Tyndale Open Study Notes1 Samuel 31

While David was in the south successfully fighting the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30), Saul was in the north unsuccessfully fighting the Philistines.

• The Israelites fled southeast from the Valley of Jezreel (1 Samuel 29:1) to higher and hillier areas. With their chariots, the Philistines had the advantage in the more level valley.

• Mount Gilboa is southwest of the Sea of Galilee, far from the territory of the Philistines.

Jonathan … Malkishua: See 1 Samuel 14:49. This is the first mention of Saul’s son Abinadab (compare 1 Chronicles 8:33; 9:39).

• David had earlier served as an armor bearer (a personal assistant who carried a soldier’s weapons) to Saul (1 Samuel 16:21).

• run me through: This is one of many similarities between the death of Abimelech during the time of the judges (Judges 9) and Saul, Israel’s first national king (see Judges 9:54). In both stories, a wounded leader asks someone else to kill him rather than die in shame.

After a victory, the army would remove items from the dead. They searched the bodies for anything valuable, such as clothing, weapons, or jewelry.

In the ancient world, people saw the death of an enemy king as good news. They believed it meant that the enemy’s god had been defeated. The Philistines did not realize that their victory would not last and would bring them no real gain. David, the Lord’s true anointed king, would soon come to power and defeat the Philistines. Instead of defeating Israel’s God, the Philistines were unknowingly carrying out his purpose.

• the Ashtoreths: See 1 Samuel 7:3.

• hung his body: This act further humiliated the executed person by denying them a proper burial. It also served as a warning to other potential enemies (see also Genesis 40:19; Deuteronomy 21:21–22; Joshua 10:26; Esther 9:6–14).

• Beth-shan was a short distance east of Mount Gilboa.

The people of Jabesh-gilead were repaying a kindness. Earlier, Saul had rescued them from the Ammonites and their king Nahash (1 Samuel 11:1–13). Jabesh-gilead was about nineteen kilometers (twelve miles) southeast of Beth-shan. It lay across the Jordan River.

burned the bodies: Cremation was uncommon in the ancient world. The bodies may have been burned because decomposition had already begun.

• bones … Jabesh: This was not where Saul's remains were finally laid to rest (see 2 Samuel 21:12–14).

• The end of 1 Samuel returns Israel's history to the time at the end of Judges, when “Israel had no king.” The Philistines were in control again. David had God’s anointing but no crown. He had wives but no sons. His connection with the hated Philistines may have put his standing with his own people at risk. David's future would be difficult. Still, it was clear that God was with him.