1 Samuel31

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¹ Now the against , and the of the and on .

² And the and his , and the and and , the of .

³ The against , and the him, and he was by the .

⁴ Then to his , your , and with it, these and , and me. But his , he . Therefore his own and it.

⁵ And when his was , he his and him.

⁶ Thus , and his , his , and his , on the same .

⁷ And when the of were on the other of the the the of had and and his were , they their and . And the and in them.

⁸ The , when the to the , they and his on .

⁹ So they his and his and the of the , to carry the good to the of their and to the .

¹⁰ They his in the of , and they his to the of .

¹¹ But when the of the had to ,

¹² the and and the of and the of his the of , and they to and them .

¹³ And they their and them the in and .

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1 Samuel 31

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 1 Samuel 31. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter: Saul's defeat and death. (1–7). Saul's body rescued by the men of Jabesh-gilead. (8–13).

vv1-7

We cannot judge of the spiritual or eternal state of any by the manner of their death; for in that, there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked. Saul, when sorely wounded, and unable to resist or to flee, expressed no concern about his never-dying soul; but only desired that the Philistines might not insult over him, or put him to pain, and he became his own murderer. As it is the grand deceit of the devil, to persuade sinners, under great difficulties, to fly to this last act of desperation, it is well to fortify the mind against it, by a serious consideration of its sinfulness before God, and its miserable consequences in society. But our security is not in ourselves. Let us seek protection from Him who keepeth Israel. Let us watch and pray; and take unto us the whole armour of God, that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

vv8-13

The Scripture makes no mention what became of the souls of Saul and his sons, after they were dead; but of their bodies only: secret things belong not to us. It is of little consequence by what means we die, or what is done with our dead bodies. If our souls are saved, our bodies will be raised incorruptible and glorious; but not to fear His wrath, who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell, is the extreme of folly and wickedness. How useless is the respect of fellow-creatures to those who are suffering the wrath of God! While pompous funerals, grand monuments, and he praises of men, honour the memory of the deceased, the soul may be suffering in the regions of darkness and despair! Let us seek that honour which cometh from God only.

Key Words

PhilistinesH6430Hebrew

פְּלִשְׁתִּי: a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth

were fightingH3898Hebrew

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

menH582Hebrew

אֱנוֹשׁ: a man in general (singly or collectively)

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

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