1 Samuel 31:4

Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

Ver. 4. Then said Saul unto his armourbearer.] Whom the Rabbis constantly affirm to have been Doeg, the Edomite, whom Saul had once commanded to slay the Lord's priests, and now to do the like to himself.

“ Discite iustitiam moniti. ”

Lest these uncircumcised come.] To his last he reproaches the Philistines with their uncircumcision: as if his condition had been better than theirs, because he was circumcised. Whereas external privileges profit nothing those that are profane; but they are therefore the worse, because they ought to be better. Galatians 5:6 ; Gal 6:15

And abuse me,] i.e., My body, whereof he took more care than for his precious soul; a common fault. His body was abused, nevertheless.

But his armourbearer would not.] No more would Mark Antony's armourbearer Eras: but, that he might not meddle with his master, fell first upon his own sword.

Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.] After that he had first seen so many fall by the sword before him; and that with delight, if he had fallen before into the unpardonable sin, as some think he had. We read a of one that had committed that sin, that he wished that his wife and children, and all the world, might be damned together with him. But that he thus desperately slew himself, lest he should be slain by the enemy, "Hic rogo non furor est, ne moriare mori?" So some Jews at the sack of Jerusalem killed themselves, lest they should be taken by the Romans. Cato, lest he should fall into the hands of Caesar; for which suicide Seneca b highly extolleth him, but Augustine, c upon better grounds, dispraiseth and condemneth that fact of his as absurd and cowardly; especially since at his death he bade his son to do otherwise; yea, to promise himself all good of Caesar's clemency. Cleombrotus and the Circumcelliones are not worth mentioning; Brutus and Cassius were to be pitied: but God receiveth not such souls, saith Jerome, d as against his will go out of their bodies. Osiander thinketh that Saul's desperate death was a forerunner of his everlasting destruction: the Lord taketh it upon himself, and saith that he slew him. 1Ch 10:14

a Burr., Moses's Choice, p. 34.

b Lib. de Provid. Divin.

c De Civ. Dei, lib. i. cap. xxiii.

d Ad Marcel.