31 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 31:2And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 31:3The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4 31:4Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 5 31:5And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 6 31:6Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together. 7 31:7And 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 abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.
8 31:8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 31:9So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. 10 31:10They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. 11 31:11But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 31:12all the valiant men arose and went 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. 13 31:13And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
For a final time the narrative switches back to Saul, starkly recounting the events of the day following his visit to the medium at En-dor (1 Samuel 28). There is no account of the battle itself, but notice is taken of the defeat of the Israelites and the death of Saul’s sons (31:1–2). Then the circumstances of Saul’s death by falling on his sword are related (vv. 3–6). The defeat of the army leads many Israelites to quit their cities and flee across the Jordan, abandoning the area to Philistine occupation (v. 7). The next day the Philistines come across Saul’s corpse, which they behead, strip of its armor, and expose as a trophy (vv. 8–10). The inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, however, recover his body and provide Saul a respectful burial (vv. 11–13).
No mention is made of why Saul dies; it is sufficient to record the end of his failed reign. The brevity of this chapter, in which Saul engages in a major encounter with the Philistines and loses his life, is in itself an effective dismissal of his reign, especially when compared to the much lengthier treatment of David’s victory over the Amalekites in chapter 30. Saul’s kingship has played only a subordinate role in God’s purposes; the future is with David.
Response
There is no glory or honor in Saul’s death. He had valued his throne over obedience to God and had misguidedly slipped into a whirlpool of jealousy, folly, and self-destruction that inevitably drew him down to his sad end. And yet there is still a glimpse of what might have been if only he had heeded the many warnings given to him. The daring retrieval of his remains by the men of Jabesh constitutes a reminder of his earlier achievements and the loyalty he then inspired.
Was Saul’s suicide justified? Is any suicide justified? There are six suicides noted in Scripture: that of Saul, 31:4; his armor-bearer, 31:5; Abimelech, Judges 9:54; Ahithophel, 2 Samuel 17:23; Zimri, 1 Kings 16:18; and Judas, Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:18. Samson’s death is more accurately classified as self-sacrifice, since he gives his life in terms of his calling to deliver Israel from the Philistines, killing in his death more Philistines than during his life (Judg. 16:30). In none of the six cases does Scripture directly evaluate the deed, but all are the acts of deeply troubled individuals. Life is a gift from God, and the unlawful taking of life is prohibited (Gen. 9:5–6; Ex. 20:13)—whether that be the life of another or one’s own. Those who refuse to accept God’s lordship over life and death can maintain their desire for self-determination only by taking their own lives—an action that is an illusion, as God will demand a reckoning for what they have done.
The armor-bearer whose task was to assist in keeping the king alive is unwilling to go against the principles of his office or the commands of God regarding his appointed king, honorably refusing to participate in assisted suicide. In his despair, however, he himself succumbs to taking his own life. God alone can determine how such conduct should be judged, but one possible verdict is “saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15).
31:2 Repetition of “the Philistines” as the subject of two successive clauses emphasizes that they hold the upper hand in the encounter and that their ferocious attack forces Saul and his sons to withdraw. The Philistines relentlessly pursue them and “overtook” (lit., “stuck to”) them, with the result that they “struck down” Saul’s three sons present with him: Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua (cf. 14:49). Jonathan dies loyally supporting his father, even though he had recognized that David would be the next king of Israel. The later description of where they lie (31:8) suggests that they fall together, and so Saul probably witnesses the deaths of his sons. A fourth son, Eshbaal or Ish-bosheth, is apparently not involved in the battle, becoming the lone male survivor of Saul’s family. Abner, Saul’s general, also survives the fighting (cf. 2 Sam. 2:8).
31:3 Saul does not fall in the initial attack but is “pressed hard,” with no escape route. When “the archers” have the group surrounding the king within their range, they manage to wound him badly so that he writhes in intense pain.
31:4 Saul is so seriously wounded that he realizes he has no hope of living—a conclusion reinforced by Samuel’s prediction during the previous night. He asks his armor-bearer (cf. comment on 16:21) to thrust him through with his sword to avoid his being killed by “these uncircumcised,” that is, the Philistines (cf. 14:6), whom he also anticipates would “mistreat” him, subjecting him to humiliating abuse and torture (cf. the Philistine treatment of Samson; Judg. 16:21, 25).
The armor-bearer refuses to obey Saul, “for he feared greatly,” probably out of respect for the life of a fellow Israelite, especially the Lord’s anointed. Contrast the Amalekite in 2 Samuel 1:6–10.
“Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it.” He summons up his remaining strength and deliberately commits suicide. This unusual course of conduct had not been one of the ways David had contemplated Saul’s meeting his end (cf. 1 Sam. 26:10).
31:5–6 Once his armor-bearer is sure that Saul has died, he copies his example. So Saul, his three sons, and his armor-bearer die in the same encounter. It is difficult to be certain of the identity of “all his men.” It refers more likely to the soldiers of the royal guard who die “together” in the same group than to the Israelite army in general.
31:7 It is not just the Israelite army who is overwhelmed this day. The rout of the army and the death of the leadership of the land cause widespread panic. When the “men of Israel” (here a reference to non-combatants) occupying settlements on the north side of the Valley of Jezreel learn what has happened, they expect an imminent Philistine incursion, and so they “abandoned their cities and fled.” Equally, “those beyond the Jordan” on its east bank, when they hear that the “men of Israel” (the army) have been routed, abandon their cities lying in the line of potential Philistine advance. However, it does not seem that the Philistines cross the Jordan, and much of the hill country also remains in Israelite hands.
Even so, over the following days the Philistines occupy the Valley of Jezreel and settle in cities such as Jezreel and Beth-shan. In this way the northern tribes of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali are effectively separated from those farther south. The Philistine victory enfeebles the land militarily and economically, so that its prospects are far inferior to those at the beginning of Saul’s reign (13:19–22).
31:8 On the day after the battle (v. 6), the Philistines “came to strip the slain,” removing weapons and valuables from the corpses. “Strip” is the same term as that used for Saul’s stripping off his clothes in 19:24 and for the raids of David and the Amalekites in 27:8; 30:1. The delay before doing so leaves a gap exploited by an Amalekite (2 Sam. 1:10). As the Philistines move among the slain, they come across “Saul and his three sons” where they had “fallen.” Their clothing and weaponry (Saul’s spear?; cf. 2 Sam. 1:6) help to identify who they are.
31:9 “They cut off his head,” as David had once done to Goliath (17:51), and display it in the temple of Dagon (1 Chron. 10:10). They also “stripped off his armor,” a term that can cover both armor and weapons. Moreover, they spread the news of Saul’s death throughout their land, including “the house of their idols”—presumably to inform the gods they suppose have granted them victory.
31:10 “They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth” (cf. comment on 7:4). As Ashtoreth was a war goddess, her temple was an appropriate location for trophies of war (cf. the ark in 5:2). It is not stated where this temple was located. However, the Philistines occupied Beth-shan, an important stronghold near the river Jordan, where “they fastened his body to the wall” of the city, probably by driving a wooden peg through it.
31:11 The only positive note in the chapter is the initiative displayed by the “inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead” (cf. comment on 11:1), 10 miles (16 km) from Beth-shan across the Jordan. When they hear about the desecration of Saul’s body, they remember how at the start of his reign Saul had rescued them from the Ammonites (11:1–11), and they resolve to repay a debt of gratitude by showing respect to Saul’s remains.
31:12 It takes “all the valiant men,” the most courageous warriors of the town, to venture at night into Philistine-held territory and approach the city wall. In 2 Samuel 21:12 the corpses are said to have been removed “from the public square of Beth-shan,” probably an open area outside the city wall, with the corpses on the wall above the gate into the city. It is here we learn for the first time that the bodies of Saul’s sons had been treated in a similar fashion to his. With the four mutilated carcasses, the raiding party recrosses the Jordan back to Jabesh, where they “burned them.”
In surrounding nations, cremation of royal remains was viewed as an act befitting a king, but Israel did not practice cremation (and this detail is omitted in 1 Chron. 10:12). What occurs here seems to be an emergency measure to save the bodies from further disrespectful treatment, or perhaps because of their advanced state of decomposition. Since the bones remain, it falls short of total cremation (cf. Amos 2:1).
31:13 “They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh.” The tamarisk (cf. comment on 22:6) is referred to as an oak in 1 Chronicles 10:12. They “fasted seven days” as a sign of respect for those who died in this tragedy, with the period of time probably reflecting that required for the removal of uncleanness following contact with a corpse (Num. 19:11). The bones are later reburied in the family tomb of Kish, the father of Saul (2 Sam. 21:12, 14). Since his victory at Jabesh-gilead had confirmed Saul’s leadership over Israel (1 Sam. 11:1–13), it is fitting that in a sense his reign ends there also.
1 Cf. map, ESV Study Bible, 540.