1 Samuel 31:1-13

The death of Saul ch. 31

The 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 30:17] the Amalekites, and they flee (nus) [1 Samuel 30:17], the Philistines smite (hikkah) [’killed,’ 1 Samuel 31:2] Saul and his sons, and Israel flees (nus) [1 Samuel 31:1; 1 Samuel 31:7]." [Note: Miscall, pp. 181-82.]

The account of Saul’s death here differs from the one that the Amalekite messenger gave David later, which the writer recorded in 2 Samuel 1. This one is quite clearly the factual one (cf. 1 Chronicles 10). [Note: See Gordon, I & II Samuel . . ., p. 202.]