1 Chronicles 10
Expanded Bible
The Death of King Saul(A)
10 The Philistines ·fought against [attacked] Israel, and the Israelites ran away from them. Many Israelites ·were killed [were slaughtered; L fell dead] on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines ·fought hard against [hotly pursued; closed in on] Saul and his sons, killing his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. 3 The fighting was ·heavy [fierce] around Saul, and the archers ·shot him with their arrows [L found him] and wounded him.
4 Then Saul said to ·the officer who carried his armor [his armor bearer], “·Pull out [Draw; Take] your sword and ·stab me [run me through]. If you don’t, these Philistines who are not circumcised will come and ·hurt [abuse] me.” But Saul’s ·officer [armor bearer] refused, because he was ·afraid [terrified]. So Saul took his own sword and ·threw himself [fell] on it. 5 When the officer saw that Saul was dead, he ·threw himself [fell] on his own sword and died. 6 So Saul and three of his sons died; all his ·family [L house] died together.
7 When the Israelites living in the valley saw that their army had ·run away [fled] and that Saul and his sons were dead, they ·left [abandoned] their towns and ·ran away [fled]. Then the Philistines came and ·settled in [occupied] them.
8 The next day when the Philistines came to strip the dead soldiers, they found Saul and his sons ·dead [fallen] on Mount Gilboa. 9 The Philistines stripped Saul’s body and took his head and his armor. Then they sent messengers through ·all their country [the land of the Philistines] to tell the good news to their idols and to their people. 10 The Philistines put Saul’s armor in the ·temple [L house] of their ·idols [L gods] and hung his head in the ·temple [L house] of Dagon.
11 All the people in Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. 12 So the ·brave [valiant] men of Jabesh went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their bones under the oak tree in Jabesh [C evidently a major landmark]. Then the people of Jabesh fasted for seven days.
13 Saul died because he was not faithful to the Lord and ·did not obey [L acted unfaithfully against the word of] the Lord. He even went to a medium and asked her for ·advice [counsel] 14 instead of asking the Lord. This is why the Lord put Saul to death and ·gave [turned over] the kingdom to Jesse’s son David.
1 Chronicles 10
Amplified Bible
Defeat and Death of Saul and His Sons
10 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from them and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines followed closely after Saul and his sons and overtook them, and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers found him; and he was [mortally] wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised [Philistines] will come and abuse and humiliate me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. 6 So Saul died with his three sons and all those of his house died together.
7 When all the men of Israel 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; and the Philistines came and lived in them.
8 It came about the next day, when the Philistines came to strip (plunder) the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 So they stripped Saul and took his head and his armor and sent messengers around the land of the Philistines to bring the good news to their [a]idols and to the people. 10 They put Saul’s armor in the house of their gods and nailed up his head in the house (temple) of Dagon.
Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul
11 When all Jabesh-gilead heard about everything that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the brave men arose, took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh, and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh; then they fasted seven days.(A)
13 So Saul died for his [b]trespass which he committed against the Lord, for his failure to keep the word of the Lord; and also because he consulted a medium [regarding a spirit of the dead], to inquire of her, 14 and did not inquire of the Lord [instead]. Therefore the Lord killed him and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.(B)
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 10:9 It is ironic that they felt the need to inform their false gods of what had happened.
- 1 Chronicles 10:13 Saul’s failure to obey God and to destroy King Agag and the Amalekites is told in 1 Sam 15.
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