Chapter X

=1‒12= (= 1 Samuel xxxi. 1‒13).
THE DEFEAT, DEATH, AND BURIAL OF SAUL.

=1‒12.= There are several variations between the text given here and the text of 1 Samuel, to which attention will be called in the notes below.

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of
Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain¹ in
mount Gilboa.

¹ Or, _wounded_.

=1.= _in mount Gilboa_] In the campaign of Gilboa the Philistines showed new and skilful strategy. Instead of at once marching eastward up the ravines which lead into Judah and Benjamin――in which there was no room for their chariots (2 Samuel i. 6) to manœuvre――they first marched northward along the sea-coast and then turned eastward just before reaching Mount Carmel. This movement brought them into the great fertile plain watered by the Kishon, ground over which chariots could act with decisive effect. At the north-east end of the plain rose the heights of Gilboa. When Saul and his Benjamites advanced to meet the Philistines, the latter succeeded in interposing themselves between the Israelite army and its base in Benjamin――an easy achievement for an enemy who by his chariots possessed a high degree of mobility. Saul was therefore driven to take up his position on the _north_ side of the plain on Mount Gilboa, where he was attacked by the Philistines, probably from the south-west on which side the slopes of the mountain are comparatively gentle. The Israelites, cut off from their homes, outmarched, outgeneralled, and probably outnumbered, were speedily routed. The battle of Gilboa was won, like that of Hastings, by cavalry (chariots) and archers (verse 3) against infantry, which was obliged to stand on the defensive, under pain of being cut to pieces if it ventured to attack. See G. A. Smith, _Historical Geography of the Holy Land_, pp. 400 ff.

²And the Philistines followed hard after Saul and after his
sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab¹, and
Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ³And the battle went sore against
Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by
reason of the archers.

¹ In 1 Samuel xiv. 49, _Ishvi_.

=2.= _Malchi-shua_] This is the correct spelling, not _Melchi-shua_.

⁴Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and
thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come
and abuse¹ me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore
afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell upon it. ⁵And
when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell
upon his sword, and died.

¹ Or, _make a mock of me_.

=4.= _unto his armourbearer_] Compare Judges ix. 54 (the death of Abimelech). One function of an armourbearer was to give the “coup de grâce” to fallen enemies (1 Samuel xiv. 13), but sometimes the same office had to be executed for friends. Possibly the man refused from fear of blood-revenge, which would be the more certainly exacted in the case of the Lord’s Anointed, compare 1 Samuel ii. 22, xxvi. 9 (so Curtis).

_and abuse me_] i.e. wreak their cruel will upon me; compare Judges i. 6.

⁶So Saul died, and his three sons; and all his house died
together.

=6.= _all his house_] In Samuel “his armourbearer and all his men.” The reference may be to Saul’s servants: his family was not exterminated in this battle.

⁷And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that
they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook
their cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in
them.
⁸And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came
to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in
mount Gilboa.

=7.= _that were in the valley_] The “valley of Jezreel” (Hosea i. 5), called in later times the “plain of Esdrelon” (Esdraelon), is meant.

_forsook their cities_] Among these was no doubt Beth-shan (Beisan) “the key of Western Palestine” (see G. A. Smith, _Historical Geography of the Holy Land_ pp. 358 f.), where Saul’s body was exposed (1 Samuel xxxi. 12).

_and dwelt in them_] Perhaps for a short while only, compare 2 Samuel ii. 9, “[Abner] made him (Ish-bosheth) king over ... _Jezreel_.” Ish-bosheth, however, may have “ruled” only in acknowledgment of a Philistine suzerainty.

⁹And they stripped him, and took his head, and his armour, and
sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the
tidings unto their idols, and to the people.

=9.= _to carry the tidings unto their idols_] Better, as in Samuel, “to publish it _in the house_ (or _houses_) of their idols”; compare the next verse. The news was published by the exhibition of trophies of the victory in the Philistine temples.

¹⁰And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and
fastened his head in the house of Dagon.

=10.= _in the house of their gods_] In Samuel (more definitely) “in the house (_or_ houses) of Ashtaroth,” Ashtaroth being the plural of _Ashtoreth_, a goddess, who seems here to bear a martial character. (The name _Ashtoreth_ is an artificial formation, the proper form being _Ashtarte_. The vowels of the word _bōshĕth_, i.e. _shame_, were used for the last two syllables in place of the true vowels; compare note on viii. 33.) She was apparently consort of the Phoenician Baal (Judges ii. 13, x. 6).

_fastened his head in the house of Dagon_ (literally _Beth-Dagon_)] In Samuel _fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan_. The reading of Chronicles is probably an arbitrary alteration made by the Chronicler out of regard for 1 Samuel xxxi. 9, where it is related that the Philistines cut off Saul’s head. It is just possible that the variation points to a fuller original text containing all three statements――that Saul’s armour was placed in the temple of Ashtarte, his head in the “house of Dagon,” and his headless corpse fastened to the walls of Beth-shan. Beth-shan is north-east of Gilboa, about four miles distant from the Jordan, and about a day’s march (1 Samuel xxxi. 12) from Jabesh (verse 11), which was situated on the other side of Jordan in Gilead.

¹¹And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had
done to Saul,

=11.= _Jabesh-gilead_] See 1 Samuel xi. 1‒11; 2 Samuel ii. 4‒7.

¹²all the valiant men arose, and took away the body of Saul, and
the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried
their bones under the oak¹ in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

¹ Or, _terebinth_.

=12.= _took away_] i.e. from the walls of Beth-shan (so Peshitṭa).

_to Jabesh_] Samuel adds “and burned them there.” The Chronicler omits this statement perhaps because he inferred that the bones were not _destroyed_ by this burning; compare 2 Samuel xxi. 12‒14 (the bones of Saul and Jonathan brought from Jabesh in David’s reign and re-interred in the family sepulchre) or more probably because burning was not a usual funeral rite among the Jews (compare 2 Chronicles xvi. 14, note), and indeed was regarded with abhorrence (compare Amos ii. 1).

_under the oak_] margin, _terebinth_. Large trees, being rare in Palestine, frequently serve as landmarks; compare Judges iv. 5; 1 Samuel xxii. 6 (“tamarisk tree” Revised Version).

_fasted seven days_] Fasting involved abstinence from food during daylight. David fasted “till the evening” in mourning for Saul (2 Samuel i. 12) and for Abner (2 Samuel iii. 35). The fast of Jabesh was a sevenfold fast.

=13, 14= (peculiar to Chronicles).
THE MORAL OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE HOUSE OF SAUL.

Such reflexions as these are characteristic of the Chronicler; compare 2 Chronicles xii. 2 (note), xxii. 7, xxiv. 24, xxv. 27. They are not so frequent in Samuel and Kings.

¹³So Saul died for¹ his trespass which he committed against the
LORD, because of the word of the LORD, which he kept not; and
also for that he asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit,
to inquire _thereby_,

¹ Or, _in_.

=13.= _his trespass_] compare 2 Chronicles xxvi. 16. The reference is to Saul’s sacrifice (1 Samuel xiii. 13, 14), and disobedience (1 Samuel xv. 23).

_asked counsel ... spirit_] i.e. of the witch of Endor, 1 Samuel xxviii. 7 ff.

¹⁴and inquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and
turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.

=14.= _and inquired not of the LORD_] Compare xiii. 3. The Chronicler presumably does not count inquiries made too late; compare 1 Samuel xxviii. 6 (Saul inquires of the Lord, but receives no answer).