1Sa 31:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.
Now the Philistines fought - This is the continuation of the account given in 1Sa_29:1-11. Having come to Jezreel where Israel pitched, 1Sa_29:1; they fell upon them, began the battle:
The men of Israel fled - It seems as if they were thrown into confusion at the first onset, and turned their backs upon their enemies.
1Sa 31:2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons.
Followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons - Stuck to him, pushed him close, bore hard upon him in that part of the battle where he was.
the Philistines slew Jonathan - who is mentioned first, being the eldest son, and perhaps first slain; and this was so ordered by the providence of God, that David's way to the throne might be more clear and easy; for though Jonathan would not have opposed him himself, knowing David was the Lord's anointed, this would have looked as if he had made him king, and not the Lord:
Abinadab and Malchishua, Saul's sons - these also were slain; former of these is called Ishui, 1Sa_14:49; Ishbosheth either was not in the battle, being left at home, as unfit for war, or to take care of the kingdom; or else he fled with Abner, and others, and escaped, and who was to be a trial to David.
Jonathan - David's dear friend; God so ordering it for the farther exercise of David's faith and patience; and that David might depend upon God alone for his crown, and receive it solely from him, and not from Jonathan; who doubtless, had he lived, would have speedily settled the crown upon David's head. There was also a special providence of God, in taking away Jonathan, (who of all Saul's sons, seems to have been the fairest for the crown) for preventing divisions, which might have happened amongst the people concerning the successor: David's way to the crown being by this means made the more clear.
1Sa 31:3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
He was sore wounded of the archers - It is likely that Saul’s sons were slain by the archers, and that Saul was now mortally wounded by the same. Had not Saul been grievously wounded, and beyond hope of recovery, he would not have wished his armor-bearer to dispatch him; as he might have continued still to fight, or have made his escape from this most disastrous battle.
He was sore wounded of the archers - He seems to have bravely maintained his ground for some time longer; but exhausted with fatigue and loss of blood, and dreading that if he fell alive into the enemy's hands, they would insolently maltreat him (Jos_8:29; Jos_10:24; Jdg_8:21), he requested his armor bearer to dispatch him.
1Sa 31:4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
Then said Saul unto his armourbearer - Who, the Jews say, was Doeg the Edomite, promoted to this office for slaying the priests: if so, then Saul and his executioner fell by the same sword with which they massacred the priests of God.
lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me - lest they should not dispatch him at once, but put him to a lingering and torturing death, and insult him, and mock at him, as they did Samson:
his armorbearer would not, for he was sore afraid - to lay his hand on the king the Lord's anointed, to take away his life, being more scrupulous of doing that, if this was Doeg, than of slaying the priests of the Lord; or he might be afraid of doing this, since should he survive this action, he would be called to an account by the Israelites, and be put to death for killing the king:
therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it - so was a suicide: the Jews endeavor to excuse this fact of Saul, because he knew he should die in battle from the words of Samuel; and being pressed sore by the archers, he saw it was impossible to escape out of their hands and therefore judged it better to kill himself than to fall by the hands of the uncircumcised; but these excuses will not do.
We cannot judge of the spiritual or eternal state of any by the manner of their death; for in that, there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked. Saul, when sorely wounded, and unable to resist or to flee, expressed no concern about his never-dying soul; but only desired that the Philistines might not insult over him, or put him to pain, and he became his own murderer. As it is the grand deceit of the devil, to persuade sinners, under great difficulties, to fly to this last act of desperation, it is well to fortify the mind against it, by a serious consideration of its sinfulness before God, and its miserable consequences in society.
1Sa 31:5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.
He also fell on his sword - If the armor bearer was Doeg, who put an end to his life also then they died by one and the same sword--the very weapon with which they had massacred the Lord's servants at Nob. 1Sa_22:18
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:
1Sa 31:6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.
All his men - This and similar expressions must not be taken too literally. We know that Abner, and Ish-bosheth, and manymore survived the day of Gilboa. Probably meaning those of his troops which were his life or body guards: as to the bulk of the army, it fled at the commencement of the battle, 1Sa_31:1.
So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer - Only with this difference, his three sons died honorably in the field of battle, but he and his armorbearer destroyed themselves.
1Sa 31:7 And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
The men on the other side of the valley - This must mean to the north of the plain of Jezreel, and would comprise the tribe of Naphtali, and Zabulon, and probably Issachar. But the text of 1Ch_10:7 has “that were in the valley,” limiting the statement to the inhabitants of the plain of Jezreel.
The men on the other side of the valley – They appear to have been panic-struck, and therefore fled as far as they could out of the reach of the Philistines. As the Philistines possessed Beth-shan, situated near to Jordan , the people on the other side of that river, fearing for their safety, fled also.
The Philistines dwelt in them - One of the principal cities, Beth-shan, fell into their power at once 1Sa_31:10.
saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead - that is, had information and intelligence of those facts, for it is not to be supposed they saw them with their eyes:
1Sa 31:8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.
On the morrow - It is very likely that the battle and pursuit continued till the night, so that there was no time till the next day to strip and plunder the slain. On discovering the corpses of the slaughtered princes on the battlefield, the enemy reserved them for special indignities. They consecrated the armor of the king and his sons to the temple of Ashtaroth fastened their bodies on the temple of Shen, while they fixed the royal heads ignominiously in the temple of Dagon (1Ch_10:10); thus dividing the glory among their several deities.
1Sa 31:9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.
And they cut off his head - It is possible that they cut off the heads of his three sons likewise; for although only his head is said to be cut off, and his body only to be fastened to the walls of Beth-shan, yet we find that the men of Jabesh-gilead found both his body and the bodies of his three sons, fastened to the walls, 1Sa_31:12.
And they cut off his head - And fastened it in the temple of Dagon , 1Ch_10:10; perhaps that which was at Ashdod , one of the principalities of the Philistines, 1Sa_5:1,
stripped off his armor - his clothes as well as his armour, and what he had about him; as for his crown on his head, and the bracelet on his arm, the Amalekite took them before the Philistines came, 2Sa_1:10,
to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people - that so they might be glad and rejoice, and give praise to their idols, to whom they ascribed the success they had.
1Sa 31:10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.
In the house of Ashtaroth - The placing Saul’s armour as a trophy in the temple of Ashtaroth was a counterpart to the placing Goliath’s sword in the tabernacle 1Sa_21:9. In 1Ch_10:10 it is added that they “fastened Saul’s head in the temple of Dagon ,” probably either in Gaza Jdg_16:21, or in Ashdod 1Sa_5:1-3. This was, perhaps, in retaliation for the similar treatment of Goliath’s head 1Sa_17:54.
They put his armor in the house of Ashtaroth - As David had done in placing the sword of Goliath in the tabernacle. We have already seen that it was common for the conquerors to consecrate armor and spoils taken in war, to those who were the objects of religious worship.
They fastened his body to the wall - Probably by means of iron hooks; but it is said, 2Sa_21:12, that these bodies were fastened in the Street of Beth-shan. This may mean that the place where they were fastened to the wall was the main street or entrance into the city.
1Sa 31:11 And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;
When the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard - This act of the men of Jabesh-gilead was an act of gratitude due to Saul, who, at the very commencement of his reign, rescued them from Nahash, king of the Ammonites, 1Sa_11:1, and by his timely succours saved them from the deepest degradation and the most oppressive tyranny. This heroic act, with the seven days’ fast, showed that they retained a due sense of their obligation to this unfortunate monarch.
heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul - not only that they had got the victory over him, and routed his army, but had abused his body, and hung it up by way of reproach and ignominy; which they could not bear to hear of, remembering with gratitude the kindness he had shown to them, in delivering them out of the hands of Nahash the Ammonite, 1Sa_11:1.
1Sa 31:12 All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.
burnt them - Burning was not the usual mode of sepulture among the Hebrews. But in this case from a pious desire to disguise the mutilation of the headless corpses, and exempt them from any possible future insult, the men of Jabesh burned the bodies, yet so as to preserve the bones 1Sa_31:13; 2Sa_21:12.
And burnt them there - They could not have buried them about Beth-shan without being discovered; and as to embalming, that was most likely out of all question, as doubtless the bodies were now too putrid to bear it. They therefore burnt them, because there was no other way of disposing of them at that time so as to do them honor; and the bones and ashes they collected, and buried under a tree or in a grove at Jabesh.
All the valiant men arose - Of the city of Jabeshgilead , fired with indignation at the Philistines' ill usage of Saul and the bodies of his sons:
valiant men arose, and went all night - Considering that Beth-shan is an hour and a half's distance, and by a narrow upland passage, to the west of the Jordan (the whole being a journey from Jabesh-gilead of about ten miles), they must have made all haste to travel thither to carry off the headless bodies and return to their own side of the Jordan in the course of a single night.
1Sa 31:13 And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
Under a tree - Rather, “Under the tamarisk,” a well-known tree at Jabesh which was standing when this narrative was written.
buried them under a tree at Jabesh - For though they burned the bodies, yet so as to preserve the bones; and these, together with the ashes of the parts burnt, they gathered up, and buried under a tree near this city; this tree is said to be an oak, 1Ch_10:12; so Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, was buried under an oak, Gen_35:8. The Jews generally interred their dead under some oak.
They fasted seven days - To testify their sincere regret for his unfortunate death, and the public calamity that had fallen upon the land. In imitation of the mourning for Jacob. They would give full honor to Saul though he was fallen.
fasted seven days - not that they ate and drank nothing all that time, but they fasted every day till evening, as the Jews used to do; so long it seems a man may live without eating, but not longer; this they did perhaps in memory of the seven days Nahash the Ammonite gave them for their relief, in which time Saul came and saved them, 1Sa_11:3. To testify their sorrow for the loss of Saul, and of the people of God;
This book began with the birth of Samuel, and ends with the death of Saul: The comparing these together will teach us to prefer the honor that comes from God, before all the honors of the world.
Thus ends the reign of Saul. A king was chosen in opposition to the will of the Most High; and the government of God in effect rejected, to make way for this king. Saul was at first a very humble young man, and conducted himself with great propriety; but his elevation made him proud, and he soon became tyrannical in his private conduct and in his political measures. His natural temper was not good; he was peevish, fretful, and often outrageous; and these bad dispositions, unchecked by proper application to the grace of God, became every day more headstrong and dangerous. Through their violence he seems at times to have been wholly carried away and deranged; and this derangement appears to have been occasionally greatly exacerbated by diabolical influences. This led him to take his friends for his foes; so that in his paroxysms he strove to imbrue his hands in their blood, and more than once attempted to assassinate his own son; and most causelessly and inhumanly ordered the innocent priests of the Lord at Nob to be murdered. This was the worst act in his whole life.
Saul was but ill qualified for a proper discharge of the regal functions. The reader will remember that he was chosen rather as a general of the armies than as civil governor. The administration of the affairs of the state was left chiefly to Samuel, and Saul led forth the armies to battle.
Saul was a weak man, and very capricious; this is amply proved by his unreasonable jealousy against David, and his continual suspicion that all were leagued against him. It is also evident, in his foolish adjuration relative to the matter of the honey (see 1Sa_14:24-30, 1Sa_14:38-44) in which, to save his rash and nonsensical oath, he would have sacrificed Jonathan his son!
The question, “Was Saul a good king?” has already in effect been answered. He was on the whole a good man, as far as we know, in private life; but he was a bad king; for he endeavored to reign independently of the Jewish constitution; he in effect assumed the sacerdotal office and functions, and thus even changed what was essential to that constitution. He not only offered sacrifices which belonged to the priests alone; but in the most positive manner went opposite to the orders of that God whose vicegerent he was.
His desperate circumstances imposed on the weakness of his mind; and he did in the instance of the witch of Endor an act which, in his jurisprudential capacity, he had disapproved by the edict which banished all witches, etc., from Israel . Yet in this act he only wished to avail himself of the counsel and advice of his friend Samuel.
