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.
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Commentary on 1 Chronicles 10 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 10
This part, 1 Chronicles 10:1 which gives an account of the last battle of Saul with the Philistines, and of his death and burial, is the same with 1 Samuel 31:1 see the notes there; the cause of his death follows in 1 Chronicles 10:13
See Gill on 1 Samuel 31:1.
So Saul died for his transgression,.... See Gill on 1 Samuel 31:13 A violent and dishonourable death, which was suffered on account of the sins he was guilty of:
one was, which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not; both in not staying for Samuel the time appointed, and by sparing the Amalekites whom he was bid to destroy, 1 Samuel 13:13.
and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; what he should do with respect to engaging in battle with the Philistines, 1 Samuel 28:8 which to do was contrary to an express command of God, Leviticus 19:31.
And inquired not of the Lord,.... For though he did inquire in some sense in an external, careless, and hypocritical manner, yet not done seriously, sincerely, and heartily, nor with constancy; it was accounted as if he inquired not at all, 1 Samuel 28:6 the Targum adds another reason of his death, because he killed the priests of Nob; but that is not in the text:
therefore he slew him; or suffered him to be slain:
and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse; translated the kingdom of Israel out of Saul's family, upon his death, into Jesse's, even unto David; for the sake of which observation this short account is given of the last end of Saul.