Introduction:

The tragic ending of the life of Israel’s first king.

Note: The name of God does not appear in this chapter.

1 Samuel 31 NLT
The Death of Saul
^31:1 Now the Philistines attacked Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them. Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua. ³ The fighting grew very fierce around Saul, and the Philistine archers caught up with him and wounded him severely.
⁴ Saul groaned to his armor bearer, “Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to run me through and 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. ⁵ When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, he fell on his own sword and died beside the king. ⁶ So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and his troops all died together that same day.
⁷ When the Israelites on the other side of the Jezreel Valley and beyond the Jordan saw that the Israelite 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.
⁸ The next day, when the Philistines went out to strip the dead, they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ So they cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his armor. Then they proclaimed the good news of Saul’s death in their pagan temple and to the people throughout the land of Philistia. ¹⁰ They placed his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of the city of Beth-shan.
¹¹ But when the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all their mighty warriors traveled through the night to Beth-shan and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall. They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies. ¹³ Then they took their bones and buried them beneath the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.

Examine the Scriptures

1 Samuel 31 NLT
The Death of Saul

The story picks up with the account of Saul and the Philistines.

The events of this chapter follow those of chapters 28 and 29.

Chapter 30 was the story of David defeating the Amalekites.

Chapter 29 ended with:

1 Samuel 29:11 NLT
¹¹ So David and his men headed back into the land of the Philistines, while the Philistine army went on to Jezreel.

This story tells of the tragic ending of the life of Israel’s first king. 

^31:1 Now the Philistines attacked Israel (at Gilboa), and the men of Israel fled before them.

This story begins at Mount Gilboa, just south of Jezreel. (Refer to a map.)

• This battle between the Israelites and the Philistines was, most likely, simultaneous with David’s battle against the Amalekites. (Chapter 30)

Many were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. 

• The Israelites are being slaughtered by the Philistines while the Amalekites are being slaughtered by David.

The Philistines with their iron chariots had an overwhelming advantage over the Israelites. (2 Samuel 1:6) 

² The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons,

Jonathan, a faithful son, had followed his father, the king, into battle.

and they killed three of his sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua. ³ The fighting grew very fierce around Saul, and the Philistine archers caught up with him and wounded him severely. 

⁴ Saul groaned to his armor bearer,

Some interesting details:

Before fleeing from Saul, David was Saul’s armor bearer.

Saul had four sons.
Saul’s fourth son was named Ish-Bosheth (or Esh-Baal)

1 Chronicles 8:33 (or 9:39) NLT
Ner was the father of Kish.
Kish was the father of Saul.
Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malkishua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal.

Ishbosheth was not killed in this battle.

2 Samuel 2:8-9 NLT
Ishbosheth Proclaimed King of Israel
⁸ But Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had already gone to Mahanaim with Saul’s son Ishbosheth.^[a] 9 There he proclaimed Ishbosheth king over Gilead, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, the land of the Ashurites, and all the rest of Israel.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 2:8Ishbosheth is another name for Esh-baal.

• Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malkishua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal. 

 “Take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to run me through and 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. 

• Saul committed suicide, an act rarely known among the Israelites in the Old Testament.

This was the culmination of a long process of self-destruction.

Saul was unlike David who found his strength in the Lord.

1 Samuel 23:16 NLT
¹⁶ Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God.

1 Samuel 30:6 NLT
⁶ David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

Saul feared torture, abuse, and eventual death from the Philistines.

This story is different from the story in 2 Samuel 1:6-10 (We’ll cover this in a future lesson.)

2 Samuel 1:6-10 NLT
⁶ The man answered, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear with the enemy chariots and charioteers closing in on him. ⁷ When he turned and saw me, he cried out for me to come to him. ‘How can I help?’ I asked him.
⁸ “He responded, ‘Who are you?’
“‘I am an Amalekite,’ I told him.
⁹ “Then he begged me, ‘Come over here and put me out of my misery, for I am in terrible pain and want to die.’
¹⁰ “So I killed him,” the Amalekite told David, “for I knew he couldn’t live. Then I took his crown and his armband, and I have brought them here to you, my lord.”

This man is lying to gain favor with the person most likely to become the next king. 

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

Interesting detail.

Jewish tradition (not scripture) identified Saul’s armor-bearer as Doeg, the Edomite. If true, it was ironic that Doeg died by the same sword that he had used to massacre Israel’s priests at Nob: his own sword. (Constable)

Galatians 6:7 NLT
⁷ Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 

⁶ So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and his troops all died together that same day.

This fulfills the prophecy we read in 1 Samuel 28:19.

1 Samuel 28:19 NLT (Saul Consults a Medium)
¹⁹ What’s more, the Lord will hand you and the army of Israel over to the Philistines tomorrow, and you and your sons will be here with me. The Lord will bring down the entire army of Israel in defeat.”

There were survivors.

Ex.  Abner, Saul’s general escaped.

One of Saul’s sons survived (He may or may not have been in this battle.)

• Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and his troops all died together that same day. 

⁷ When the Israelites on the other side of the Jezreel Valley and beyond the Jordan saw that the Israelite 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.

• The Philistines drove the Israelites out of their own towns.

⁸ The next day, when the Philistines went out to strip the dead,

Searching for anything of value.

they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons on Mount Gilboa. 

⁹ So they cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his armor.

• The Philistines cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his armor.

Note: David had cut off the head of Goliath. 

Then they proclaimed the good news of Saul’s death in their pagan temple and to the people throughout the land of Philistia. 

Likely displaying Saul’s head and armor.

¹⁰ They placed his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths,

The fertility goddesses.

and they fastened his body to the wall of the city of Beth-shan.

This was a sign of great disrespect.  This action degraded the dead person by depriving him of a proper burial.

• Symbolically, the Philistines gave credit for this military victory to their Philistine gods. 

¹¹ But when the people of Jabesh-gilead

About 10-12  miles from Beth Shan (refer to a map)

heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 

• Saul had saved Jabesh-gilead at the beginning of his reign which the men of the city remembered.

1 Samuel 11 NLT
Saul Defeats the Ammonites
^11:1 About a month later, King Nahash of Ammon led his army against the Israelite town of Jabesh-gilead  .…  

⁵ Saul had been plowing a field with his oxen, and when he returned to town, he asked, “What’s the matter? Why is everyone crying?” So they told him about the message from Jabesh.

⁶ Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he became very angry. …

⁹ So Saul sent the messengers back to Jabesh-gilead to say, “We will rescue you by noontime tomorrow!” There was great joy throughout the town when that message arrived!  ^… 

¹¹ But before dawn the next morning, Saul arrived, having divided his army into three detachments. He launched a surprise attack against the Ammonites and slaughtered them the whole morning. The remnant of their army was so badly scattered that no two of them were left together. 

¹² all their mighty warriors traveled through the night to Beth-shan and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall. They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies. ¹³ Then they took their bones and buried them beneath the tamarisk tree at Jabesh,

• Warriors from Jabesh-gilead traveled through the night to Beth-shan and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall. They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies.Then they took their bones and buried them beneath the tamarisk tree at Jabesh,

In this case, the burning of bodies would not be considered desecration. This may have been done because decomposition of the bodies had already begun or to prevent any farther abuse of the bodies of Saul and his sons by the Philistines.

Later: 2 Samuel 21:12-14 NLT

2 Samuel 21:12-14 NLT
¹² he (David) went to the people of Jabesh-gilead and retrieved the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan. (When the Philistines had killed Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa, the people of Jabesh-gilead stole their bodies from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them.) ¹³ So David obtained the bones of Saul and Jonathan, as well as the bones of the men the Gibeonites had executed.
¹⁴ Then the king ordered that they bury the bones in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father, at the town of Zela in the land of Benjamin. After that, God ended the famine in the land. 

and they fasted for seven days.

Mourning the death of Saul and his sons and mourning the fact that the Philistines were now in control.

• The Philistines are now in control.

This story tells how the life Israel’s first king ended.

Note how this story began:

1 Samuel 9:15-17 NLT
¹⁵ Now the Lord had told Samuel the previous day, ¹⁶ “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him to be the leader of my people, Israel. He will rescue them from the Philistines, for I have looked down on my people in mercy and have heard their cry.”
¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said, “That’s the man I told you about! He will rule my people.”

1 Samuel 10 NLT
Saul Is Acclaimed King
¹⁷ Later Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet before the Lord at Mizpah. ¹⁸ And he said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has declared: I brought you from Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and from all of the nations that were oppressing you. ¹⁹ But though I have rescued you from your misery and distress, you have rejected your God today and have said, ‘No, we want a king instead!’ Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by tribes and clans.”
²⁰ So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot. ²¹ Then he brought each family of the tribe of Benjamin before the Lord, and the family of the Matrites was chosen. And finally Saul son of Kish was chosen from among them. …
²⁴ Then Samuel said to all the people, “This is the man the Lord has chosen as your king. No one in all Israel is like him!”
And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

What’s missing in the previous passages?

1 Samuel 16:13 NLT
¹³ So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.

Joshua 1:7-9 NLT
⁷ Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. ⁸ Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. ⁹ This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” 

Saul disobeyed the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord was not on Saul.

• Saul’s downfall was rejecting the word of the