1 Chronicles 10

The Philistines went to war against Israel. The men of Israel ran away from them, and many were killed on Mount Gilboa.

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

NoteThe Philistines were a people settled along the coastal plain southwest of Israel, in five allied cities including Gaza, Ashdod and Ekron. They were Israel's main military rivals for generations. Mount Gilboa is a ridge at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel, overlooking the plain where the two armies met. Saul was Israel's first king; this battle is the end of his reign, told at greater length in 1 Samuel 31.

2The Philistines chased Saul and his sons closely, and they killed Saul's sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

2And the Philistines followed hard after Saul, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.

Note"Followed hard after" in older English simply means pursued closely, not that they pursued with difficulty.

3The fighting grew fierce around Saul. The enemy archers found him and shot him, and he was badly wounded.

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

Note"The battle went sore against Saul" is older English for the fighting turning badly against him; "sore" here means severe or grievous, not painful to the touch.

4Then Saul said to the man who carried his weapons, "Pull out your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me." But the man would not do it, because he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

4Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

NoteAn armor-bearer was a king's or commander's personal attendant, who carried his heavy shield and weapons and stayed beside him in battle. "Uncircumcised" is a contemptuous term for foreigners: Israelite males were circumcised as the physical sign of their covenant with God, and Philistines were not, so the word served as an insult meaning roughly "these outsiders." "Abuse me" translates a verb meaning to treat someone wantonly, to torture, mutilate or make sport of. A captured king could expect to be displayed, humiliated and killed slowly, which is why Saul preferred to die by his own hand.

5When the man who carried his weapons saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died.

5And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died.

6So Saul died, and his three sons died, and his whole household died together.

6So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together.

Note"All his house" means his household or royal line rather than literally every relative; the sense is that his dynasty ended with him. Other passages report that one son, Ish-bosheth, and a grandson, Mephibosheth, survived the battle.

7When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead, they left their towns and fled. Then the Philistines came and lived in those towns.

7And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

NoteThe valley is the Jezreel Valley, the broad plain below Mount Gilboa. With the army gone, the towns of the valley had no defense, so their people abandoned them and the Philistines simply moved in.

8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the bodies of the dead, they found Saul and his sons lying on Mount Gilboa.

8And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa.

NoteStripping the dead was standard practice after a battle: the winning side collected weapons, armor and valuables from the bodies on the field as plunder.

9They stripped Saul, took his head and his armor, and sent messengers all through the land of the Philistines to announce the news to their idols and to the people.

9And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people.

NoteDisplaying an enemy king's head and armor was a public proclamation of victory. "To carry tidings unto their idols" means the news was announced in the temples of their gods, the victory was reported to the gods who were credited with granting it, as much as to the population.

10They put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.

10And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.

NoteDagon was a major god of the Philistines, worshiped with temples at Ashdod and Gaza; he was associated with grain and agriculture. Hanging enemy trophies in a god's temple credited that god with the win.

11When everyone in Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,

11And when all Jabeshgilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,

NoteJabesh-gilead was a town east of the Jordan River. Its people had a particular debt to Saul: at the very start of his reign he had raised an army and rescued them from an Ammonite siege (1 Samuel 11). Recovering his body from Philistine territory was a dangerous act of loyalty.

12all their brave fighting men set out and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons. They brought them to Jabesh, buried their bones under the oak tree there, and went without food for seven days.

12They arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

Note"Valiant men" means fighting men of proven courage. Burial under a named landmark tree marked the grave in a way everyone locally would recognize. Going without food for seven days was a formal public mourning rite, the customary full period of mourning for the dead.

13So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD. He did not keep the LORD's word, and he even consulted a medium to ask for guidance.

13So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;

NoteWhere the King James Version prints "LORD" in capitals, it stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew letters usually written YHWH. Jewish readers said "Adonai," meaning "my Lord," in its place, and English translations follow that practice. "One that had a familiar spirit" is old English for a medium, a person believed to summon and speak with the spirits of the dead. The episode referred to is Saul's night visit to the woman at Endor (1 Samuel 28); consulting the dead was explicitly forbidden in Israelite law.

14He did not ask the LORD for guidance. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.

14And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.

Note"Enquired of the LORD" was the standard phrase for seeking a decision from God before acting, normally through a priest, a prophet, or the sacred lots. Jesse was David's father, of Bethlehem; naming a man as "son of" his father was the ordinary way of identifying him.