And it came to pass on the morrow ,.... The day after the battle, which perhaps was fought till night came on: when the Philistines came to strip the slain ; of their clothes, and take from them whatever was valuable, as their booty: that they found Saul and his sons fallen in Mount Gilboa ; to which they had betaken themselves, when the battle went against them in the valley; of which see 1 Samuel 28:4 . read more
On the morrow - It is very likely that the battle and pursuit continued till the night, so that there was no time till the next day to strip and plunder the slain. read more
The final issues of life a criterion of worth. The facts are— 1 . The defeat of Saul is followed by the general flight of the men of Israel from the neigbbouring cities, and the occupation of these by the Philistines. 2 . The bodies of Saul and of his sons being found, the Philistines strip the king's of his armour, publish the fact in the houses of idols, and dishonour him on the wall of Beth-shan. 3 . The men of Jabesh-Gilead, hearing of this, rescue the bodies and bury them... read more
It came to pass on the morrow. The previous verse gave us the results of the victory as they were in course of time developed. We now return to the narrative of the battle and its immediate consequences. As the spoiling was deferred till the morrow, the struggle must have been obstinately contested, and decided only just before nightfall. read more
1 Samuel 31:7-10. They on the other side Jordan Or, rather, on this side Jordan; for the Hebrew word signifies either side. And there was no occasion for those beyond Jordan to flee. Saul and his three sons “The Scripture,” as Mr. Henry well observes, “makes no mention of the souls of Saul and his sons, what became of them after they were dead; secret things belong not to us.” They cut off his head As the Israelites did by Goliath, and fastened it in the temple of Dagon, 1 Chronicles... read more
David’s victory and Saul’s defeat (30:1-31:13)When David’s men returned to Ziklag, they found it a deserted, burnt out ruin. The Amalekites had raided the cities of Philistia and Judah while all the fighting men were away at war. The shock of losing everything - wives, families and possessions - drove David to total dependence on God. It was the kind of dependence that seems to have been lacking during his sixteen months in Philistia (30:1-8).Assisted by some capable Israelite military... read more
THE GRUESOME AFTERMATH OF ISRAEL'S DEFEAT"On the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. They put his armor in the temple of Ashteroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan. But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the... read more
8, 9. on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen—On discovering the corpses of the slaughtered princes on the battlefield, the enemy reserved them for special indignities. They consecrated the armor of the king and his sons to the temple of Ashtaroth fastened their bodies on the temple of Shen, while they fixed the royal heads ignominiously in the temple of Dagon (1 Chronicles 10:10); thus dividing the glory among their several... read more
The death of Saul ch. 31The scene shifts back to Mt. Gilboa in the North and Saul. Saul’s battle with the Philistines in this chapter may have been simultaneous with David’s battle against the Amalekites in the previous one."Chapters 30 and 31 gain in poignancy and power if we regard their events as simultaneous. In the far south, David is anxious about his own and about spoil, while in the far north Saul and the Israelite army perish. . . . While David smites (hikkah) [’fought,’ 1 Samuel... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 31:8-13
The scripture makes no mention of the souls of Saul and his sons, what became of them after they were dead (secret things belong not to us), but of their bodies only. I. How they were basely abused by the Philistines. The day after the battle, when they had recovered their fatigue, they came to strip the slain, and, among the rest, found the bodies of Saul and his three sons, 1 Sam. 31:8. Saul's armour-bearer perhaps intended to honour his master by following the example of his self-murder,... read more