1 Chronicles10

New Living Translation

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¹Now the Philistines attacked Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them. Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa.

²The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua.

³The fighting grew very fierce around Saul, and the Philistine archers caught up with him and wounded him.

⁴Saul groaned to his armor bearer, “Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to taunt and torture me.” But his armor bearer was afraid and would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

⁵When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, he fell on his own sword and died.

⁶So Saul and his three sons died there together, bringing his dynasty to an end.

⁷When all the Israelites in the Jezreel Valley saw that their army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. So the Philistines moved in and occupied their towns.

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

⁹So they stripped off Saul’s armor and cut off his head. Then they proclaimed the good news of Saul’s death before their idols and to the people throughout the land of Philistia.

¹⁰They placed his armor in the temple of their gods, and they fastened his head to the temple of Dagon.

¹¹But when everyone in Jabesh-gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹²all their mighty warriors brought the bodies of Saul and his sons back to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones beneath the great tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.

¹³So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He failed to obey the Lord’s command, and he even consulted a medium

¹⁴instead of asking the Lord for guidance. So the Lord killed him and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.

Study Guide

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