1 Chronicles — Chapter 10
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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 after Saul, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
3And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers.
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.
5And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died.
6So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together.
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.
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.
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.
10And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.
11And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
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.
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;
14And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.
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 after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
3And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers.
4Then said Saul unto his armor-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armor-bearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.
5And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died.
6So Saul died, and his three sons; and all his house died together.
7And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their 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 sons fallen in mount Gilboa.
9And they stripped him, and took his head, and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the tidings unto their idols, and to the people.
10And they put his armor in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.
11And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
12all the valiant men arose, 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.
13So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against Jehovah, because of the word of Jehovah, which he kept not; and also for that he asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire [thereby],
14and inquired not of Jehovah: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.
1Now the Philistines fought against Israel. The Israelites fled before the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa.
2The Philistines stayed right on the heels of Saul and his sons. They struck down Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua.
3The battle was thick around Saul; the archers spotted him and wounded him.
4Saul told his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and stab me with it. Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come and torture me.” But his armor-bearer refused to do it because he was very afraid. 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.
6So Saul and his three sons died; his whole household died together.
7When all the Israelites who were in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. The Philistines came and occupied them.
8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa.
9They stripped his corpse and then carried off his head and his armor. They sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines proclaiming the news to their idols and their people.
10They placed his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon.
11When all the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul,
12all the warriors went and recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their remains under the oak tree in Jabesh and fasted for seven days.
13So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord’s instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits.
14He did not seek the Lord’s guidance, so the Lord killed him and transferred the kingdom to David son of Jesse.
1Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa.
2The Philistines followed hard after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.
3The battle went hard against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers.
4Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me.” But his armor bearer would not; for he was terrified. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell on it.
5When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword, and died.
6So Saul died with his three sons; and all his house died together.
7When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.
8On the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
9They stripped him, and took his head and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines all around, to carry the news to their idols, and to the people.
10They put his armor in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.
11When all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
12all the valiant men arose, 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.
13So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against Yahweh, because of Yahweh’s word, which he didn’t keep; and also because he asked counsel of one who had a familiar spirit, to inquire,
14and didn’t inquire of Yahweh. Therefore he killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
Summary
Saul and his sons die in battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, and the Philistines desecrate their bodies. The Chronicler attributes Saul's death to his unfaithfulness to the Lord, setting the stage for David's rise to kingship over all Israel.
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
- Largely parallels 1-2 Samuel geographically. Jerusalem (Zion/City of David) is the theological and political center.
- Key sites: Hebron (David's first capital, 7 years), the threshing floor of Ornan/Araunah (future Temple site, ch.21).
- Chapters 1-9 (genealogies) contain tribal allotments but minimal narrative geography.
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik notes that the Chronicler's summary of Saul's reign in two verses (13-14) is the most concise theological obituary in Scripture. The Chronicler is not interested in Saul's story but in his lesson: unfaithfulness leads to destruction, and God's kingdom purposes are not thwarted by human failure.
- Charles Spurgeon: "Saul died for his transgression — not for the Philistines' arrows but for his own rebellion. The spear wounded his body, but sin slew his soul. Here is the true cause of every spiritual death: not the strength of the enemy without, but the treachery of sin within. Saul inquired of a witch and inquired not of the Lord — and that single sentence explains both his death and his life. The man who will not seek God must seek elsewhere, and every elsewhere leads to destruction. Let every soul that reads this ask: 'Where am I inquiring? Of the Lord, or of substitutes?'"
Reflection
- 1. Where you seek guidance determines your destiny (v.14). Saul "enquired not of the LORD" — this one statement explains his entire downfall. He sought answers from a medium instead of from God. In every decision, every crisis, every question — where are you seeking guidance? The counsel you choose shapes the life you live. Seek God first, always.
- 2. Disobedience compounds over time (v.13). Saul's verdict mentions two sins separated by years — not keeping God's word (1 Samuel 13, 15) and consulting a medium (1 Samuel 28). Sin that goes unrepented grows. Small disobediences in youth become catastrophic rebellions in maturity. Deal with sin early before it compounds into something you cannot control.
- 3. God's purposes are not defeated by human failure (v.14). Saul failed catastrophically — yet "the LORD... turned the kingdom unto David." God's plan for David, for Israel, for Messiah was never in jeopardy. Human failure creates human consequences but cannot thwart divine purposes. God's plan B is His plan A accomplished through a different instrument.
- 4. The fear of man leads to destruction (v.4). Saul feared the Philistines ("lest these uncircumcised abuse me") more than he feared God. His final act was motivated by human fear. But the verdict shows his real problem was not fearing God enough. "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe" (Proverbs 29:25).
- 5. Loyal friends honor you even in failure (vv.11-12). The men of Jabesh-gilead risked their lives to recover Saul's body and give it honorable burial. They remembered his past kindness (1 Samuel 11). True loyalty persists through failure. Be the kind of friend who honors others even when they fall — and cultivate relationships with those who will do the same for you.