1 Samuel 31Previous Chapter | Next ChapterSaul Killed by the Philistines1The Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines. They fell slain on Mount Gilboa.2The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Saul’s sons, Jonathan, Abinadib, and Malchishua.3The heaviest fighting was against Saul,Lit. was heavy towardand when the PhilistineThe Heb. lacks Philistinebowmen who were shooting located Saul, he was severely wounded by them.Lit. the archers4Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, so these uncircumcised people don’t come and run me through and make sport of me.” His armor bearer did not want to do itThe Heb. lacks to do itbecause he was very frightened, so Saul took the sword and fell on it.5When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him.6Thus Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men died together that day.7When the otherThe Heb. lacks othermen of Israel who were across the valley and who were across the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the towns and fled, and the Philistines came and occupied them. The Philistines Desecrate Saul’s Body8The next day the Philistines came to strip the dead, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.9They cut off his head and stripped him of his weapons. They sent people throughout the territory of the Philistines to report the good news to the people in the temples of their idols.10They put Saul’sLit. hisweapons in the temple of the Asherahs,Asherah was a female deity worshipped by the Canaanites and the Philistineswhile they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. The People of Jabesh-gilead Give Saul a Proper Burial11The residents of Jabesh-gilead heard whatLit. heard about it, whatthe Philistines had done to Saul.12All the fighting men got up, traveled all night, and removed Saul’s body and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. Then they went to Jabesh and burned the bodiesLit. themthere.13They took their bones, buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days. The Book of
and when the Philistine
