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1 Chronicles Chapter Ten

1 Chronicles 10 Outline of Contents

Tragic End of Saul and His Sons (v.1~14)

New King James Version (NKJV)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 10

This part, 1 Chronicles 10:1 which gives an account of the last battle of Saul with the Philistines, and of his death and burial, is the same with 1 Samuel 31:1 see the notes there; the cause of his death follows in 1 Chronicles 10:13

1 Chronicles 10:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

YLT ¹And the Philistines have fought with Israel, and the men of Israel flee from the face of the Philistines, and fall wounded in mount Gilboa,

Verses 1-12

See Gill on 1 Samuel 31:1.

1 Chronicles 10:2 ² Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons.

YLT ²and the Philistines pursue after Saul, and after his sons, and the Philistines smite Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-Shua, sons of Saul.

1 Chronicles 10:3 ³ The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was wounded by the archers.

YLT ³And the battle [is] heavy on Saul, and those shooting with the bow find him, and he is wounded by those shooting,

1 Chronicles 10:4 ⁴ Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and abuse me.” But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it.

YLT ⁴and Saul saith unto the bearer of his weapons, `Draw thy sword, and pierce me with it, lest these uncircumcised come -- and have abused me.' And the bearer of his weapons hath not been willing, for he feareth exceedingly, and Saul taketh the sword, and falleth upon it;

1 Chronicles 10:5 ⁵ And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died.

YLT ⁵and the bearer of his weapons seeth that Saul [is] dead, and falleth, he also, on the sword, and dieth;

1 Chronicles 10:6 ⁶ So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together.

YLT ⁶and Saul dieth, and his three sons, and all his house -- together they died.

1 Chronicles 10:7 ⁷ And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; then the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

YLT ⁷And all the men of Israel who [are] in the valley see that they have fled, and that Saul and his sons have died, and they forsake their cities and flee, and the Philistines come and dwell in them.

1 Chronicles 10:8 ⁸ So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

YLT ⁸And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that the Philistines come to strip the wounded, and find Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa,

1 Chronicles 10:9 ⁹ And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among the people.

YLT ⁹and strip him, and bear away his head, and his weapons, and send into the land of the Philistines round about to proclaim tidings [to] their idols and the people,

1 Chronicles 10:10 ¹⁰ Then they put his armor in the temple of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.

YLT ¹⁰and put his weapons in the house of their gods, and his skull they have fixed in the house of Dagon.

1 Chronicles 10:11 ¹¹ And when all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,

YLT ¹¹And all Jabesh-Gilead hear of all that the Philistines have done to Saul,

1 Chronicles 10:12 ¹² all the valiant men arose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons; and they brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

YLT ¹²and all the men of valour rise and bear away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and bring them in to Jabesh, and bury their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fast seven days.

1 Chronicles 10:13 ¹³ So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance.

YLT ¹³And Saul dieth because of his trespass that he trespassed against Jehovah, against the word of Jehovah that he kept not, and also for asking at a familiar spirit -- to inquire, --

So Saul died for his transgression,.... See Gill on 1 Samuel 31:13 A violent and dishonourable death, which was suffered on account of the sins he was guilty of:

one was, which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not; both in not staying for Samuel the time appointed, and by sparing the Amalekites whom he was bid to destroy, 1 Samuel 13:13.

and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; what he should do with respect to engaging in battle with the Philistines, 1 Samuel 28:8 which to do was contrary to an express command of God, Leviticus 19:31.

1 Chronicles 10:14 ¹⁴ But he did not inquire of the Lord; therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

YLT ¹⁴and he inquired not at Jehovah, and He putteth him to death, and turneth round the kingdom to David son of Jesse.

And inquired not of the Lord,.... For though he did inquire in some sense in an external, careless, and hypocritical manner, yet not done seriously, sincerely, and heartily, nor with constancy; it was accounted as if he inquired not at all, 1 Samuel 28:6 the Targum adds another reason of his death, because he killed the priests of Nob; but that is not in the text:

therefore he slew him; or suffered him to be slain:

and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse; translated the kingdom of Israel out of Saul's family, upon his death, into Jesse's, even unto David; for the sake of which observation this short account is given of the last end of Saul.

──《John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible》