1 Chronicles 10:1 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

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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,

Cross Reference

1 Samuel 31:1-13 YLT

KJV ASV DARBY WEB BBE STRONG

And the Philistines are fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel flee from the face of the Philistines, and fall wounded in mount Gilboa, and the Philistines follow Saul and his sons, and the Philistines smite Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, sons of Saul. And the battle is hard against Saul, and the archers find him -- men with bow -- and he is pained greatly by the archers; and Saul saith to the bearer of his weapons, `Draw thy sword, and pierce me with it, lest they come -- these uncircumcised -- and have pierced me, and rolled themselves on me;' and the bearer of his weapons hath not been willing, for he is greatly afraid, and Saul taketh the sword, and falleth upon it. And the bearer of his weapons seeth that Saul `is' dead, and he falleth -- he also -- on his sword, and dieth with him; and Saul dieth, and three of his sons, and the bearer of his weapons, also all his men, on that day together. And they see -- the men of Israel, who `are' beyond the valley, and who `are' beyond the Jordan -- that the men of Israel have fled, and that Saul and his sons have died, and they forsake the cities and flee, and Philistines come in, and dwell in them. And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that the Philistines come to strip the wounded, and they find Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa, and they cut off his head, and strip off his weapons, and send into the land of the Philistines round about, to proclaim tidings `in' the house of their idols, and `among' the people; and they place his weapons `in' the house of Ashtaroth, and his body they have fixed on the wall of Beth-Shan. And they hear regarding it -- the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead -- that which the Philistines have done to Saul, and all the men of valour arise, and go all the night, and take the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Beth-Shan, and come in to Jabesh, and burn them there, and they take their bones, and bury `them' under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and fast seven days.

1 Samuel 29:1-2 YLT

KJV ASV DARBY WEB BBE STRONG

And the Philistines gather all their camps to Aphek, and the Israelites are encamping at a fountain which `is' in Jezreel, and the princes of the Philistines are passing on by hundreds, and by thousands, and David and his men are passing on in the rear with Achish.

Commentary on 1 Chronicles 10 Matthew Henry Commentary

John Gill Keil & Delitzsch Robert Jamieson: Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Chapter 10

The design of Ezra, in these books of the Chronicles, was to preserve the records of the house of David, which, though much sunk and lessened in a common eye by the captivity, yet grew more and more illustrious in the eyes of those that lived by faith by the nearer approach of the Son of David. And therefore he repeats, not the history of Saul's reign, but only of his death, by which way was made for David to the throne. In this chapter we have,

I. The fatal rout which the Philistines gave to Saul's army, and the fatal stroke which he gave himself (v. 1-7).
II. The Philistines' triumph therein (v. 8-10).
III. The respect which the men of Jabesh-Gilead showed the royal corpse (v. 11, 12).
IV. The reason of Saul's rejection (v. 13, 14).

1Ch 10:1-7

This account of Saul's death is the same with that which we had, 1 Sa. 31:1, etc. We need not repeat the exposition of it. Only let us observe,

1. Princes sin and the people suffer for it. It was a bad time with Israel when they fled before the Philistines and fell down slain (v. 1), when they quitted their cities, and the Philistines came and dwelt in them, v. 7. We do not find that they were at this time guilty of idolatry, as they had been before, in the days of the judges, and were afterwards, in the days of the kings. Samuel had reformed them, and they were reformed: and yet they are thus given to the spoil and to the robbers. No doubt there was enough in them to deserve this judgment; but that which divine Justice had chiefly an eye to was the sin of Saul. Note, Princes and great men should in a special manner take heed of provoking God's wrath; for, if they kindle that fire, they know not how many may be consumed by it for their sakes.
2. Parents sin and the children suffer for it. When the measure of Saul's iniquity was full, and his day came to fall (which David foresaw, 1 Sa. 26:10), he not only descended into battle and perished himself, but his sons (all but Ishbosheth) perished with him, and Jonathan among the rest, that gracious, generous man; for all things come alike to all. Thus was the iniquity of the fathers visited upon the children, and they fell as parts of the condemned father. Note, Those that love their seed must leave their sins, lest they perish not alone in their iniquity, but bring ruin on their families with themselves, or entail a curse upon them when they are gone.
3. Sinners sin and at length suffer for it themselves, though they be long reprieved; for, although sentence be not executed speedily, it will be executed. It was so upon Saul; and the manner of his fall was such as, in various particulars, answered to his sin.
- (1.) He had thrown a javelin more than once at David, and missed him; but the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers.
- (2.) He had commanded Doeg to slay the priests of the Lord; and now, in despair, he commands his armour-bearer to draw his sword and thrust him through.
- (3.) He had disobeyed the command of God in not destroying the Amalekites, and his armour-bearer disobeys him in not destroying him.
- (4.) He that was the murderer of the priests is justly left to himself to be his own murderer; and his family is cut off who cut off the city of the priests. See, and say, The Lord is righteous.

1Ch 10:8-14

Here,

I. From the triumph of the Philistines over the body of Saul we may learn,
- 1. That the greater dignity men are advanced to the greater disgrace they are in danger of falling into. Saul's dead body, because he was king, was abused more than any other of the slain. Advancement makes men a mark for malice.
- 2. That, if we give not to God the glory of our successes, even the Philistines will rise up in judgment against us and condemn us; for, when they had obtained a victory over Saul, they sent tidings to their idols-poor idols, that knew not what was done a few miles off till the tidings were brought to them, nor then either! They also put Saul's armour in the house of their gods, v. 10. Shall Dagon have so honourable a share in their triumphs and the true and living God be forgotten in ours?
II. From the triumph of the men of Jabesh-Gilead in the rescue of the bodies of Saul and his sons we learn that there is a respect due to the remains of the deceased, especially of deceased princes. We are not to enquire concerning the eternal state; that must be left to God: but we must treat the dead body as those who remember it has been united to an immortal soul and must be so again.
III. From the triumphs of divine Justice in the ruin of Saul we may learn,
- 1. That the sin of sinners will certainly find them out, sooner or later: Saul died for his transgression.
- 2. That no man's greatness can exempt him from the judgments of God.
- 3. Disobedience is a killing thing. Saul died for not keeping the word of the Lord, by which he was ordered to destroy the Amalekites.
- 4. Consulting with witches is a sin that fills the measure of iniquity as soon as any thing. Saul enquired of one that had a familiar spirit, and enquired not of the Lord, therefore he slew him, v. 13, 14. Saul slew himself, and yet it is said, God slew him. What is done by wicked hands is yet done by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Those that abandon themselves to the devil shall be abandoned to him; so shall their doom be. It is said (1 Sa. 28:6) that Saul did enquire of the Lord and he answered him not: but here it is said, Saul did not enquire of God; for he did not till he was brought to the last extremity, and then it was too late.

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