1 Chronicles10

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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 overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers.

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

⁵And when his armorbearer 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.

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Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 1 Chronicles 10.

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Chapter Summary

In this chapter: The death of Saul. (1-14).

vv1-14

The design chiefly in view in these books of the Chronicles, appears to be to preserve the records of the house of David. Therefore the writer repeats not the history of Saul's reign, but only of his death, by which a way was made for David to the throne. And from the ruin of Saul, we may learn, 1. That the sin of sinners will certainly find them out, sooner or later; Saul died for his transgression. 2. That no man's greatness can exempt him from the judgments of God. 3. Disobedience is a killing thing. Saul died for not keeping the word of the Lord. May be delivered from unbelief, impatience, and despair. By waiting on the Lord we shall obtain a kingdom that cannot be moved.

Key Words

PhilistinesH6430Hebrew

פְּלִשְׁתִּי: a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth

foughtH3898Hebrew

לָחַם: to feed on; figuratively, to consume; by implication, to battle (as destruction)

IsraelH3478Hebrew

יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity

menH376Hebrew

אִישׁ: a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)

fledH5127Hebrew

נוּס: to flit, i.e. vanish away (subside, escape; causatively, chase, impel, deliver)

beforeH6440Hebrew

פָּנִים: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)

fellH5307Hebrew

נָפַל: to fall, in a great variety of applications (intransitive or causative, literal or figurative)

slainH2491Hebrew

חָלָל: pierced (especially to death); figuratively, polluted

MountH2022Hebrew

הַר: a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)

GilboaH1533Hebrew

גִּלְבֹּעַ: Gilboa, a mountain of Palestine