1 Chronicles 10:1-14

II. THE HISTORY OF KING DAVID (1 Chronicles 10:1 to 1 Chronicles 29:30)

1. THE OVERTHROW OF SAUL (1 Chronicles 10:1-14)

TEXT

1 Chronicles 10:1. Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in Mount Gilboa. 2. And the Philistines followed hard after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. 3. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him, and he was distressed by reason of the archers. 4. Then said Saul unto his armorbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword and fell upon it. 5. And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died. 6. So Saul died, and his three sons; and all his house died together. 7. And 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. 8. And 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. 9. And they stripped him, and took his head, and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the tidings unto their idols, and to the people. 10. And they put his armor in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the house of Dagon. 11. And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12. all 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 oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days, 13. So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against Jehovah, because of the word of Jehovah, which he kept not; and also for that he asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire thereby, 14. and inquired not of Jehovah: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jessee.

PARAPHRASE

1 Chronicles 10:1. The Philistines attacked and defeated the Israeli troops, who turned and fled and were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. 2. They caught up with Saul and his three sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, and killed them all. 3. Saul had been hard pressed with heavy fighting all around him, when the Philistine archers shot and wounded him. 4. He cried out to his bodyguard, Quick, kill me with your sword before these uncircumcised heathen capture and torture me. But the man was afraid to do it, so Saul took his own sword and fell against its point; and it pierced his body. 5. Then his bodyguard, seeing that Saul was dead, killed himself in the same way. 6. So Saul and his three sons died together; the entire family was wiped out in one day. 7. When the Israelis in the valley below the mountain heard that their troops had been routed and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities, and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them. 8. When the Philistines went back the next day to strip the bodies of the men killed in action and to gather the booty from the battlefield, they found the bodies of Saul and his sons. 9. So they stripped off Saul's armor and cut off his head; then they displayed them throughout the nation and celebrated the wonderful news before their idols. 10. They fastened his armor to the walls of the Temple of the Gods and nailed his head to the wall of Dagon's temple. 11. But when the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12. their heroic warriors went out to the battlefield and brought back his body and the bodies of his three sons. Then they buried them beneath the oak tree at Jabesh and mourned and fasted for seven days. 13. Saul died for his disobedience to the Lord and because he had consulted a medium, 14. and did not ask the Lord for guidance. So the Lord killed him and gave the kingdom to David, the son of Jessee.

COMMENTARY

The last chapter in I Samuel (chapter 31) describes the defeat of Israel's army and the deaths of Saul and his sons on Mount Gilboa. The chronicler, after dealing with some lengthy genealogical tables, hastens to his main considerationthe life and times of David. In order to set the stage for David's kingship, the account of the overthrow of Saul is reviewed. The Philistines were Israel's ancient enemy. They inhabited the coastal plain along the Mediterranean within the limits of the territory assigned to Judah. Until David's kingdom was established, the Israelites could not achieve any consistent superiority with regard to this enemy. The usual condition found the Hebrews subjected to these people who lived along the coast and in the foothills. The Philistines were war-like when the Hebrews were ready to leave Egypt in Moses-' day. When Joshua led Israel into Canaan the Philistines challenged the Hebrews-' claim to their territory. Shamgar (Judges 3:31) and Samson (Judges, Chapter s 14-16) were champions of Israel's conflict with this people. In the days of Samuel the Philistines seriously threatened the Hebrews with complete extinction. At this juncture, Jehovah agreed that Israel should have a king. One of the king's chief responsibilities was that he should deliver his people from the tyranny of the Philistines. In spite of all the wonderful qualifications with which Saul was endowed for this office, he never found any delight in his primary responsibility. His son, Jonathan, dared to enter the conflict with the enemy. When the Philistines encamped in the vale of Elah west of Bethlehem and Goliath challenged Israel, Saul could do nothing to relieve his people until David came and slew the giant. This was a great victory for Israel; but for Saul it became a matter of humiliation. David was praised by the Hebrews as a fearless leader. Saul was tolerated as a cowardly king. Saul spent the rest of his days trying to find a way to kill David. If the Philistines made a raid on Israel, Saul would make some attempt to relieve his people. Just as soon as the threat from the enemy was passed, Saul returned to chase David. This whole story is carefully related in I Samuel, Chapter s 18-31. David knew how Saul feared the Philistines. In order that he might work on some other projects in preparation for this kingship, David went to Achish, king of Gath in Philistia, and set up a working agreement with him (I Samuel, chapter 27). At about this time the Philistines prepared for a full-scale war against Saul and Israel. As they moved their warriors from the coastal plain up to Mount Gilboa, David and his men were with the Philistines. David's reputation as an enemy warrior was too well known. He was forced to return to his village, Ziklag, and the Philistines drew up their battle lines at Mount Gilboa. The armies of Israel were not prepared for the conflict. Jehovah would use the enemy to chastise Saul and his people for their lack of faith. The armies of Israel retreated and the enemy took full advantage of the overthrow. Jonathan, Abinadab, and Machi-shua, Saul's sons, were killed. Only one son escaped. His name was Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 2:8). He is called Eshbaal in 1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Chronicles 9:39. Saul found himself in a predicament. The battle was lost. The men with bows and arrows were pressing in upon him. He urged his armor-bearer to kill him with his sword. He would not be taken alive by these uncircumcised Philistines. Circumcision was the mark of the covenant between Israel and Jehovah. Evidently the covenant had not meant very much to Saul; but he regarded his enemy as heathen. In this bitter moment Saul took his own life. Since the whole cause was lost, the armor-bearer, in like manner, committed suicide. It was a sad day in Israel.

As a result of this military defeat the Hebrews were entirely at the mercy of the Philistines. So the enemy made deep penetration into Israel's territory. Stripping the slain was regular procedure after a great battle. Often those not immediately involved in the conflict would gather considerable wealth by this gruesome activity. The Philistine prize was Saul's body. They beheaded him as David had mutilated Goliath's body and after parading his head and armor among their people, they deposited these things in Dagon's Temple. They believed that their idols had brought them victory. The earlier record in I Samuel states that the bodies of Saul and his sons were fastened to the wall at Beth-shan, a village near Mount Gilboa. Early in Saul's kingship the Jabesh-gileadites, who lived east of the Jordan river about twelve miles from Beth-shan, had been delivered from the Ammonites by Saul. Remembering his consideration for them, the Jabesh-gileadites rescued the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to their village. Here they burned the remains and laid away the ashes. This was done to protect these remains from further ravages by the enemy. Later, these ashes were removed to Gibeah, Saul's home village, and were deposited under an oak tree.

Saul had begun so well, but he failed to do God's will. He had not utterly destroyed the Amalekites (I Samuel, chapter 15). In jealous rage he had repeatedly tried to kill David. In desperation he dared to go to a witch to try to learn about the future (1 Samuel 28:3 ff). Because he had completely disqualified himself as king, Jehovah brought David to the throne in Israel.