The Histories · Old Testament

1 Samuel 31

Saul's death and the burial at Jabesh

General context

Israel is defeated on Mount Gilboa, and the Philistines kill Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchi-shua. Wounded by archers, Saul asks his armor-bearer to kill him; when the man refuses, Saul falls on his own sword. The armor-bearer also dies. Israelites abandon towns, and the Philistines occupy them. Saul's body is displayed at Beth-shan, but men from Jabesh-gilead recover his body and his sons' bodies, burn them and bury their bones.

Cited passages: 1 Samuel 31:1, 1 Samuel 31:2, 1 Samuel 31:3, 1 Samuel 31:4, 1 Samuel 31:5, 1 Samuel 31:6, 1 Samuel 31:7, 1 Samuel 31:8, 1 Samuel 31:9, 1 Samuel 31:10, 1 Samuel 31:11, 1 Samuel 31:12, 1 Samuel 31:13

1 Samuel 31 (KJV)

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.

²And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons.

³And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.

⁴Then 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.

⁵And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.

⁶So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.

⁷And 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.

⁸And 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.

⁹And 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.

¹⁰And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

¹¹And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;

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 came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

¹³And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

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Historical context

The Philistines distribute news of the victory and place Saul's armor in the house of Ashtaroth. Jabesh's men travel through the night to recover the bodies and observe a seven-day fast after burial. This chapter narrates Saul's death by his own sword. The later Amalekite account in 2 Samuel 1 is a man's reported claim that he killed Saul, which should be distinguished from the narration here.

Cited passages: 1 Samuel 31:3, 1 Samuel 31:4, 1 Samuel 31:5, 1 Samuel 31:6, 1 Samuel 31:7, 1 Samuel 31:8, 1 Samuel 31:9, 1 Samuel 31:10, 1 Samuel 31:11, 1 Samuel 31:12, 1 Samuel 31:13, 2 Samuel 1:6, 2 Samuel 1:7, 2 Samuel 1:8, 2 Samuel 1:9, 2 Samuel 1:10

Literary context

The story moves from battlefield defeat to the public display of a fallen king and finally to an act of recovery and mourning. Jabesh-gilead is the town Saul rescued earlier in his reign, giving its men's action a connection to that earlier deliverance. The book closes with burial and fasting rather than a new king's accession.

Cited passages: 1 Samuel 31:8, 1 Samuel 31:9, 1 Samuel 31:10, 1 Samuel 31:11, 1 Samuel 31:12, 1 Samuel 31:13, 1 Samuel 11:1, 1 Samuel 11:2, 1 Samuel 11:3, 1 Samuel 11:4, 1 Samuel 11:5, 1 Samuel 11:6, 1 Samuel 11:7, 1 Samuel 11:8, 1 Samuel 11:9, 1 Samuel 11:10, 1 Samuel 11:11, 1 Samuel 11:12, 1 Samuel 11:13

Key moments

Saul's sons fall (1 Samuel 31:2). Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchi-shua are killed by the Philistines.
Saul dies (1 Samuel 31:4). After his armor-bearer's refusal, Saul falls on his own sword.
The towns abandoned (1 Samuel 31:7). Israelites flee their cities, which the Philistines then occupy.
The bodies recovered (1 Samuel 31:12). Jabesh's men travel by night and bring the bodies back from Beth-shan.
Burial and fasting (1 Samuel 31:13). The bones are buried at Jabesh, and the people fast seven days.

For reflection

What does the action of Jabesh-gilead preserve in a closing chapter otherwise dominated by defeat and humiliation?

People in this chapter

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