Saul’s Overthrow and Death
(1 Samuel 31:1–6; 2 Samuel 1:1–16)
Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 1Ch 10:81Sa 31:1-131Sa 28:42Sa 1:212Sa 1:61Sa 28:11Sa 29:1-22Sa 21:12
The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 1Ch 9:39Isa 57:1-21Ch 8:331Sa 14:39-401Sa 14:491Sa 14:62Ki 23:292Ki 25:7 When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him. 1Sa 31:3-62Sa 1:4-10Amo 2:14Gen 49:23-24
Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!” 1Sa 31:4Act 1:181Ch 10:51Ki 16:181Sa 14:61Sa 17:261Sa 17:362Sa 1:14-16
But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died. So Saul died together with his three sons and all his house. 1Sa 12:25Ecc 9:1-2Hos 13:10-111Sa 4:10-111Sa 4:18
The Philistines Possess the Towns
(1 Samuel 31:7–10)
When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities. 1Sa 13:61Sa 31:7Deu 28:33Deu 28:43Jdg 6:2Lev 26:31Lev 26:36
The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 1Sa 31:82Ch 20:252Ki 3:23 They stripped Saul, cut off his head, took his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. 1Sa 31:9-102Sa 1:201Ch 10:4Dan 5:2-4Dan 5:23Jdg 16:23-24Mat 14:11 They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon. 1Sa 31:101Sa 5:2-7
Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul
(1 Samuel 31:11–13)
When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, 2Sa 2:4-71Sa 11:1-111Sa 31:11-13 all their men of valor set out and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak 1in Jabesh and fasted seven days. 2Sa 21:12-142Sa 3:35Gen 35:8Gen 50:10
So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, Lev 20:6Lev 19:311Sa 15:23Isa 8:191Sa 28:7-20Deu 18:10-141Sa 15:2Exo 22:18 and he failed to inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. 1Sa 15:281Sa 13:141Sa 16:11Sa 28:171Ch 12:231Sa 28:62Sa 3:9-10Jdg 10:11-16