1 Samuel 31

1 Samuel 31 is the thirty-first (and the last) chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. Jewish tradition attributes the book to the prophet Samuel, with later additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan; modern scholarship, however, regards it as a compilation of independent texts dated to . This chapter contains the account of Saul's repeated attempts to kill David. This is within a section comprising 1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 5 which records the rise of David as the king of Israel.

Text This chapter was originally written in Biblical Hebrew. It is divided into 13 verses.

Textual witnesses Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Biblical Hebrew are of the Masoretic Textual tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q51 (4QSam; ) with extant verses 1–4.Dead sea scrolls - 1 Samuel4Q51 at the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library Plate XIII of 4Q51 contains traces of verse 13, separated to 2 Samuel 1:1 with an open line.

Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally compiled in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).

Places

Bethshan Jabesh-Gilead Jordan River Mount Gilboa

The death of Saul and his three sons (31:1–10) While David defeated the Amalekites, Saul and his army were defeated by the Philistines, highlighting David's success (with divine guidance and protection) in saving his family and others, compared to Saul's failure, which resulted in the deaths of his family and many others in battle. Toward the end of the battle on Mount Gilboa, Saul's three sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua—were killed, and Saul himself was wounded. He asked his trusted personal armor-bearer to kill him before the Philistines arrived, but out of respect for Saul as YHWH's anointed (), the armor-bearer refused, so Saul committed suicide. Saul's dishonorable end was followed by a total defeat of his troops, while other Israelites not in battle (suggesting that Saul did not have all Israel behind him) fled from the neighboring areas, leaving their towns and villages for the Philistines to seize. His body met a disrespectful fate: he was beheaded, his armor was taken into the local temple of Astarte—the chief goddess of Beit She'an ()—and his body was hanged on the wall of Beit She'an for public display. (1 Chronicles 10:10 states that his head was fastened to the temple of Dagon).

Verse 2 Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons. Abinadab is called "Ishvi" () in 1 Samuel 14:49.Benson, Joseph, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments: 1 Samuel 31, accessed 9 July 2019

Verse 4 Then Saul said to his armorbearer, "Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me." But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. "Abuse" also meaning "torture".Note on 1 Samuel 31:4 in NKJV

Jabesh-gilead's tribute to Saul (31:11–13)

The men of Jabesh-Gilead (), remembering Saul's action on their behalf (1 Samuel 11:1–13), came to take the bodies of Saul and his sons for cremation and burial, a more honorable treatment than that of the Philistines to the bodies of Saul and his sons.

Verses 12–13 All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. The brave action of the men, marching from Jabesh-Gilead to Beit She'an and back—about one way—recalls the high point of Saul's leadership at the beginning of his reign when he saved the people of Jabesh-Gilead from foreign attacks (1 Samuel 11).

1 Samuel 31

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