1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines followed hard after Saul, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.
3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers.
4 Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died.
6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together.
7 And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa.
9 And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people.
10 And they put his armor in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.
11 And when all Jabeshgilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
12 They arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
13 So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;
14 And inquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.
1 Now the Philistines H6430 fought H3898 against Israel; H3478 and the men H376 of Israel H3478 fled H5127 from before H6440 the Philistines, H6430 and fell down H5307 slain H2491 in mount H2022 Gilboa. H1533
2 And the Philistines H6430 followed hard H1692 after H310 Saul, H7586 and after H310 his sons; H1121 and the Philistines H6430 slew H5221 Jonathan, H3129 and Abinadab, H41 and Malchishua, H4444 the sons H1121 of Saul. H7586
3 And the battle H4421 went sore H3513 against Saul, H7586 and the archers H3384 H7198 hit H4672 him, and he was wounded H2342 of the archers. H3384
4 Then said H559 Saul H7586 to his armourbearer, H5375 H3627 Draw H8025 thy sword, H2719 and thrust H1856 me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised H6189 come H935 and abuse H5953 me. But his armourbearer H5375 H3627 would H14 not; for he was sore H3966 afraid. H3372 So Saul H7586 took H3947 a sword, H2719 and fell H5307 upon it.
5 And when his armourbearer H5375 H3627 saw H7200 that Saul H7586 was dead, H4191 he fell H5307 likewise on the sword, H2719 and died. H4191
6 So Saul H7586 died, H4191 and his three H7969 sons, H1121 and all his house H1004 died H4191 together. H3162
7 And when all the men H376 of Israel H3478 that were in the valley H6010 saw H7200 that they fled, H5127 and that Saul H7586 and his sons H1121 were dead, H4191 then they forsook H5800 their cities, H5892 and fled: H5127 and the Philistines H6430 came H935 and dwelt H3427 in them.
8 And it came to pass on the morrow, H4283 when the Philistines H6430 came H935 to strip H6584 the slain, H2491 that they found H4672 Saul H7586 and his sons H1121 fallen H5307 in mount H2022 Gilboa. H1533
9 And when they had stripped H6584 him, they took H5375 his head, H7218 and his armour, H3627 and sent H7971 into the land H776 of the Philistines H6430 round about, H5439 to carry tidings H1319 unto their idols, H6091 and to the people. H5971
10 And they put H7760 his armour H3627 in the house H1004 of their gods, H430 and fastened H8628 his head H1538 in the temple H1004 of Dagon. H1712
11 And when all Jabeshgilead H3003 H1568 heard H8085 all that the Philistines H6430 had done H6213 to Saul, H7586
12 They arose, H6965 all the valiant H2428 men, H376 and took away H5375 the body H1480 of Saul, H7586 and the bodies H1480 of his sons, H1121 and brought H935 them to Jabesh, H3003 and buried H6912 their bones H6106 under the oak H424 in Jabesh, H3003 and fasted H6684 seven H7651 days. H3117
13 So Saul H7586 died H4191 for his transgression H4604 which he committed H4603 against the LORD, H3068 even against the word H1697 of the LORD, H3068 which he kept H8104 not, and also for asking H7592 counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, H178 to enquire H1875 of it;
14 And enquired H1875 not of the LORD: H3068 therefore he slew H4191 him, and turned H5437 the kingdom H4410 unto David H1732 the son H1121 of Jesse. H3448
1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines followed hard after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers.
4 Then said Saul unto his armor-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armor-bearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.
5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died.
6 So Saul died, and his three sons; and all his house died together.
7 And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa.
9 And they stripped him, and took his head, and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the tidings unto their idols, and to the people.
10 And they put his armor in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.
11 And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
12 all the valiant men arose, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
13 So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against Jehovah, because of the word of Jehovah, which he kept not; and also for that he asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire `thereby',
14 and inquired not of Jehovah: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.
1 And the Philistines have fought with Israel, and the men of Israel flee from the face of the Philistines, and fall wounded in mount Gilboa,
2 and the Philistines pursue after Saul, and after his sons, and the Philistines smite Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-Shua, sons of Saul.
3 And the battle `is' heavy on Saul, and those shooting with the bow find him, and he is wounded by those shooting,
4 and Saul saith unto the bearer of his weapons, `Draw thy sword, and pierce me with it, lest these uncircumcised come -- and have abused me.' And the bearer of his weapons hath not been willing, for he feareth exceedingly, and Saul taketh the sword, and falleth upon it;
5 and the bearer of his weapons seeth that Saul `is' dead, and falleth, he also, on the sword, and dieth;
6 and Saul dieth, and his three sons, and all his house -- together they died.
7 And all the men of Israel who `are' in the valley see that they have fled, and that Saul and his sons have died, and they forsake their cities and flee, and the Philistines come and dwell in them.
8 And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that the Philistines come to strip the wounded, and find Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa,
9 and strip him, and bear away his head, and his weapons, and send into the land of the Philistines round about to proclaim tidings `to' their idols and the people,
10 and put his weapons in the house of their gods, and his skull they have fixed in the house of Dagon.
11 And all Jabesh-Gilead hear of all that the Philistines have done to Saul,
12 and all the men of valour rise and bear away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and bring them in to Jabesh, and bury their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fast seven days.
13 And Saul dieth because of his trespass that he trespassed against Jehovah, against the word of Jehovah that he kept not, and also for asking at a familiar spirit -- to inquire, --
14 and he inquired not at Jehovah, and He putteth him to death, and turneth round the kingdom to David son of Jesse.
1 And the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines followed hard after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines smote Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul's sons.
3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers came up with him, and he was terrified by the archers.
4 Then said Saul to his armour-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not; for he was much afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.
5 And when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died.
6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together.
7 And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
8 And it came to pass the next day, that the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his sons fallen on mount Gilboa.
9 And they stripped him, and took his head, and his armour, and sent [them] into the land of the Philistines round about, to announce the glad tidings to their idols, and to the people.
10 And they put his armour in the house of their god, and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.
11 And when all they of Jabesh-Gilead heard of all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
12 all the valiant men arose, and took up the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the terebinth of Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
13 And Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he committed against Jehovah, because of the word of Jehovah which he kept not, and also for having inquired of the spirit of Python, asking counsel of it;
14 and he asked not counsel of Jehovah; therefore he slew him, and transferred the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.
1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa.
2 The Philistines followed hard after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.
3 The battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers.
4 Then said Saul to his armor-bearer, Draw your sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armor-bearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell on it.
5 When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword, and died.
6 So Saul died, and his three sons; and all his house died together.
7 When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.
8 It happened on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
9 They stripped him, and took his head, and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the news to their idols, and to the people.
10 They put his armor in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.
11 When all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
12 all the valiant men arose, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
13 So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against Yahweh, because of the word of Yahweh, which he didn't keep; and also because he asked counsel of one who had a familiar spirit, to inquire [thereby],
14 and didn't inquire of Yahweh: therefore he killed him, and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.
1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel; and the men of Israel went in flight before the Philistines, falling down wounded in Mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines went hard after Saul and his sons, and put to death Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
3 And the fight was going against Saul, and the archers came across him, and he was wounded by the archers.
4 Then Saul said to the servant who had the care of his arms, Take your sword and put it through me, before these men without circumcision come and make sport of me. But his servant, full of fear, would not do so. Then Saul took out his sword, falling on it himself.
5 And when his servant saw that Saul was dead, he did the same, and came to his death.
6 So death overtook Saul and his three sons; all his family came to an end together.
7 And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the men of Israel had gone in flight and that Saul and his sons were dead, they went in flight away from their towns; and the Philistines came and took them for themselves.
8 Now the day after, when the Philistines came to take their goods from the dead, they saw Saul and his sons dead in Mount Gilboa.
9 And they took everything off him, and took his head and his war-dress, and sent word into the land of the Philistines round about to give the news to their gods and to the people.
10 And they put his war-dress in the house of their gods, and put up his head in the house of Dagon.
11 And when the news came to Jabesh-gilead of what the Philistines had done to Saul,
12 All the fighting-men came up and took away Saul's body and the bodies of his sons, and took them to Jabesh, and put their bones to rest under the oak-tree in Jabesh, and took no food for seven days.
13 So death came to Saul because of the sin which he did against the Lord, that is, because of the word of the Lord which he kept not; and because he went for directions to one who had an evil spirit,
14 And not to the Lord: for this reason, he put him to death and gave the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 10
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 10 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
II. The History of David's Kingship - 1 Chronicles 10-29.
The account of the ruin of Saul and his house in 1 Chronicles 10:1-14, cf. 1 Sam, forms the introduction to the history of the kingship of David, which is narrated in two sections. In the first, 1 Chron 11-21, we have a consecutive narrative of the most important events of David's life, and his attempts to settle the kingship of Israel on a firmer basis, from the time of his being anointed king over all Israel to the numbering of the people in the latter years of his reign. The second, 1 Chron 22-29, contains an account of the preparations made towards the end of his reign for the building of the temple, of the arrangement of the service of the Levites and the army, and the last commands of the grey-haired king as to the succession of his son Solomon to the kingdom, and matters connected with it. The first section runs parallel to the account of the reign of David in 2 Samuel; the second is peculiar to the Chronicle, and has no parallel in the earlier historical books, Samuel and Kings. Now, if we compare the first section with the parallel narrative in 2 Samuel, it is manifest that, apart from that omission of David's seven years' reign over the tribe of Judah in Hebron, and of all the events having reference to and connection with his family relationships, of which we have already spoken, in the Chronicle the same incidents are recounted as in the second book of Samuel, and with few exceptions the order is the same. The main alterations in the order of the narrative are: ( a ) that the catalogues of David's heroes who helped him to establish his kingdom (1 Chron 11:10-47), and of the valiant men of all the tribes, who even in Saul's lifetime had joined themselves to David (1 Chron 12), follow immediately upon the account of the choosing of Jerusalem to be the capital of the kingdom, after the conquest of the fortress Jebus (1 Chronicles 11:1-9), while in 2 Samuel the former of these catalogues is found in 2 Sam 23:8-39, in connection with the history of his reign, and the latter is entirely omitted; and ( b ) the account of his palace-building, his wives and children, and of some battles with the Philistines, which in 2 Samuel 5:11-25 follows immediately after the account of the conquest of the citadel of Zion, is inserted in the fourteenth chapter of Chronicles, in the account of the bringing of the ark of the covenant from Kirjath-jearim (1 Chronicles 13:1-14), and its transfer to Jerusalem (1 Chron 15). Both these transpositions and the before-mentioned omissions are connected with the peculiar plan of the Chronicle. In the second book of Samuel the reign of David is so described as to bring out, in the first place, the splendidly victorious development of his kingship, and then its humiliation through great transgression on David's part; the author of the Chronicle, on the other hand, designed to portray to his contemporaries the glories of the Davidic kingship, so that the divine election of David to be ruler over the people of Israel might be manifest. In accordance with this purpose he shows, firstly, how after the death of Saul Jahve bestowed the kingship upon David, all Israel coming to Hebron and anointing him king, with the confession, “Jahve thy God hath said to thee, Thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel;” how the heroes of the whole nation helped him in the establishing of his kingdom (1 Chron 11); and how, even before the death of Saul, the most valiant men of all the tribes had gone over to him, and had helped him in the struggle (1 Chron 12). In the second place, he narrates how David immediately determined to bring the ark into the capital of his kingdom (1 Chron 15); how, notwithstanding the misfortunes caused by a transgression of the law (1 Chronicles 13:7, 1 Chronicles 13:9.), so soon as he had learned that the ark would bring a blessing (1 Chronicles 13:1-14, 14), and that God would bless him in his reign (1 Chron 14), he carried out his purpose, and not only brought the ark to Jerusalem, but organized the public worship around this sanctuary (1 Chron 15 and 16); and how he formed a resolution to build a temple to the Lord, receiving from God, because of this, a promise that his kingdom should endure for ever (1 Chron 17). Then, in the third place, we have an account of how he, so favoured by the Lord, extended the power of his kingdom by victorious wars over all the enemies of Israel (1 Chron 18-20); and how even the ungodly enterprise of the numbering of the people, to which Satan had tempted him, David, had by the grace of God, and through his penitent submission to the will of the Lord, such an issue, that the place where the Lord should be thereafter worshipped in Israel was determined by the appearance of the angel and by the word of the prophet Gad (1 Chron 21). And so the grey-haired king was able to spend the latter part of his reign in making preparations for the building of the temple, and in establishing permanent ordinances for the public worship, and the protection of the kingdom: gave over to his son Solomon, his divinely chosen successor on the throne, a kingdom externally and internally well ordered and firmly established, and closed his life at a good old age, after a reign of forty years (1 Chron. 22-29).
In 1 Sam this narrative forms the conclusion of Saul's last war with the Philistines. The battle was fought on the plain of Jezreel; and when the Israelites were compelled to retire, they fell back upon Mount Gilboa, but were hard pressed by the Philistines, so that many fell upon the mountain. The Philistines pressed furiously after Saul and his sons, and slew the latter (as to Saul's sons, see on 1 Chronicles 8:33); and when the archers came upon Saul he trembled before them ( יחל from חוּל ), and ordered his armour-bearer to thrust him through. Between המּורים and בּקּשׁת the superfluous אנשׁים is introduced in Samuel, and in the last clause מאד is omitted; and instead of מהמּורים we have the unusual form מן־היּורים (cf. 2 Chronicles 35:23). In Saul's request to his armour-bearer that he would thrust him through with the sword, וּדקרני (1 Samuel 31:4) is omitted in the phrase which gives the reason for his request; and Bertheau thinks it did not originally stand in the text, and has been repeated merely by an oversight, since the only motive for the command, “Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith,” was that the Philistines might not insult Saul when alive, and consequently the words, “that they may not thrust me through,” cannot express the reason. But that is scarcely a conclusive reason for this belief; for although the Philistines might seek out Saul after he had been slain by his armour-bearer, and dishonour his dead body, yet the anxiety lest they should seek out his corpse to wreak their vengeance upon it could not press so heavily upon him as the fear that they would take vengeance upon him if he fell alive into their hands. It is therefore a more probable supposition that the author of the Chronicle has omitted the word וּדקרני only as not being necessary to the sense of the passage, just as עמּו is omitted at the end of 1 Chronicles 10:5. In 1 Chronicles 10:6 we have וכל־בּיתו instead of the כּל־אנשׁיו גּם כליו ונשׂא of Samuel, and in 1 Chronicles 10:7 ישׂראל אנשׁי is omitted after the words נסוּ כּי (Samuel). From this Bertheau concludes that the author of the Chronicle has designedly avoided speaking of the men of Saul's army or of the Israelites who took part in the battle, because it was not his purpose to describe the whole course of the conflict, but only to narrate the death of Saul and of his sons, in order to point out how the supreme power came to David. Thenius, on the contrary, deduces the variation between the sixth verse of the Chronicles and the corresponding verse in Samuel from “a text which had become illegible.” Both are incorrect; for כּל־אנשׁיו are not all the men of war who went with him into the battle (Then.), or all the Israelites who took part in the battle (Berth.), but only all those who were about the king, i.e., the whole of the king's attendants who had followed him to the war. כּל־בּיתו is only another expression for כּל־אנשׁיו , in which the כּליו נשׂא is included. The author of the Chronicle has merely abridged the account, confining himself to a statement of the main points, and has consequently both omitted ישׂראל אנשׁי in 1 Chronicles 10:7, because he had already spoken of the flight of the warriors of Israel in 1 Chronicles 10:1, and it was here sufficient to mention only the flight and death of Saul and of his sons, and has also shortened the more exact statement as to the inhabitants of that district, “those on the other side of the valley and on the other side of Jordan” (Samuel), into בּאמק אשׁר . In this abridgement also Thenius scents a “defective text.” As the inhabitants of the district around Gilboa abandoned their cities, they were taken possession of by the Philistines.
On the following day the Philistines, in their search among the fallen, found and plundered the bodies of Saul and of his sons, and sent the head and the armour of Saul round about the land of the Philistines, to proclaim the news of their victory to their people and their gods. That for this purpose they cut off Saul's head from the trunk, is, as being a matter of course, not specially mentioned. In regard to the other discrepancies between the two texts, both in 1 Chronicles 10:8-10 and in the account of the burial of Saul and of his sons by valiant men of Jabesh, 1 Chronicles 10:11, 1 Chronicles 10:12, cf. the commentary on 1 Samuel 31:8-13. In the reflection on Saul's death, 1 Chronicles 10:13 and 1 Chronicles 10:14, a double transgression against the Lord on Saul's part is mentioned: first, the מעל (on the meaning of this word, vide on Leviticus 5:15) of not observing the word of Jahve, which refers to the transgression of the divine command made known to him by the prophet Samuel, 1 Samuel 13:8. (cf. with 1 Chronicles 10:8), and 1 Samuel 15:2-3, 1 Samuel 15:11, cf. 1 Samuel 28:18; and second, his inquiring of the אוב , the summoner of the dead ( vide on Leviticus 19:31), לדרושׁ , i.e., to receive an oracle (cf. in reference to both word and thing, 1 Samuel 28:7).
And because he inquired not of the Lord, therefore He slew him. According to 1 Samuel 28:6, Saul did indeed inquire of Jahve, but received no answer, because Jahve had departed from him (1 Samuel 28:15); but instead of seeking with all earnestness for the grace of Jahve, that he might receive an answer, Saul turned to the sorceress of Endor, and received his death-sentence through her from the mouth of Samuel, 1 Samuel 28:19.