with God until a later time, assuming they will still want to get right with God then. But, that is a dangerous assumption because repentance is a gift from God.


B. Aftermath of the Philistine's victorious battle

1. (1 Sam 31:7) A significant defeat for Israel
When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistine came and lived in them.

The men of Israel fled and that Saul and his sons were dead: This was a great defeat. When King Saul was struck, it spread panic among God's people. Jesus knew this same principle would be used against His own disciples: "Then Jesus said to them, 'All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it it written, "I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered"'" (Mark 14:27).

Saul's sin, hardened rebellion and eventual ruin affected far more than himself. It affected his army and his sons. It literally endangered the entire nation of Israel. This shows why leaders have a higher responsibility; they can endanger far more people than the fall of someone who is not a leader.


2. (2 Sam 31:8-10) The Philistines disgrace the corpses of King Saul and his sons
It came about on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them through the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. They put his weapons in the temple of Ashteroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

They found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa: It is only stated that the Philistines found royal corpses on the day after the great fight. So desperate had the valor with which the king and his three sons had defended their last position on the hill that night had fallen and the battle had ceased. The enemy was unaware of the completeness of their success until the morning dawn revealed to the soldiers as they waded through the casualties of which the king and his sons were among the slain.

They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons: Only Saul's head and armor are mentioned here, but on comparing 1 Samuel 31:12, where the bodies of his sons are mentioned, it is clear that this act was not confined only to the king. The sense of this passage is that the heads of the king and his sons were cut off and their armor stripped from their bodies. The heads and armor were sent as trophies around to the various towns and villages of Philistia.

They fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan: Beth-shan (also known as Scythopolis) lies about four miles from the Jordan River on the west, and about twelve miles south of the sea of Galilee. It is almost in a straight line west of Mahanaim. We are told in Judges 1:27 that the Canaanites, the original inhabitants of the city, were permitted by the tribe of Manasseh to still dwell in the city. The Canaanite population was perhaps the reason why Beth-shan was chosen for the barbarous exhibition. The Canaanites would probably have welcomed the miserable spectacle.

You can go to the ruins of Beth-shan today, as the foundations to the city sit high on a hill overlooking the Roman ruins destroyed in an earthquake. It was high on that hill that the Philistines hung the decapitated corpse of King Saul.


3. (1 Sam 31:11-13) The men of Jabesh-Gilead end the disgrace of Saul and his sons
Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men rose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

The inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead: The memory of the splendid feat of arms of young King Saul when he had gallantly rescued their city (1 Samuel 11:1-11) years before, when they were threatened with deadly peril by the Ammonites, was still fresh in the minds of the people of Jabesh-Gilead.

Jabesh-Gilead: It was a city in Manasseh, perhaps about 14 miles from Beth-shan.

All the valiant men rose: In a time of disgrace, loss and tragedy like this, God still had valiant men to do His work. When one servant passes away, another arises to take his place. If Saul is gone, God raises up a man like David. If the army of Israel is utterly routed, God still has His valiant men like those of Jabesh-Gilead. God's work is bigger than any man or any group of people.

And burned them there: The burning of the corpse was never the custom in Israel. It was restricted to criminals convicted of the most heinous crimes ("If there is a man who marries a woman and her mother, it is immorality; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no immorality in your midst" Leviticus 20:14.) The reason for the burning is clear. The mutilated bodies had been exposed for some days to the air, and the flesh was no doubt in a state of putrefaction. The flesh only was burned. The bones (verse 13) were reverently and lovingly preserved and laid to rest beneath the beautiful shade of the tamarisk tree.

Fasted seven days: A sign of mourning.

When David hears of Saul's death, he does not rejoice. In fact, he mourns and composes a song in honor of Saul and Jonathan (The Song of the Bow 2 Samuel 1:17-27). In spite of all that Saul did against David, David still spoke well of Saul after his death. Choosing this kind of heart showed David to be a true "man after God's own heart". It showed that the years in the wilderness escaping Saul were really years when God trained David to be a king after God's own heart. Despite David's sin, David never followed in the same tragic footsteps as King Saul.