Outline of Chapter 31:

       vv.    1–3        The Philistine Army is Defeating Saul’s Army in Battle

       vv.    4–6        Saul and his Armor-bearer Commit Suicide During this Battle

       vv.    7–10      The Philistines Defeat the Israelites and Display the Dead Bodies of Saul and his Sons

       vv.   11–13      Brave Men from Jabesh-gilead Retrieve and Bury the Bodies of Saul and his Sons

Charts, Short Doctrines and Maps:

       Introduction    Who Observed and Wrote Down the Events of 1Samuel 31?

       Introduction    1Samuel 28–31 in Chronological Order

       v.      2           Why Does God Allow Jonathan to be Killed in Battle?

       v.      4           Saul’s Failures

       v.      4           A Summary of the Doctrine of Suicide

       v.      9           A Summary of the Pagan God Dagon

       v.     10           A Summary of the Doctrine of Beth-Shan

       v.     13           A Summary of the Doctrine of Fasting

       v.     13           The Contrast Between David and Saul

I ntroduction: We have reached the final chapter in the book of 1Samuel, 1Sam. 31 (however, in the Hebrew, this is simply the book of Samuel and this chapter would be a little more than midway through). This final chapter deals with the final battle of Saul, which is probably coterminous with David’s defeat of the Amalekites of the previous chapter. As we have already studied, Saul had gone to a psychic necromancer, who, surprising herself, brought up Samuel from the dead. Saul had several questions for Samuel, but these questions had already been answered. All that was left for Saul to do was to go meet his fate—he had no other choice. This chapter is the fate of Saul, a result of his bad decisions.

Interestingly enough, even though it is clear that Saul is suffering from mental illness, probably associated with demonic influence over him, not one time is this presented as a mitigating factor. Saul is held responsible for his actions, despite his diminished capacity. On the other hand, God allowed Saul to live for a relatively long time before punishment was administered to him. Contacting the dead through a necromancer appears to have been the final straw (although judgment had been passed at least a decade previously).

We begin this chapter with the Philistines warring against the Israelites and winning. The Israelites had positioned themselves at the foot of Mount Gilboa and were apparently retreating back into Mount Gilboa (1Sam. 31:1). Saul and his sons were unable to get away from the Philistine onslaught, and the Philistines kill Saul’s three sons (1Sam. 31:2). Furthermore, their archers had found Saul (1Sam. 31:3—although most translations indicate that they struck Saul, that is not what the Hebrew text tells us). Saul knew that it was only a matter of minutes before the Philistines would kill him, so he commits suicide, his aide being unwilling to kill him (1Sam. 31:4). His armor bearer, seeing that Saul was dead, kills himself (1Sam. 31:5). Israelite armies continued to retreat, and those who were living in cities in this general area abandoned those cities; and the Philistines came and took over the cities in central Israel (1Sam. 31:7). The day after this momentous battle, the Philistine army began to examine the bodies of the slain, looking specifically for Saul and his sons. When their bodies were found, they cut off Saul’s head and apparently carry it into Philistia to celebrate their victory (1Sam. 31:9). One of the cities taken over by the Philistines is Beth-shan, and the Philistines hang the bodies of Saul and his sons on the exterior wall of Beth-shan (1Sam. 31:10). Some brave Israelites from the other side of the Jordan, in Jabesh-Gilead, come at night and take the bodies of Saul and his sons, and bury them properly (1Sam. 31:11–13).

One more thing that I should add: what we are going to find in this chapter is very little disagreement with respect to the text. In previous chapters, we ran into many difficulties—none of which substantially changed any major doctrines of the Church Age or of the Age of Israel; but we had problems now and again; and we even ran into passages whose complete meaning confounded us. However, that will not be the case in this chapter. You will find fewer modern translations listed; you will find very little by way of textual criticism; for those who cringe when we delve into the Hebrew, cringe no more—well, not at least for this chapter. You may wonder, why the heck is that? I think that part of the reason is, we find a check for this chapter in 1Chron. 10, which is almost word for word, tense for tense, identical to 1Sam. 31. For that reason, no matter what the problem might exist with a manuscript, one could always double check one’s work with the book of Chronicles. There may be a second reason as well: the emotional impact of this chapter. Israel’s first king (well, more or less, Israel’s first king) will die in this chapter and Israel will be soundly defeated by the Philistines. What could grab the attention of a scribe more than this? We will find the same kind of emotional impact at the end of Chronicles when the Israelites are led into slavery.

The Philistine Army is Defeating Saul's Army in Battle

1Chronicles 10:1–3

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And Philistines are fighting in Israel and so flee men of Israel from faces of Philistines. And so fall slain [men] in a mountain of Gilboa.

Septuagint                             And the Philistines fought with Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and they fall down wounded in the mountain in Gelbue.

Significant differences:          None.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Meanwhile, the Philistines were fighting Israel at Mount Gilboa. Israel's soldiers ran from the Philistines, and many of them were killed.

The Message                         The Philistines made war on Israel. The men of Israel were in full retreat from the Philistines, falling left and right, wounded on Mount Gilboa.

NLT                                Now the Philistines attacked Israel, forcing the Israelites to flee. Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa.

REB                                       The Philistines engaged Israel in battle, and the Israelites were routed, leaving their dead on Mount Gilboa.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         When the Philistines were fighting against Israel, the men of Israel fled from the Philistines and were killed in battle on Mount Gilboa.

JPS (Tanakh)                        The Philistines attacked Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and [many] fell on Mount Gilboa.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

HCSB                                    The Philistines fought against Israel, and Israel's men fled from them. Many were killed on Mount Gilboa.

Young's Literal Translation    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.

What is the gist of this verse? The Israelites retreat back into Mount Gilboa in the face of the Philistines.

As has been pointed out, this is essentially a continuation of 1Sam. 29:1–11.

Translation: Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel... These chapters set up parallel, but related events. David was about to join the Philistines and go to war against Israel, but he was turned away. When he returned to his camp, he found all of his women, children and things missing. David went after the Amalekites who had done this to him.

Here, the Philistines have gone to war against Israel and they are clearly defeating Saul’s army, which is taking heavy casualties. We really don’t know the specifics of why the Philistines were able to overpower the Israelites. I suspect that there were a great many more Philistines and that they felt a great confidence in this war. The Israelites however, in looking to Saul, received no such confidence from him. He had just spent the night with a necromancer being told by Samuel himself that he would die and that Israel would be defeated (1Sam. 28:19); so Saul has no confidence whatsoever in this war.

Translation: ...and the soldiers of Israel fled from before the Philistines. The war got so intense, that the Israelite soldiers were unable to withstand the force of the Philistines, and they began to retreat. Although Israel covered a much greater territory than did the Philistines, the Philistines appear to be much more fierce in battle. As the battle raged, the Israeli soldiers retreated. In my opinion, the Israelites retreated early on in this battle. Saul knew that he and his sons would be killed, so he probably hung back and even hid himself as much as possible. Whatever Saul did, it was probably not brave and heroic (which, at one time, he was). We are never told anything about Jonathan; in fact, not since his last meeting with David. We do not know what has happened to him over the years; we do not know if he knew of Saul’s secret meeting and the outcome and we do not know how he performed in battle. No matter how Jonathan and his brothers performed, we know that Saul had absolutely no confidence in battle, and that men would look to him for guidance and direction, and he inspired little or no confidence.

There is another factor which I should speak to, even though it is speculation: Abner, his army, and Saul’s son Ishbosheth. These will survive this war (2Sam. 8, 12). How does something like this just happen? How does one of Saul’s greatest generals, one of his sons, and a portion of his army survive in tact? One of the things which is not revealed in Scripture is just exactly how this happened; however, let me suggest that, after Samuel told Saul that he and his sons would die in battle and that Israel would be defeated, Saul met with Abner and gave him instructions to either hang back and quietly retreat; or to quietly break camp and go back across the river Jordan.

In other words, there are a number of things in play at this time, none of which are recorded for us in Scripture. However, given all that we know, and what we may reasonably deduce, we may conclude that whatever contested battle that occurred was short, and that Israel retreated early on.

Translation: The slain [men of Israel] fell [dead] on Mount Gilboa. Of course, during the retreat, Israel took a great many casualties. The slain here are specifically identified as being Israeli soldiers from the previous phrase.

That we have Israelites dying on Mount Gilboa gives us an idea as to the troop movement. The Israelites met the Philistines in the Valley of Jezreel, which lies between Shunem and Mount Gilboa (see 1Sam. 28:4). The Philistine army had advanced north from Aphek and probably went past the Israeli army and struck them coming from a northeasterly position. This puts the army of Israel with their backs to Mount Gilboa. If they retreat south, they do not know if there will be a Philistine contingent waiting there for them. So, their retreat is into the forest of Mount Gilboa, where they had been camped out, waiting for this battle. Even though retreat would be slower, there would be more cover and a better opportunity for survival in the woods.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so follow hard Philistines Saul and his sons. And so strike down Philistines Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua, sons of Saul.

Peshitta                                 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Jeshui and Melchishua, Saul’s sons.

Septuagint                             And the Philistines press closely on Saul and his sons, and the Philistines strike down Jonathan, and Aminadab, and Melchisa son of Saul.

Significant differences:          There is the minor difference of spelling of Saul’s second son. You have no doubt noticed some difference in the spelling of certain names previously. This is because, for instance, the Greek does not have an equivalent to the letter h so, whenever such a letter might be found in the Hebrew, it must be changed when bringing it into the Greek (the Greeks did have a rough breathing at the beginning of some words which began with vowels and that rough breathing sounded like an h). In the Peshitta, you will note a big difference in the name of Saul’s second son. The Latin, by the way, is in complete agreement with the Hebrew.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

The Message                         The Philistines caught up with Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua, Saul's sons.

NLT                                The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         The Philistines caught up to Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons.

JPS (Tanakh)                        The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons, to the Philistines struck own Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, sons of Saul.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NRSV                                    The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.

WEB                                      The Philistines followed hard on Saul and on his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.

Young's Updated LT              And the Philistines follow Saul and his sons, and the Philistines strike down Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, sons of Saul.

What is the gist of this verse? The Philistines advance against the Israelites and kill Saul’s three sons, Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua.

Translation: The Philistines followed closely after Saul and his sons. Although it was clear that the Philistines were defeating the Israelites, as the Israelites were retreating; what we focus in on are the Philistines chasing after Saul and his sons. These are the potential leaders and leader of Israel. To the Philistine’s way of thinking, get rid of the head and you kill the body, which is often true. Saul and his sons were the heads of Israel; the first priority of the Philistine army was to kill them, and to make certain that all of Israel knew they were dead.

All this being said, it will be interesting that, once these men are killed, the Philistines don’t stop to admire what they have just done. They do not collect their bodies right away. My guess is, the men who killed Saul’s sons probably knew the import of what they were doing. However, they did not stop to do a victory dance in the end zone. They did not plant a flag where their bodies lay nor did they stop to quickly strip their bodies of some royal souvenir. These Philistine soldiers were well-trained. In killing Saul’s sons, their victory was assured. However, the Philistines did not stop there. You will note how they were just the opposite of Saul’s army when they defeated the Amalekites. Saul’s army stopped and noticed what great stuff the Amalekites had, and started to pick through it before the Amalekites had been completely wiped out, as was God’s directive. They decided, these Amalekites are history; we’ve taken them out; now let’s see what CD’s and DVD’s they left behind. This shows a total lack of military discipline; and a fault which can be placed soundly on the shoulders of Saul, whose orders should have been clear and unequivocal. However, not only did Saul not issue such an order, but he clearly issued orders which were exactly the opposite. No one in his army should have thought about doing anything other than killing every Amalekite they could find, and then burning everything that they owned, as God had ordered Saul (this is all found in 1Sam. 15, by the way).

Translation: The Philistines struck down Jonathan,... We know very little about Saul’s sons, apart from Jonathan. He would have been easy to select as the leader of Israel. He was brave, God-centered, and probably possessed many of the physical characteristics of his father that made him look like a leader. He treated David fairly and stood up to his father when his father would flip out about David.

We have a few years where Jonathan’s life is unknown to us. We do not know if he retrogressed; we do not know if his staying with Saul as one of Saul’s generals was the right idea; but, what we do know about Jonathan is that he was a great man. Whether any of that had been lost is unknown to us. The fact that he is killed here is obviously part of God’s plan—there cannot be two men who equally deserve to rule over Israel like Jonathan and David. The fact that Jonathan is killed does not mean that he was under discipline; nor does it mean that he had done anything wrong by staying with Saul. He was simply a part of the losing team.

I want you to bear one additional thing in mind: had God not turned David away from this war in 1Sam. 29, David and Jonathan would have found themselves on opposite sides of this battle. One of the troubling things about war is there are times when believers might be found on opposite sides of a war—this incident here let’s us know that God is in control, no matter what.

Translation: ...Abinadab and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. We know much less about Abinadab and Malchishua, Saul’s other two sons. Saul had at least four sons (Jonathan, Abinadab, Malchishua and Ishbosheth—who is probably equivalent to Eshbaal) and two daughters, Merib and Michal (1Sam. 14:49 1Chron. 8:33). We also know that Jonathan has a son, Mephibosheth, who is still alive, as we will meet up with him in 2Sam. 9. Furthermore, one of Saul’s sons is still alive—Ishbosheth (2Sam. 2:8).

Abinadab was a common name at that time; this was also the name for one of David’s older brothers (1Sam. 16:8 17:13) and the name of the owner of the house where the Ark was kept (1Sam. 7:1). Abinadab ben Saul probably had the nickname Ishvi (1Sam. 14:49), as this is the first time he is referred to by the name Abinadab (he will be called by that name in the genealogy of Saul in 1Chron. 8–9). Apart from his place in Saul’s line, we know nothing about Abinadab.

Malchishua is also only found in genealogical passages (apart from this one); so all we know about him is found here. He was a soldier in Saul’s army and he died with his brothers in battle against the Philistines. Interestingly enough, God lets Saul live while his sons are slain.

There is a fourth son not found here: Ishbosheth (also known as Ishui). He is not too young to be at war along side his brothers (see 2Sam. 2:10). However, we don’t find him here for the same reason that we don’t find the president and vice president in the same place during times of crisis or during terrorist alerts. Saul had a bad feeling about all of this, as we could tell from his visit to the witch, and no doubt left his fourth son at home as a possible successor. It is likely that Saul did this for all the times he went out to war against the Philistines.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                         And the whole weight of the battle was turned upon Saul: and the archers overtook him, and he was grievously wounded by the archers.

Masoretic Text                       And so great is the battle unto Saul and so find him the archers—men in the bow. And so he twists greatly from the archers.

Peshitta                                 And the battle was intense against Saul, and the archers overtook him with bows, and he was exceedingly afraid of the archers.

Septuagint                             And the battle prevails against Saul, and the shooters with arrows, even the archers find him, and he was wounded under the ribs.

Significant differences:          The translations all vary somewhat as to the final sentence (or phrase). Only the Peshitta clearly suggests fear in Saul’s heart, although the MT can be taken that way. The Latin tells us that Saul was wounded; and the Greek tells us where he was wounded.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       The fighting was fierce around Saul, and he was badly wounded by enemy arrows.

The Message                         The battle was hot and heavy around Saul. The archers got his range and wounded him badly.

NAB                                       The battle raged around Saul, and the archers hit him; he was pierced through the abdomen.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         The heaviest fighting was against Saul. When the archers got him in their range, he was badly wounded by them.

JPS (1917)                            And the battle went sore against Saul, an the archers overtook him; and he was in great anguish by reason of the archers.

JPS (Tanakh)                        The fighting grew fiercer around Saul; the archers came upon him, and he was severely wounded by the archers. [The last three words comes from v. 4].

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Updated Emphasized Bible   And the battle clearly went against Saul, and the archers discovered him, —and he was terrified at the archers.

HCSB                                    When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers caught up with him and severely wounded him.

WEB                                      The battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers.

Young’s Updated LT             And the battle is hard against Saul, and the archers find him—men with bow—and he is pained greatly by the archers.

What is the gist of this verse? The battle goes against Saul and Philistine archers find him and possibly shoot him (this is unclear in the Hebrew). In any case, the archers cause Saul great pain—possibly emotion and possibly physical.

Translation: The battle was heavy against Saul... This indicates that the war was going against Saul. He was unable to resist the Philistines; he was unable to escape. This general statement is an overview of the battle, which was being won by the Philistines.

Translation: ...and the archers...came upon him. The Philistine archers found him—they discovered him. Saul first was on the run during the battle; this indicates to us that he did some hiding as well—however, the archers of the Philistine army came across Saul—they discovered him. As we will come to note, what these archers do, is they shoot Saul. They may not even actually see that it is him or know that it is him; and they might even shoot him and move on—which appears to be the case (see v. 8). It is apparent by v. 8 that either Saul escapes or the archers do not realize that they hit him or they do not realize that Saul is the man that they have pierced. Let me suggest that they can see Saul on horseback with his servant, and they shoot some arrows in that direction. They may or may not know that it is Saul and they do not pursue him any further, as his dead body will not be discovered by the Philistines until the next day. Another possible scenario: Saul is escaping in the forest on Mount Gilboa. He is seen by the archers, who may not know who he is; and they shoot into the forested area and hit him. Or, let me offer an even more likely scenario; the archers knew who this was, they knew that they had killed Saul, but, these are dedicated and focused warriors. They continued pursuing the Israelite soldiers. At some point in time, they may have reported what they did—but, in any case, this was a situation where they did not stop, hold up Saul’s dead body, and take in a Kodak moment.

There is another possibility: it is possible that these archers have not hit Saul, but have discovered where he was (whether they know or not who he actually is, is another discussion); and they are beginning to move in on him. Although, it is reasonable that he is riding a camel or something and they would be giving chase, the situation described herein sounds more like something which took place on the ground. My point (or one of them), in offering up several options as to what is happening is, too often, we get an exact scenario running through our heads of how this or that played out, when Scripture really does not tell us that. Sometimes, the result is, we find what we believe to be a contradiction. Here, we do not have that; I am simply offering up alternatives as to exactly the events which are taking place. Now, what I believe to be occurring is, Saul is on foot; he has been spotted by the archers, and he is in great fear, but not hit yet. He has about a minute before the archers get close enough to kill him. Commentators are divided on this, just as the translators are (although many translators, at this point, tell us that the archers have hit, pierced or struck Saul—but the word means to find, to discover, to come upon someone). Most translators and commentators seem to believe that Saul has been actually hit with an arrow; but Keil and Delitzsch indicate that none of the words here can be taken to dogmatically mean that Saul has actually been wounded (if you will look back at the Hebrew exegesis, you will see that this is true).

Translation: ... —men with bows— ... Since yârâh as a Hiphil participle in v. 3b can refer to archers or to instructors; just who the men are is emphasized here. These are men with bows (lit., men with the bow). Again, even though your translation may be clear on whether these men have struck Saul or not; it is not clear in the Hebrew.

Translation: He trembled greatly [or, writhed in extreme pain] on account of the archers. Although it does not say that Saul was actually struck with an arrow, this portion of v. 3 seems to indicate that he was. The verb probably indicates that Saul is twisting or writhing in great agony because of the archers, which indicates that he has been shot. All it takes is one well-placed arrow in order to cause this response in Saul. The other alternative is that Saul has not yet been hit with an arrow, but that he is desperately afraid. This verb could be understood in either sense. The Greek Septuagint, the Peshitta and the Latin Vulgate are early translations from the Hebrew into a more common language. As you see, Peshitta takes this verb to indicate that Saul is afraid because of the archers (who apparently are closing in fast on him—if great fear is the proper understanding of this verb). The Latin sees Saul as being mortally wounded by the arrows of the archers. The Greek actually indicates where Saul was hit; however, I do not have an explanation as to where that understanding came from.

I have gone into what you may consider to be too much detail concerning whether Saul had been hit with an arrow or not. The reason for this is, in the next book (2Sam. 1, which is not really a new book, but simply the next chapter in the book of Samuel), we have a very different explanation concerning Saul’s death. We have to, in this chapter and the next, avoid making assumptions. In most of the translations—in probably the one that you use—it seems clear that Saul was wounded by these archers. However, if you use the 1917 JPS or the World English Bible, then it appears as though Saul is just twisted up with fear and trembling, which is a legitimate rendering of the Hebrew verb that we have here (see 1Chron. 16:30, Psalm 96:9).

Now I want you to recall what David said, when faced with the real option of killing Saul when Saul was helpless: “As Jehovah lives, except Jehovah strike him, or his day shall come and he dies, or he goes down and is devoured in battle, far be it from me, by Jehovah, from putting forth my hand against the anointed of Jehovah. And now, please take the spear at his head-place, and the jar of water, and we will go” (1Sam. 26:10–11). Even though Saul unjustly pursued David time and time again, David was able to put this in God’s hands. When David said this, he could have killed Saul with a single blow; Saul was at his mercy. However, David had received no such guidance from God to remove this man who had become his enemy—therefore, he left it up to God to take Saul out of this life.

What does occur to me at this time is, how does David, who is probably the author of the book of Samuel, know the details of Saul’s death? This requires some detective work. David will not immediately know the details of Saul’s death from his Philistine sources; as we will find that out in 2Sam. 1. Someone will come to David and take responsibility for killing Saul, and David will take this man’s word for it, and he will execute this man for killing Saul. Therefore, we need make certain that we do not take anything for granted in this chapter or the next, or the result will be a contradiction between the two adjacent chapters.

Saul and his Armor-bearer Commit Suicide During this Battle

1Chronicles 10:4–6

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so says Saul to [the one] bearing his articles “Draw out your sword and pierce me in her, lest come the foreskinned ones the these and pierce me and satisfy [their desire] in me.” And would not [the one] bearing his articles for he feared greatly. And so takes Saul the sword and so he falls upon her.

Peshitta                                 Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and slay me and abuse me.” But his armorbearer would not; for he was exceedingly afraid. Thereupon, Saul took his sword and fell upon it.

Septuagint                             And Saul said to his armour–bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and pierce me through, and mock me.” But his armour–bearer would not, for he feared greatly; so Saul took his sword and fell upon it.

Significant differences:          None; except it is difficult to determine what Saul is worried about in the Hebrew, as the word allows for a couple of interpretations (which will be explained in the exegesis). In the Latin, his fear is that they would mock him.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Saul told the soldier who carried his weapons, "Kill me with your sword! I don't want those worthless Philistines to torture me and make fun." But the soldier was afraid to kill him. Saul then took out his own sword; he stuck the blade into his stomach, and fell on it.

The Message                         Saul said to his weapon bearer, "Draw your sword and put me out of my misery, lest these pagan pigs come and make a game out of killing me." But his weapon bearer wouldn't do it. He was terrified. So Saul took the sword himself and fell on it.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Saul told his armorbearer, "Draw your sword! Stab me, or these godless men will come, stab me, and make fun of me." But his armorbearer refused because he was terrified. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

HCSB                                    Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me." But his armor-bearer would not do it because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it.

Young’s Updated LT             And Saul says to the bearer of his weapons, “Draw your 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 has not been willing, for he is greatly afraid, and Saul takes the sword, and falls upon it.

What is the gist of this verse? Saul asks his armor bearer to kill him before the uncircumcised Philistines come and do whatever their lust moves them to do. Saul’s armor bearer is unwilling to do this, so Saul takes the sword falls upon it himself.

Translation: Then said Saul to the one carrying his weapons,... Saul is the king, and therefore, he has an abundance of weapons and armor which were carried by his assistant, his armor bearer, or weapons carrier. Saul is either in great fear or he has been pierced with an arrow and he now is concerned about what might happen, so he turned to his weapon bearer and asks him to kill him.

Translation: ...“Take out your sword and thrust me through with it,... He orders his weapons bearer to take out his sword (Saul says your sword) and orders him to pierce Saul with this sword. Saul sees himself as dead; he does not see any hope in this situation, so he asks his weapon carrier to kill him.

Translation: ...so that these uncircumcised [men] do not come and stab me... This is Saul’s reasoning. At first, it seems illogical—kill them so these uncircumcised Philistines do not kill me. However, there is more to Saul’s request than just this.

Translation: ...and delight themselves because of me [or, make sport of me].” The verb used here actually covers a great deal of ground. It is a word originally used when one is extremely thirsty and is allowed to satisfy his thirst. It came to be used when one satisfies his lust (or, with regards to God, when God chooses to do all that He has planned to do). Generally speaking, what God or the person does is an act of aggression of some sort (whether God is being destructive; or man is raping). However, here the verb is used to indicate that these Philistines, after years and years of wars with Saul, will finally achieve their lifelong dream of having Saul at their complete mercy. They can, during the final minutes or hours of his life, do whatever they have wanted to do to him. They would hold him personally responsible for many defeats and for the deaths of their friends and relatives. Many Americans, after the 9/11 attacks, would have wanted just 5 minutes alone in a room with any terrorist associated with these attacks. This is how the Philistines felt and Saul knows this. He knows that they will do everything that they have lusted to do against him: make fun of him, humiliate him, torture him, hurt him in many ways.

If you will recall Samson near the end of the book of the Judges. The Philistines kept him in a prison and brought him out periodically for their amusement. He was the strongest man in the land, so it gave them great pleasure to mock him in his weakness. The same thing could have occurred with Saul. He could have been taken prisoner and made into a jester of sorts, to live out his life amusing Philistines. The words Saul uses here are vague as to the exact behavior that he could expect—but only because he had no idea what might happen to him. In those few minutes (as well as the morning after returning from the necromancer), Saul knew that almost anything was possible in the realm of humiliation at the hands of these uncircumcised Philistines.

Translation: But his weapon carrier would not, because he was greatly afraid. Realize the situation that Saul and the weapon carrier are in. They are being pursued by the Philistines. The Philistines are just about on them. Saul has possibly been pierced with at least one arrow during the battle (although, this is in dispute). Their lives are about to end. Saul and his weapons carrier are both in a panic. At the end of his life, this assistant to Saul, is without any nerve, without any strength. Had he time for retrospection, he may have chosen to kill Saul. However, at this point, being faced with Saul’s sudden request, this man could not kill the Lord’s anointed. When you face death, you might choose not to do something which you perceive as being wrong as your final act before dying. I believe this is how Saul’s assistant felt.

Translation: So Saul then grabbed the sword... This indicates to me that Saul did not even carry a sword himself. He does not grab a sword, but he grabs the sword, the sword to which he had referred, the sword in the possession of his assistant. At this point in time, Saul actually did very little of the fighting himself; therefore, he would have his assistant carry all of his weapons, most of which he never used anymore. By the way, Dr. Delaney and Clarke both attest to Saul grabbing his armor bearer’s sword. However, they further state that the weapon bearer also killed himself with the same sword. That is a reasonable explanation; but it assumes that there is only one sword available to them. His sword in the next verse could refer to the sword of the armor bearer rather than to Saul’s sword specifically.

Translation: ...and fell on it. Saul holds up the sword and falls down upon it, killing himself. At least, that appears to be what is happening here. The verb means to fall on, to die a violent death; so the meaning appears to be unequivocal here. We’ve argued both sides of the arrow wounding in the previous verse; however, I don’t think we can argue two sides of this. However, just so you know, Josephus claimed that Saul was unsuccessful in his suicide attempt. One might even argue that Saul seemed dead to his armor bearer, who then killed himself.

I have mentioned 2Sam. 1 already, and implied that there is a slightly different story about Saul’s death in that chapter. There is. When we exegete that passage, I will smooth out any problems which you might have. Also, at the point, we will discuss David’s authorship, as well as how he knew the details of this particular chapter.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so sees [one] bearing his articles that was dead Saul and so falls also he upon his sword and so he dies with him.

Septuagint                             And his armour–bearer saw that Saul was dead, and he fell also himself upon his sword, and died with him.

Significant differences:          None.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       When the soldier knew that Saul was dead, he killed himself in the same way.

The Message                         When the weapon bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him.

NLT                                When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, he fell on his own sword and died beside the king.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         When the armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him.

JPS (Tanakh)                        When his arms-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

HCSB                                    When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him.

Young’s Updated LT             And the bearer of his weapons sees that Saul is dead, and he falls—he also—on his sword, and dies with him.

What is the gist of this verse? The armor bearer observes that Saul is dead, falls on his own sword, and dies with him.

Translation: So his weapons carrier saw that Saul was dead... The weapons bearer was in a panic like Saul, but seeing Saul dead caused him to quickly reevaluate his options. Again, his actions are almost reflex, more than the result of careful consideration.

Those who claim that Saul did not die, say that the armor bearer thought that Saul was dead.

Translation: ...so he also fell upon his sword... It is unclear whether this is the same sword that Saul had or whether this man had his own sword (I suspect that he carried at least two swords and that one sword was for his own use in a battle). It would make little sense if Saul was in trouble for them to have but one sword between them (although this is the scenario painted by some commentators). Given that there was little time left, and given that Saul was laying face down with a sword through him, the most reasonable conclusion is not that this man took the sword out of Saul, but had another which he used. Given that Saul is king and chief over all Israel’s armed forces, it would seem logical that he would have at least two swords available to him.

Translation: ...and died with him. Probably within a minute, Saul’s armor bearer had also died. The way this reads, is that the armor bearer died along with Saul. Even though, this would barely allow for Saul to die around the same time (maybe an hour later), that hardly seems to be the meaning (if you have not read ahead, you might wonder why I am even suggesting such a thing—for someone reading this passage, it should seem clear that Saul has died). I mention this other viewpoint right here, because this is how some manage to get this and he following chapter to agree.

As mentioned in a footnote, Jewish tradition has it that Doeg was Saul’s armor bearer and they both die by the same sword used to kill all of the priests. As poetic and karmic as that might be, we have no evidence of this. It is even unlikely, as I have pointed out, for them to die by the same sword.

At this point, we should examine the Doctrine of Suicide.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Peshitta                                 So Saul died, and his three sons and his armorbearer and also all his servants, that same day together.

Septuagint                             So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour–bearer, in that day together.

Significant differences:          In the LXX, only Saul, his three sons and his armor carrier die (only they are mentioned). In the Peshitta, all his servants are part of those who die. The Latin and MT are identical.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Saul was dead, his three sons were dead, and the soldier who carried his weapons was dead. They and all his soldiers died on that same day.

The Message                         So Saul, his three sons, and his weapon bearer--the men closest to him--died together that day.

NLT                                So Saul, three of his sons, his armor-bearer, and his troops all died together that same day.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that day.

JPS (Tanakh)                        Thus Saul and his three sons and his arms-bearer, as well as all his men [lacking in the Septuagint; 1Chron. 10:6 reads “all his house”] died together on that day.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

ESV                                       Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.

Young’s Updated LT             And Saul dies, and three of his sons, and the bearer of his weapons, also all his men, on that day together.

What is the gist of this verse? Saul, three of his four sons, his armor bearer and his soldiers all died on that same day together.

Translation: So Saul died, along with [lit., and] three of his sons,... This verse summarizes what has just happened, so that there are no misunderstandings. Saul and his soldiers were obviously losing and retreating. Saul falls on his own sword and we are told here that he dies.

Saul had at least four sons, and three of them died in battle with him, as named in v. 2. Again, this verse summarizes what we already know.

Translation: ...his weapons carrier... Saul’s armor bearer carried all of Saul’s weapons, and, although he would not kill King Saul, he did fall on his own sword when he saw that Saul had killed himself (vv. 4–5). Interestingly enough, this phrase is not found in the Hebrew of 1Chron. 10:6.

Translation: ...—also, all of his men [or, companions]—... This is the only contested portion of this verse. In the Latin and Hebrew, we find all of his men; in the Greek, this is missing altogether; in the Aramaic, we have all his servants (which would be another way of referring to his men). In the parallel passage, 1Chron. 10:6, it reads all of his house. His youngest son is not with him in battle, so he did not die. Apparently, there are other relatives of Saul who could be considered heirs to the throne, those of his household, who died in battle.

Keil and Delitzsch suggest: not all the warriors who went out with him to battle [died in battle], but all the king's servants, or all the members of his house, who had taken part in the battle. Neither Abner nor his son Ishbosheth was included, for the latter was not in the battle; and although the former was Saul's cousin and commander-in-chief he did not belong to his house or servants. Possibly, the thrust of this portion of this verse is that, any possible heir to Saul was killed in battle (apart from his youngest son and Abner).

Since the Israelite soldiers were retreating, it is clear that many of them died. Whether it is all of his soldiers or not is not known, because of the difference in the ancient versions. However, given that these soldiers went along with Saul and his schemes to destroy David, and that they did so again and again, it makes sense that God would take them out as well.

We will later find out that Abner, one of Saul’s generals, is still alive. Whether he escaped in this battle, meaning that not everyone died; or whether, for whatever reason, he did not accompany Saul (which would seem quite unusual), is unknown. Enough of the army died in this battle to make it as though all of them died. Perhaps the casualty rate was 70–95% for those who remained or were pressed against Mount Gilboa. As we will find out in the next verse, a significant number of soldiers escaped to the other side of the Jordan.

Translation: ...in that day together. In one day, all of Israel changed. Their army had been soundly defeated, the king and his heirs had been killed, and the Israeli army had been decimated.

With this verse, we end the reign of Saul, but not the reign of his house. For awhile, Ishbosheth, his fourth son, will reign over northern Israel (2Sam. 2:8–4:8).

The Philistines Defeat the Israelites and Display the Dead Bodies of Saul and his Sons

1Chronicles 10:7–10

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so see men of Israel that in a region beyond the valley and that in a region beyond the Jordan that fled men of Israel and that died Saul and his sons, and so they let go of the cities and so they flee and so come Philistines and so they stay in them.

Septuagint                             And the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those beyond Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead; and they leave their cities and flee: and the Philistines come and dwell in them.

Significant differences:          None.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       The Israelites on the other side of Jezreel Valley and the other side of the Jordan learned that Saul and his sons were dead. They saw that the Israelite army had run away. So they ran away too, and the Philistines moved into the towns the Israelites had left behind.

The Message                         When the Israelites in the valley opposite and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that their army was in full retreat and that Saul and his sons were dead, they left their cities and ran for their lives. The Philistines moved in and occupied the sites.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         When the people of Israel on the other side of the valley and across the Jordan River saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities. So the Philistines came to live in these cities.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

WEB                                      When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were beyond the 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 lived in them.

Young’s Updated LT             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.

What is the gist of this verse? The men outside of the battle observed that Saul and his sons died, and that the soldiers retreated; therefore, they left their cites and the Philistines came and lived in those cities.

The sentence structure is moderately difficult here. For the English to make the most sense, we will place the main verb from the first part of this verse to where it better belongs, after the entire subject, which is rather lengthy. We find the phrase men of Israel twice in this verse—but it refers specifically to non-soldiers the first time and to soldiers the second time. The third problem is, the men of Israel do not see those who are beyond the valley and beyond the Jordan—those who are beyond the valley and beyond the Jordan is a very long relative clause referring ack to the first men of Israel.

Translation: And [when] saw the men of Israel who [were] beyond the valley... As mentioned before, what these men see will not be found until we move further into this verse. That is, they do not see those who live beyond the valley; the men of Israel here are those civilians who live beyond the valley. I have two different pictures in my head as to what is occurring. As the soldiers retreat, men of other cities see them retreating, running past their cities. The other possibility is, the men in these verses are like modern-day reporters. The valley is where this battle takes place; just as a reporter might record the events of a war and then broadcast those events via one medium or another, there were men who had a similar function (or, who took on to themselves this particular function). From the sidelines, hidden from those at war, they observed the battle, and then they ran and reported to their particular city what they had observed. So, what we have here are men who lived in cities outside the periphery of this particular battle, and they are watching from a safe distance. What is actually happening may even be a combination of the two.

In any case, these men come from outside the valley. The valley is where this battle more or less took place. It appears as though the battle took place more against the northwestern slopes of Mount Gilboa as the Israelites retreated and the Philistines advanced. The idea is, these men have to know what is going to happen with their cities, their wives and their children—what happens here will determine that.

Translation: ...and who [were] beyond the Jordan... This indicates that there were men there who were from the other side of the Jordan who were also observing the battle—or, at least the retreat. Again, there are two possibilities here: the soldiers retreat as far as the other side of the Jordan and are observed by the people of that area; or the men mentioned here are representatives from the other side of the border observing the war—which result they will report back.

Now, before you are too quick to condemn and say, “They should have joined into the battle” recall that these are men who have a responsibility to entire cites of men, women and children. Charlie Brown might be there from Gilgal by the Jordan; and all the residents of Gilgal are anxiously waiting his report to find out how the battle is going. Everyone in that city are dependent upon his report. If he does not return to them, the Philistines could march into Gilgal, which has little or no defenses, and take the city out, and kill, torture and rape those living there. When Charlie Brown returns to his city with the bad news that Israel’s army has been clearly defeated, that gives those in the city the option to flee from their city. This, of course, assumes that the men mentioned in this verse are runners—the ancient version of news reporters.

I should also mention, if we are dealing with reporters here, then I would have expected to find the min preposition used here instead of the bêyth preposition. This means that they would be from beyond the Jordan instead of being beyond the Jordan. The implication of the text seems to be, and I am not being dogmatic here, the retreat of Israel’s soldiers covered a huge area, and extended to east of the Jordan. It is possible that these men mentioned in this verse still functioned as ancient reporters, but from a position closer to their own cities.

Translation: ...[saw] that the soldiers [or men] of Israel had fled... Those who are observing this battle from the sidelines observe two things: first of all the army of Israel retreat. You may recall that earlier in this chapter, that is sounded as though all of the men died. That does not appear to be the case. Certainly, a retreat was mounted because many were dying in battle; but we are clearly told here that the Israeli army is in retreat. Since these soldiers are still retreating east of the Jordan River, it is clear that many of them are still alive. Only live soldiers are able to retreat.

Translation: ...and that Saul and his sons were dead,... On the other hand, the second observation is that Saul, the king of Israel, and his sons, those in line for the throne, had all died (actually, 3 of his sons). We do not know how this observation took place. If these were men who stationed themselves away from the battle, but close enough to see, this makes perfect sense. However, this could have also been determined by interviewing some retreating soldiers that they give shelter to (or join with in their retreat).

Our favorite son, Jonathan, had also died in battle. Although we do not know how he was perceived publically, I suspect that Jonathan had a large support base from which he could have become king of Israel. Now, you may look back in previous chapters and say, “But Jonathan was clearly in favor of David ruling over Israel.” Yes, and at that time, Jonathan was sincere and he meant that. For the recorded life of Jonathan, we know that he was a great man—one of the greatest and most grace-oriented in all of Israel. But recall, Saul started off as a very good king; and then his mental illness took over. Jonathan is Saul’s son. We do not know what may have happened to him later in his life. Maybe God removed Jonathan at this point because his future was not going to be as great as his past. My father died when I was young, and he was a great father in many respects. I occasionally wonder if it would have been better that he lived longer and then, for whatever reason, failed greatly as a father or as a husband. My memories of my father are wonderful memories; my memories of my parents’ marriage is wonderful and rich with lessons of devotion and love. What would be best? What if he lived longer, but through a character defect, through his old sin nature, failed greatly as a father or as a husband? Which would be best? I don’t know that he would have failed, but I do know that God removed him at the right time, and for reasons concerning which I can only speculate. This is God’s time for Jonathan. We remember him as one of the greatest men of Israel. We know what happened to his father. No one looks back at Saul and thinks, “What a great king!” But Saul was a very good king for the first part of his rule. And then, he went downhill; and he slid down to a point to where he had become God’s enemy. Jonathan has been removed and this is part of God’s plan. We do not know why, although we can certainly speculate. However, we know that it was God’s time and God’s timing is perfect.

Tangent/Application: J. Vermon McGee lived a long, and wonderful life. I don’t know how many times he went through the entire Bible on the radio prior to his death—was it two times or more? But God chose ot take McGee when I am sure he had more years left in him, as well as the dedication to continue God’s marvelous work. McGee’s work was completed; he had come to the point where his ministry would impact tens of thousands of people long after he had died. Now, this was not because McGee was a great, unimpeachable person. More than anyone I have heard, McGee was frank about his weaknesses, his foibles and his own imperfections and doubts. But what he recognized was, there was nothing greater than the Word of God, and J. Vernon McGee spent his life getting the Word of God out to all who were positive toward his message. He had this tremendous gift of being able to take complex and confusing doctrines and he could boil them down to concepts that almost anyone could understand. His Texas drawl and easy going manner belied a man of great intellect. I recall driving in the car with a friend, and turning him on, and the moment she heard his Texas tongue, she demanded that I turn him off, as she associated his drawl with ignorance or with the lame preaching that we find so often in the media. But this was a great man, whose life was the Word of God. But, when his work was completed, God took him. God has a perfect time for us to go. I don’t know when my time is; I know that I do not deserve the time and grace given to me by God. I disappoint myself almost every day. But I also recognize that God will take me in His own time—it might be a minute from now and it might be 50 years from now. But, even though I am not always as confident and easy-going about death as I should be, I also know that God has perfect timing and that I can trust His timing—with my death and with the deaths of those I love.

Translation: ...they forsook the cities... This refers to those who observed the battle going against Israel and to those who they reported back to. Any city near the battle left; in fact, this tells us that even some of those on the other side of the Jordan left their cities. Israel had quite a bit of land compared to the Philistines; and now the Philistines, having defeated Israel’s army, could pick and choose at will where they wanted to live. Here, they pick up and leave this land, retreating further south or east. They had no recourse. Saul had, throughout his life, saw men he determined were good for soldiers, and drafted them on the spot. There were not many left behind who had these capabilities. There was no staying behind to fight, as those who were trained to fight are clearly routed. The men left at the very best could evacuate their families.

Translation: ...and they fled. Those to whom these reporters reported back to, left their cities and fled. We are not told where they went to; but they left their Israeli cities and towns—at least any of those near the battle site and the lines of retreat.

Normally, the battle would have been fought in the valley of Jezreel, and along the river there which fed into the Jordan. However, the Philistines advanced hard against the Israelites, pushing them back onto Mount Gilboa. Since the Philistines were coming at them from the northwest, the soldiers could retreat in almost any other direction. However, if they go due north, they will be in the valley and easy prey.

Translation: Then the Philistines came and lived in them. The Philistines had carte blanc at this time. They could move in whatever direction they wanted to. Now, bear in mind, even the Philistines had an army which is a virtual killing machine, they are still limited with regards to their population. The Philistines no doubt set up posts in a dozen or two dozen cities. The soldiers no doubt took over whatever house they chose, and gathered whatever possessions that they found into their new home. But they will be spread out throughout Israel at this point. Instead of being concentrated in Philistine territory, at this point, bits and pieces of the army will be either all over, or concentrated in specific cities. We are not told here, except that they came and occupied the cities which the Israelites fled. Which cities these were are unknown to us. Which direction the Philistines went in, is unknown to us. It is implied that they even took over cities on the other side of the Jordan; but I don’t believe that is confirmed elsewhere.

There is a sizable time-arc in the book of Samuel, and we sometimes miss the overall picture. The Philistines were subdued and they did not come any more within the border of Israel [during the time of Samuel]. And the hand of Jehovah was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel (1Sam. 7:13). However, despite this respite from war, the people still demand a king from Samuel, so that they would have someone to stand up against the Philistines and other foreign powers (1Sam. 8). For the most part, they really approved of Saul, and what they got here is the exact opposite of what they expected. They expected that having a king would deliver them from the hands of the Philistines, and the end result was the exact opposite.

Application: Israel got exactly what they wanted from God, even though Samuel warned them again and again against their petition. No matter what it is in life that you pray for, realize that God sometimes says no for a reason. If you continue to pray and pray for the same thing, God might give it to you—but realize, the desired effect may not be a part of it. For instance, you might pray for money, thinking that money will relieve you of some life burdens and make you happier. God may, after excessive petitions, give you the money—but don’t think that we will necessarily get the happiness as well.

Application: When you have things that you pray for, look at these things sometimes with a critical eye. The example I used before was money. You pray for money, but what you really want is the peace and happiness that you think money will buy you. In your prayers, you are using God to get what you want; what you pray for really indicates your scale of values. You are not depending upon God for happiness; you are depending upon money for happiness. You are working God in order to get what you actually worship—money.

Application: Money, in and of itself, is not sinful. However, praying for money with the idea that money will buy you happiness is not unlike praying for heroin or multiple sex partners, for the purpose of finding happiness. Even though money is not sinful, your love of money is.

I know you don’t see the application relates to this passage, so let me spell it out for you: the people of Israel prayed for a king, but what they desired was national security. A king, in and of itself, is not evil or wrong. However, in the case of Israel, Israel was a theocracy—a nation ruled by God. Therefore, when they prayed for a king, they were in essence saying, “God, You just are not enough. Therefore, we are going to use You to get a king. A king will solve all of our problems.” Do you see? Their trust was in a king, not in God.

Application: Does this mean it is always wrong to pray for money? Absolutely not! Money is not wrong and money is not, in and of itself, evil. There are times that you might pray to God in order to meet all of your financial obligations. Being responsible with the money that God has given you is important. No one should view a believer as being a charlatan or a cheat or dishonest.

The Open Bible: [This is] a very significant defeat. The Philistines gained control of the Jezreel Valley all the way to the Jordan river. Not only did they split off the northern tribes, but they also gained the vast agricultural and commercial wealth of the valley.

My educated guess is, if you took a compass and drew a 10–15 mile radius around Mount Gilboa, this would be the cities and area evacuated by the citizens of Israel. Jabesh-gilead, as we will see, is outside of this controlled area, and on the other side of the Jordan. The Philistines can only occupy so much space—so it is possible that they chose not to cross over the Jordan and take any territory there. This would mean that the Philistines had control over most of Issachar and northeastern Manasseh. Since they came unimpeded from a southern position and then cut over to the east (a reasonable assumption I am making), they probably already had some control over north and east Manasseh as well. What this probably means is, for the time being, Judah has no incursion of Philistines (apart from them living along the western shore of the Mediterranean Sea); northern Israel is safe, as are the areas east of the Jordan. Again, the Philistines can only occupy so much area. There are a finite number of them. So essentially, they now will occupy and control a significant portion of central Israel. At this point, it does not appear as though the Philistines have any control of the land east of the Jordan; and the disposition of far northern Israel (Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, as well as Dan in the north) is unknown.

Edersheim descriptions are always interesting: But the Philistine host had not halted. They advanced to occupy the towns deserted by the Hebrew. The main body occupied Bethshan, the great mountain-fortress of Central Palestine, which from the top of a steep brow, inaccessible to horsemen, seemed to command not only the Jordan valley, but also all the country round. As if in utter scorn and defiance, they hung out on the walls of Bethshan the headless trunks of Saul and of his sons. And now night with her dark mantle once more covered these horrible trophies. Shall the eagles and vultures complete the work which, no doubt, they had already begun? 

I want you to bear in mind that, even though the Philistines have won a significant portion of Israelite land, they are now spread pretty thin. What they hold is not contiguous with their land along the southwestern Palestine. If too many of their soldiers remain here, the land which they held originally is vulnerable. I think that the war here is motivated by hatred and revenge as much as it is a lust for Israel’s land. When we get into 2Samuel, the Philistines will be mentioned early on, but not as we would expect. For instance, we might expect the split in the kingdom which occurs to be the land north of this valley, ruled briefly by Saul’s remaining son, Ishbosheth; and the land south of Mount Gilboa to be controlled by David (which would include Benjamin). However, what we will find is, Ishbosheth will control not just Israel in the far north, but Gilead, Ephraim, Benjamin and Jezreel, the valley where this battle is taking place (2Sam. 2:9). In other words, even though the Philistines split the land here, the division between the kingdoms of David and Ishbosheth will actually be south of this area and it will appear as though the Philistines are not even in the land (they receive surprisingly little mention during this time of division). At this point in time, I do not know why. When we get into the first several chapters of 2Samuel, I may have a better idea. However, this ebb and flow between Israel and the surrounding nations is a common historical thread of Israel’s history. If you were to draw a map of Israel’s borders today, they would not be the same borders as ten years ago; and those would not match its borders fifty years ago.