I Samuel 31
שמואל א׳ פרק ל״א
Section: נביאים · נביאים ראשונים | Book: I Samuel | Chapter: 31 of 31 | Day: 76 of 742
Date: April 28, 2026
קלאוד על הנ״ך
The final chapter of I Samuel is a masterpiece of restraint and tragic dignity. In just thirteen verses, the narrator recounts the catastrophe at Mount Gilboa — the rout of the Israelite army, the death of Jonathan and his brothers Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the mortal wounding of Saul by Philistine archers, and the king’s desperate final act of falling on his own sword. The text moves with terrible efficiency, each sentence tightening the noose of inevitability. There is no speech from God, no prophetic commentary, no theological editorializing — only the bare facts of a kingdom’s collapse. Radak observes that the battle described here fulfills Samuel’s prophecy in chapter 28, when the dead prophet told Saul at En-dor that “tomorrow you and your sons will be with me” (מחר אתה ובניך עמי). The fulfillment is exact and merciless.
Saul’s death scene is framed with a dignity that the narrative grants to few characters. His request to his armor-bearer — “draw your sword and run me through, so that the uncircumcised may not run me through and make sport of me” (שלף חרבך ודקרני בה פן יבואו הערלים האלה ודקרני והתעללו בי) — reveals a man still concerned with the honor of Israel’s king, even at the moment of his own annihilation. Rashi explains that Saul feared the Philistines would torture him alive, a concern validated by what they eventually do to his corpse. The armor-bearer’s refusal, motivated by awe (כי ירא מאד), echoes the reverence that David himself showed in refusing twice to strike “the Lord’s anointed.” Metzudat David notes that even in death, Saul retains enough authority that his servant cannot bring himself to raise a hand against him. The king’s final act — grasping the sword and falling upon it — is one of the most stark and solitary moments in all of Tanakh: no companion, no comfort, no divine word, only the cold metal and the silence of Gilboa.
The Philistine desecration that follows underscores the totality of Israel’s humiliation. They behead Saul, strip his armor, and send trophies throughout their territory to proclaim victory in the temples of their idols. The impaling of the royal bodies on the wall of Beth-shan is the ultimate degradation — a public display meant to demonstrate that the God of Israel could not protect His own king. Radak draws attention to the placement of Saul’s armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, reading this as the Philistines’ theological counterclaim: their gods had triumphed over Israel’s God. The parallel account in I Chronicles 10:10 adds that Saul’s head was fastened in the temple of Dagon, distributing the spoils of victory among multiple deities. The narrator records all of this without comment, letting the horror speak for itself.
Yet the chapter does not end in desecration. The men of Jabesh-gilead, learning what the Philistines had done, march through the night to recover the bodies from Beth-shan’s wall. This act of loyalty is one of the most poignant moments in the entire book, because it reaches back to the very beginning of Saul’s reign. In chapter 11, Saul’s first act as king was to rally all Israel to rescue Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonite threat of Nahash. Now, at the end of everything, it is Jabesh-gilead alone that remembers. Their “stalwarts” (כל איש חיל) risk their lives in a nighttime march through Philistine-controlled territory, retrieve the bodies, burn them, bury the bones under the tamarisk tree, and fast for seven days. Metzudat David explains the burning as necessary because the bodies had already begun to decompose after hanging on the wall. The seven-day fast is a mark of genuine mourning — the same period that Joseph observed for Jacob. In a book that has chronicled Saul’s slow disintegration, his estrangement from God, his pursuit of David, and his descent into the cave of En-dor, this final gesture of gratitude from a grateful city restores something essential to Saul’s memory: he was, at his best, a deliverer of Israel.
The structure of I Samuel’s ending is profoundly deliberate. The book began with Israel broken and leaderless, oppressed by the Philistines, crying out for a king. It ends with Israel broken and leaderless once more, the Philistines triumphant, the king and his heirs dead on the mountain. Yet the reader knows what the characters within the narrative do not yet fully grasp: David, anointed by Samuel in chapter 16, mourned by Jonathan, hunted across the wilderness, is waiting in the wings. The closing of I Samuel is not merely a conclusion but a hinge — a turning point between the failed experiment of Saul’s kingship and the rise of the Davidic dynasty that will reshape Israel’s history forever. The men of Jabesh-gilead, burying their king under a tree, perform the last rites not only for Saul but for an entire era.
פרק ל״א · Chapter 31
פסוק א׳ · Verse 1
Hebrew:
וּפְלִשְׁתִּ֖ים נ��לְחָמִ֣ים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַיָּנֻ֜סוּ אַנְשֵׁ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מִפְּנֵ֣י פְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים וַיִּפְּל֥וּ חֲלָלִ֖ים בְּהַ֥ר הַגִּלְבֹּֽעַ׃
English:
aCf. 1 Chron. 10, which reproduces this chapter with minor variations. The Philistines attacked Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and [many] fell on Mount Gilboa.
פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2
Hebrew:
וַיַּדְבְּק֣וּ פְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים אֶת־שָׁא֖וּל וְאֶת־בָּנָ֑יו וַיַּכּ֣וּ פְלִשְׁתִּ֗ים אֶת־יְהוֹנָתָ֧ן וְאֶת־אֲבִינָדָ֛ב וְאֶת־מַלְכִּישׁ֖וּעַ בְּנֵ֥י שָׁאֽוּל׃
English:
The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, sons of Saul.
פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3
Hebrew:
וַתִּכְבַּ֤ד הַמִּלְחָמָה֙ אֶל־שָׁא֔וּל וַיִּמְצָאֻ֥הוּ הַמּוֹרִ֖ים אֲנָשִׁ֣ים בַּקָּ֑שֶׁת וַיָּ֥חֶל מְאֹ֖ד מֵהַמּוֹרִֽים׃
English:
The battle raged around Saul, and some of the archersbsome of the archers Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Lit. “the archers, men with the bow.” hit him, and he was severely woundedcwas severely wounded Construed as a hophal stem; cf. 1 Kings 2.34. by the archers.
פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4
Hebrew:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר שָׁאוּל֩ לְנֹשֵׂ֨א כֵלָ֜יו שְׁלֹ֥ף חַרְבְּךָ֣ ׀ וְדׇקְרֵ֣נִי בָ֗הּ פֶּן־יָ֠ב֠וֹאוּ הָעֲרֵלִ֨ים הָאֵ֤לֶּה וּדְקָרֻ֙נִי֙ וְהִתְעַלְּלוּ־בִ֔י וְלֹ֤א אָבָה֙ נֹשֵׂ֣א כֵלָ֔יו כִּ֥י יָרֵ֖א מְאֹ֑ד וַיִּקַּ֤ח שָׁאוּל֙ אֶת־הַחֶ֔רֶב וַיִּפֹּ֖ל עָלֶֽיהָ׃
English:
Saul said to his arms-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, so that the uncircumcised may not run me through and make sport of me.” But his arms-bearer, in his great awe, refused; whereupon Saul grasped the sword and fell upon it.
פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5
Hebrew:
וַיַּ֥רְא נֹשֵֽׂא־כֵלָ֖יו כִּ֣י מֵ֣ת שָׁא֑וּל וַיִּפֹּ֥ל גַּם־ה֛וּא עַל־חַרְבּ֖וֹ וַיָּ֥מׇת עִמּֽוֹ׃
English:
When his arms-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him.
פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6
Hebrew:
וַיָּ֣מׇת שָׁא֡וּל וּשְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת בָּנָיו֩ וְנֹשֵׂ֨א כֵלָ֜יו גַּ֧ם כׇּל־אֲנָשָׁ֛יו בַּיּ֥וֹם הַה֖וּא יַחְדָּֽו׃
English:
Thus Saul and his three sons and his arms-bearer, as well as all his men,das well as all his men Lacking in the Septuagint; 1 Chron. 10.6 reads “and all his house.” died together on that day.
פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7
Hebrew:
וַיִּרְא֣וּ אַנְשֵֽׁי־יִ֠שְׂרָאֵ֠ל אֲשֶׁר־בְּעֵ֨בֶר הָעֵ֜מֶק וַאֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀ בְּעֵ֣בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֗ן כִּי־נָ֙סוּ֙ אַנְשֵׁ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְכִי־מֵ֖תוּ שָׁא֣וּל וּבָנָ֑יו וַיַּעַזְב֤וּ אֶת־הֶעָרִים֙ וַיָּנֻ֔סוּ וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ פְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים וַיֵּשְׁב֖וּ בָּהֶֽן׃ {פ}
English:
And when the Israelite inhabitants on the other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordaneon the other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordan Meaning of Heb. uncertain. 1 Chron. 10.7 reads “in the valley.” saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the towns and fled; the Philistines then came and occupied them.
פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8
Hebrew:
וַֽיְהִי֙ מִֽמׇּחֳרָ֔ת וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ פְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים לְפַשֵּׁ֖ט אֶת־הַחֲלָלִ֑ים וַֽיִּמְצְא֤וּ אֶת־שָׁאוּל֙ וְאֶת־שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת בָּנָ֔יו נֹפְלִ֖ים בְּהַ֥ר הַגִּלְבֹּֽעַ׃
English:
The next day the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa.
פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9
Hebrew:
וַֽיִּכְרְתוּ֙ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֔וֹ וַיַּפְשִׁ֖טוּ אֶת־כֵּלָ֑יו וַיְשַׁלְּח֨וּ בְאֶֽרֶץ־פְּלִשְׁתּ��֜ים סָבִ֗יב לְבַשֵּׂ֛ר בֵּ֥ית עֲצַבֵּיהֶ֖ם וְאֶת־הָעָֽם׃
English:
They cut off his head and stripped him of his armor, and they sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to spread the news in the temples of their idolsfin the temples of their idols Septuagint and 1 Chron. 10.9 read “among their idols.” and among the people.
פסוק י״ · Verse 10
Hebrew:
וַיָּשִׂ֙ימוּ֙ אֶת־כֵּלָ֔יו בֵּ֖ית עַשְׁתָּר֑וֹת וְאֶת־גְּוִיָּתוֹ֙ תָּֽקְע֔וּ בְּחוֹמַ֖ת בֵּ֥ית שָֽׁן׃
English:
They placed his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they impaled his body on the wall of Beth-shan.
פסוק י״א · Verse 11
Hebrew:
וַיִּשְׁמְע֣וּ אֵלָ֔יו יֹשְׁבֵ֖י יָבֵ֣ישׁ גִּלְעָ֑ד אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂ֥וּ פְלִשְׁתִּ֖ים לְשָׁאֽוּל׃
English:
When the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard about it—whatgthe inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard about it—what Cf. 1 Chron. 10.11 “all [the inhabitants of] Jabesh-gilead heard all that.” the Philistines had done to Saul—
▶Commentaries (1)
פסוק י״ב · Verse 12
Hebrew:
וַיָּק֜וּמוּ כׇּל־אִ֣ישׁ חַ֘יִל֮ וַיֵּלְכ֣וּ כׇל־הַלַּ֒יְלָה֒ וַיִּקְח֞וּ אֶת־גְּוִיַּ֣ת שָׁא֗וּל וְאֵת֙ גְּוִיֹּ֣ת בָּנָ֔יו מֵחוֹמַ֖ת בֵּ֣ית שָׁ֑ן וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ יָבֵ֔שָׁה וַיִּשְׂרְפ֥וּ אֹתָ֖ם שָֽׁם׃
English:
the stalwarts among them set out and marched all night; they removed the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan and camehcame Cf. 1 Chron. 10.12 “brought them.” to Jabesh and burned them there.
▶Commentaries (1)
פסוק י״ג · Verse 13
Hebrew:
וַיִּקְחוּ֙ אֶת־עַצְמֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם וַיִּקְבְּר֥וּ תַחַת־הָאֶ֖שֶׁל בְּיָבֵ֑שָׁה וַיָּצֻ֖מוּ שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִֽים׃ {פ}
English:
Then they took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.
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▶Commentaries (1)