1 Samuel 31:9 Komentář

In the foregoing chapter we had David conquering, yea, more than a conqueror. In this chapter we have Saul conquered and worse than a captive. Providence ordered it that both these things should be doing just at the same time. The very same day; perhaps, that David was triumphing over the Amalekites, were the Philistines triumphing over Saul. One is set over against the other, that men may see what comes of trusting in God and what comes of forsaking him. We left Saul ready to engage the Philistines, with a shaking hand and an aching heart, having had his doom read him from hell, which he would not regard when it was read him from heaven. Let us now see what becomes of him. Here is, I. His army routed (Sa1 31:1). II. His three sons slain (Sa1 31:2). III. Himself wounded (Sa1 31:3), and slain by his own hand (Sa1 31:4). The death of his armour-bearer (Sa1 31:5) and all his men (Sa1 31:6). IV. His country possessed by the Philistines (Sa1 31:7). His camp plundered, and his dead body deserted (Sa1 31:8). His fall triumphed in (Sa1 31:9). His body publicly exposed (Sa1 31:10) and with difficulty rescued by the men of Jabesh-Gilead (Sa1 31:11-13). Thus fell the man that was rejected of God.

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 31 This chapter gives an account of the battle between the Philistines and the Israelites, which had been preparing for, and the issue of it; in which Saul, his three sons, and his servants, were slain, upon which his army fled, and several of his cities were taken, Sa1 31:1; what the Philistines did with his body and his armour, Sa1 31:8; the former of which, together with the bodies of his sons, the men of Jabeshgilead rescued, and burnt them, and buried their bones under a tree at Jabesh, expressing great sorrow and concern, Sa1 31:11.

And they cut off his head,.... And fastened it in the temple of Dagon, Ch1 10:10; perhaps that which was at Ashdod, one of the principalities of the Philistines, Sa1 5:1, and stripped off his armour; or vessels (h), his clothes as well as his armour, and what he had about him; as for his crown on his head, and the bracelet on his arm, the Amalekite took them before the Philistines came, Sa2 1:10, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about: not his head and his armour, for they were placed in the temple of their idols; unless we can suppose these were first carried about for show, and as proofs of the victory: but rather messengers, who were sent express with the news: to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people; that so they might be glad and rejoice, and give praise to their idols, to whom they ascribed the success they had. (h) "vasa ejus", Munster, Montanus.

And they cut off the head of Saul, etc. The corruptors or demons persecuted Judea with the weapons of impiety to such an extent that they completely deprived it of the principal kingdom itself and snatched away the defenses of the sacred law, by which they prevailed against all adversities. Their downfall was soon spread widely by heralding to their accomplices as a sign of their own triumph and a cause of joy; and the increase of wickedness in the armor of God, which the blessed apostle Paul commanded us, who are to fight against the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians VI), and who first put it on, fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith, receiving from the Lord the crown of righteousness (II Timothy IV); this, I say, the armor of heavenly warfare. The Jews, deceived and deceiving, tried to carry the divine words into infernal places, that is, to equate the doctrines of demons. It is evident that they did this and are doing this in two ways; either by carnally interpreting spiritual words perversely, or by treating the same divine letters, as common and not supported by any divine authority, according to their wishes. Indeed, the very nation deprived of the stronghold of the kingdom of Judea, reduced to nothing, and handed over to the power of enemies, the deceivers publicly displayed as a joke and a common proverb; which figuratively is the body of Saul, truncated on the wall of Bethshan, that is, displayed as an enemy’s house, suspended by impious hands. But even heretics, struck down by the arrows of preceding sins, deprive themselves of the protection of charity, which is the fortress of all virtues. Just as the impure spirit cuts off the head of Saul when they persuade to follow their own sense rather than that of the Scripture. They strip them of arms when they pervert the divine words to their own, that is, diabolical sense. They place the arms of Saul in the temple of Ashtaroth. Ashtaroth indeed, not only because it is an idol, but also because it means the creation of spies, signifies the doctrine of malignant spirits, who, wandering around the folds of the faithful daily, explore if they can devour someone. When they perversely change the works with which they had served God to the service of their own wickedness, they hang the members, truly devoid of light and life, on the wall of the enemy’s house.

A battle in Mount Gilboa between Israel and the Philistines; in which the former are defeated, and Saul's three sons slain, Sa1 31:1, Sa1 31:2. Saul, being mortally wounded, and afraid to fall alive into the hands of the Philistines, desires his armor-bearer to despatch him; which he refusing, Saul falls on his sword, and his armor-bearer does the same, Sa1 31:3-6. The Israelites on the other side of the valley forsake their cities, and the Philistines come and dwell in them, Sa1 31:7. The Philistines, finding Saul and his three sons among the slain, strip them of their armor, which they put in the house of Ashtaroth, cut of their heads, send the news to all the houses of their idols, and fasten the bodies of Saul and his three sons to the walls of Beth-shan, Sa1 31:8-10. Valiant men of Jabesh-gilead go by night, and take away the bodies; burn them at Jabesh; bury their bones under a tree; and fast seven days, Sa1 31:11-13.

And they cut off his head - It is possible that they cut off the heads of his three sons likewise; for although only his head is said to be cut off, and his body only to be fastened to the walls of Beth-shan, yet we find that the men of Jabesh-gilead found both his body and the bodies of his three sons, fastened to the walls, Sa1 31:12. Perhaps they only took off Saul's head, which they sent about to their temples as a trophy of their victory, when they sent the news of the defeat of the Israelites through all their coasts, and at last placed it in the temple of Dagon, Ch1 10:10.

SAUL HAVING LOST HIS ARMY AT GILBOA, AND HIS SONS BEING SLAIN, HE AND HIS ARMOR-BEARER KILL THEMSELVES. (Sa1 31:1-7) Now the Philistines fought against Israel--In a regular engagement, in which the two armies met (Sa1 28:1-4), the Israelites were forced to give way, being annoyed by the arrows of the enemy, which, destroying them at a distance before they came to close combat, threw them into panic and disorder. Taking advantage of the heights of Mount Gilboa, [the Israelites] attempted to rally, but in vain. Saul and his sons fought like heroes; but the onset of the Philistines being at length mainly directed against the quarter where they were, Jonathan and two brothers, Abinadab or Ishui (Sa1 14:49) and Melchishua, overpowered by numbers, were killed on the spot.

Death and Burial of Saul and His Sons - Sa1 31:1-13 The end of the unhappy king corresponded to his life ever since the day of his rejection as king. When he had lost the battle, and saw his three sons fallen at his side, and the archers of the enemy pressing hard upon him, without either repentance or remorse he put an end to his life by suicide, to escape the disgrace of being wounded and abused by the foe (Sa1 31:1-7). But he did not attain his object; for the next day the enemy found his corpse and those of his sons, and proceeded to plunder, mutilate, and abuse them (Sa1 31:8-10). However, the king of Israel was not to be left to perish in utter disgrace. The citizens of Jabesh remembered the deliverance which Saul had brought to their city after his election as king, and showed their gratitude by giving an honourable burial to Saul and his sons (Sa1 31:11-13). There is a parallel to this chapter in Ch1 10:1-14, which agrees exactly with the account before us, with very few deviations indeed, and those mostly verbal, and merely introduces a hortatory clause at the end (Ch1 10:13, Ch1 10:14).