mh_parser/vol_split/9 - 1Samuel/Chapter 31.xml

<div2 id="iSam.xxxii" n="xxxii" next="iiSam" prev="iSam.xxxi" progress="39.06%" title="Chapter XXXI">
<h2 id="iSam.xxxii-p0.1">F I R S T   S A M U E L</h2>
<h3 id="iSam.xxxii-p0.2">CHAP. XXXI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iSam.xxxii-p1">In the foregoing chapter we had David conquering,
yea, more than a conqueror. In this chapter we have Saul conquered
and worse than a captive. Providence ordered it that both these
things should be doing just at the same time. The very same day;
perhaps, that David was triumphing over the Amalekites, were the
Philistines triumphing over Saul. One is set over against the
other, that men may see what comes of trusting in God and what
comes of forsaking him. We left Saul ready to engage the
Philistines, with a shaking hand and an aching heart, having had
his doom read him from hell, which he would not regard when it was
read him from heaven. Let us now see what becomes of him. Here is,
I. His army routed, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.1" parsed="|1Sam|31|1|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:1">ver. 1</scripRef>.
II. His three sons slain, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.2" parsed="|1Sam|31|2|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:2">ver.
2</scripRef>. III. Himself wounded (<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.3" parsed="|1Sam|31|3|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:3">ver. 3</scripRef>), and slain by his own hand, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.4" parsed="|1Sam|31|4|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:4">ver. 4</scripRef>. The death of his
armour-bearer (<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.5" parsed="|1Sam|31|5|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:5">ver. 5</scripRef>) and
all his men, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.6" parsed="|1Sam|31|6|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:6">ver. 6</scripRef>. IV.
His country possessed by the Philistines, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.7" parsed="|1Sam|31|7|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:7">ver. 7</scripRef>. His camp plundered, and his dead body
deserted, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.8" parsed="|1Sam|31|8|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:8">ver. 8</scripRef>. His fall
triumphed in, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.9" parsed="|1Sam|31|9|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:9">ver. 9</scripRef>. His
body publicly exposed (<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.10" parsed="|1Sam|31|10|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:10">ver.
10</scripRef>) and with difficulty rescued by the men of
Jabesh-Gilead, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.11-1Sam.31.13" parsed="|1Sam|31|11|31|13" passage="1Sa 31:11-13">ver.
11-13</scripRef>. Thus fell the man that was rejected of God.</p>
<scripCom id="iSam.xxxii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31" parsed="|1Sam|31|0|0|0" passage="1Sa 31" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iSam.xxxii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.1-1Sam.31.7" parsed="|1Sam|31|1|31|7" passage="1Sa 31:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Sam.31.1-1Sam.31.7">
<h4 id="iSam.xxxii-p1.14">The Death of Saul. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.xxxii-p1.15">b. c.</span> 1055.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iSam.xxxii-p2">1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and
the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down
slain in mount Gilboa.   2 And the Philistines followed hard
upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and
Abinadab, and Melchi-shua, Saul's sons.   3 And the battle
went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore
wounded of the archers.   4 Then said Saul unto his
armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest
these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But
his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul
took a sword, and fell upon it.   5 And when his armourbearer
saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died
with him.   6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his
armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.   7 And
when the men of Israel that <i>were</i> on the other side of the
valley, and <i>they</i> that <i>were</i> on the other side Jordan,
saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were
dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came
and dwelt in them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.xxxii-p3">The day of recompence has now come, in
which Saul must account for the blood of the Amalekites which he
had sinfully spared, and that of the priests which he had more
sinfully spilt; that of David too, which he would have spilt, must
come into the account. Now his day has come to fall, as David
foresaw, when he should descend into battle and perish, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.26.10" parsed="|1Sam|26|10|0|0" passage="1Sa 26:10"><i>ch.</i> xxvi. 10</scripRef>. Come and see
the <i>righteous judgments of God.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.xxxii-p4">I. He sees his soldiers fall about him,
<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.1" parsed="|1Sam|31|1|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. Whether the
Philistines were more numerous, better posted, and better led on,
or what other advantages they had, we are not told; but it seems
they were more vigorous, for they made the onset; they fought
against Israel, and the Israelites fled and fell. The best of the
troops were put into disorder, and multitudes slain, probably those
whom Saul had employed in pursuing David. Thus those who had
followed him and served him in his sin went before him in his fall
and shared with him in his plagues.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.xxxii-p5">II. He sees his sons fall before him. The
victorious Philistines pressed most forcibly upon the king of
Israel and those about him. His three sons were next him, it is
probable, and they were all three slain before his face, to his
great grief (for they were the hopes of his family) and to his
great terror, for they were now the guard of his person, and he
could conclude no other than that his own turn would come next. His
sons are named (<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.2" parsed="|1Sam|31|2|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), and it grieves us to find Jonathan among them: that
wise, valiant, good man, who was as much David's friend as Saul was
his enemy, yet falls with the rest. Duty to his father would not
permit him to stay at home, or to retire when the armies engaged;
and Providence so orders it that he falls in the common fate of his
family, though he never involved himself in the guilt of it; so
that the observation of Eliphaz does not hold (<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.7" parsed="|Job|4|7|0|0" passage="Job 4:7">Job iv. 7</scripRef>), <i>Who ever perished being
innocent?</i> For here was one. What shall we say to it? 1. God
would hereby complete the vexation of Saul in his dying moments,
and the judgment that was to be executed upon his house. If the
family must fall, Jonathan, that is one of it, must fall with it.
2. He would hereby make David's way to the crown the more clear and
open. For, though Jonathan himself would have cheerfully resigned
all his title and interest to him (we have no reason to suspect any
other), yet it is very probable that many of the people would have
made use of his name for the support of the house of Saul, or at
least would have come in but slowly to David. If Ish-bosheth (who
was now left at home as one unfit for action, and so escaped) had
so many friends, what would Jonathan have had, who had been the
darling of the people and had never forfeited their favour? Those
that were so anxious to have a king like the nations would be
zealous for the right line, especially if that threw the crown upon
such a head as Jonathan's. This would have embarrassed David; and,
if Jonathan could have prevailed to bring in all his interest to
David, then it would have been said that Jonathan had made him
king, whereas God was to have all the glory. <i>This is the Lord's
doing.</i> So that though the death of Jonathan would be a great
affliction to David, yet, by making him mindful of his own frailty,
as well as by facilitating his accession to the throne, it would be
an advantage to him. 3. God would hereby show us that the
difference between good and bad is to be made in the other world,
not in this. <i>All things come alike to all.</i> We cannot judge
of the spiritual or eternal state of any by the manner of their
death; for in that <i>there is one event to the righteous and to
the wicked.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.xxxii-p6">III. He himself is sorely wounded by the
Philistines and then slain by his own hand. The archers hit him
(<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.3" parsed="|1Sam|31|3|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), so that he
could neither fight nor fly, and therefore must inevitably fall
into their hands. Thus, to make him the more miserable, destruction
comes gradually upon him, and he dies so as to feel himself die. To
such an extremity was he now reduced that, 1. He was desirous to
die by the hand of his own servant rather than by the hand of the
Philistines, lest they should abuse him as they had abused Samson.
Miserable man! He finds himself dying, and all his care is to keep
his body out of the hands of the Philistines, instead of being
solicitous to resign his soul into the hands of God who gave it,
<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.7" parsed="|Eccl|12|7|0|0" passage="Ec 12:7">Eccl. xii. 7</scripRef>. As he lived,
so he died, proud and jealous, and a terror to himself and all
about him. Those who rightly understand the matter think it of
small account, in comparison, how it is with them in death, so it
may but be well with them after death. Those are in a deplorable
condition indeed who, being <i>bitter in soul, long for death, but
it cometh not</i> (<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.3.20-Job.3.21" parsed="|Job|3|20|3|21" passage="Job 3:20,21">Job iii. 20,
21</scripRef>), especially those who, despairing of the mercy of
God, like Judas, leap into a hell before them, to escape a hell
within them. 2. When he could not obtain that favour he became his
own executioner, thinking hereby to avoid shame, but running upon a
heinous sin, and with it entailing upon his own name a mark of
perpetual infamy, as <i>felo de se—a self-murderer.</i> Jonathan,
who received his death-wound from the hand of the Philistines and
bravely yielded to the fate of war, died on the bed of honour; but
Saul died as a fool dieth, as a coward dieth—a proud fool, a
sneaking coward; he died as a man that had neither the fear of God
nor hope in God, neither the reason of a man nor the religion of an
Israelite, much less the dignity of a prince or the resolution of a
soldier. Let us all pray, <i>Lord, lead us not into temptation,</i>
this temptation. His armour-bearer would not run him through, and
he did well to refuse it; for no man's servant ought to be a slave
to his master's lusts or passions of any kind. The reason given is
that <i>he was sorely afraid,</i> not of death, for he himself ran
wilfully upon that immediately; but, having a profound reverence
for the king his master, he could not conquer that so far as to do
him any hurt; or perhaps he feared lest his trembling hand should
give him but half a blow, and so put him to the greater misery.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.xxxii-p7">IV. His armour-bearer who refused to kill
him refused not to die with him, but <i>fell likewise upon his
sword,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.5" parsed="|1Sam|31|5|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>.
This was an aggravating circumstance of the death of Saul, that, by
the example of his wickedness in murdering himself, he drew in his
servant to be guilty of the same wickedness, and <i>perished not
alone in his iniquity.</i> The Jews say that Saul's armour-bearer
was Doeg, whom he preferred to that dignity for killing the
priests, and, if so, justly does his <i>violent dealing return on
his own head.</i> David had foretold concerning him that God would
<i>destroy him for ever,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.52.5" parsed="|Ps|52|5|0|0" passage="Ps 52:5">Ps. lii.
5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.xxxii-p8">V. The country was put into such confusion
by the rout of Saul's army that the inhabitants of the neighbouring
cities (<i>on that side Jordan,</i> as it might be read) quitted
them, and the Philistines, for a time, had possession of them, till
things were settled in Israel (<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.7" parsed="|1Sam|31|7|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), to such a sad pass had Saul by
his wickedness brought his country, which might have remained in
the hands of the uncircumcised if David had not been raised up to
repair the breaches of it. See what a king he proved for whom they
rejected God and Samuel. They had still done wickedly (it is to be
feared) as well as he, and therefore <i>were consumed both they and
their king,</i> as the prophet had foretold concerning them,
<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.12.25" parsed="|1Sam|12|25|0|0" passage="1Sa 12:25"><i>ch.</i> xii. 25</scripRef>. And to
this reference is had long after. <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.13.10-Hos.13.11" parsed="|Hos|13|10|13|11" passage="Ho 13:10,11">Hos. xiii. 10, 11</scripRef>, "<i>Where are thy
saviours in all thy cities, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and
princes? I gave thee a king in my anger, and took him away in my
wrath;</i> that is, he was a plague to thee living and dying; thou
couldst expect no other."</p>
</div><scripCom id="iSam.xxxii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.8-1Sam.31.13" parsed="|1Sam|31|8|31|13" passage="1Sa 31:8-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Sam.31.8-1Sam.31.13">
<h4 id="iSam.xxxii-p8.5">The Disposal of Saul's Body. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.xxxii-p8.6">b. c.</span> 1055.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iSam.xxxii-p9">8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the
Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his
three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.   9 And they cut off his
head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the
Philistines round about, to publish <i>it in</i> the house of their
idols, and among the people.   10 And they put his armour in
the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of
Beth-shan.   11 And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead
heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;   12 All
the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of
Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and
came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.   13 And they took their
bones, and buried <i>them</i> under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted
seven days.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.xxxii-p10">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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.xxxii-p11">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, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.8" parsed="|1Sam|31|8|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Saul's armour-bearer perhaps
intended to honour his master by following the example of his
self-murder, and to show thereby how well he loved him; but, if he
had consulted his reason more than his passions, he would have
spared that foolish compliment, not only in justice to his own
life, but in kindness to his master, to whom, by the opportunity of
survivorship, he might have done all the service that could be done
him by any man after he was dead; for he might, in the night, have
conveyed away his body, and those of his sons, and buried them
decently. But such false and foolish notions these vain men have
(though they would be wise) of giving and receiving honour. Nay, it
should seem, Saul might have saved himself the fatal thrust and
have made his escape: for the pursuers (in fear of whom he slew
himself) came not to the place where he was till the next day. But
whom God will destroy he infatuates and utterly <i>consumes with
his terrors.</i> See <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.18.5-Job.18.21" parsed="|Job|18|5|18|21" passage="Job 18:5-21">Job xviii.
5</scripRef>, &amp;c. Finding Saul's body (which now that it lay
extended on the bloody turf was distinguishable from the rest by
its length, as it was, while erect, by its height, when he proudly
overlooked the surrounding crowd), they will, in that, triumph over
Israel's crown, and meanly gratify a barbarous and brutish revenge
by insulting the deserted corpse, which, when alive, they had stood
in awe of. 1. They cut off his head. Had they designed in this to
revenge the cutting off of Goliath's head they would rather have
cut off the head of David, who did that execution, when he was in
their country. They intended it, in general, for a reproach to
Israel, who promised themselves that a crowned and an anointed head
would save them from the Philistines, and a particular reproach to
Saul, who was taller by the head than other men (which perhaps he
was wont to boast of), but was now shorter by the head. 2. They
stripped him of his armour (<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.9" parsed="|1Sam|31|9|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>), and sent that to be set up as a trophy of their
victory, in the house of Ashtaroth their goddess (<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.10" parsed="|1Sam|31|10|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>); and we are told,
<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.10.10" parsed="|1Chr|10|10|0|0" passage="1Ch 10:10">1 Chron. x. 10</scripRef> (though it
is omitted here), that they fastened his head in the temple of
Dagon. Thus did they ascribe the honour of their victory, not as
they ought to have done to the real justice of the true God, but to
the imaginary power of their false gods, and by this respect paid
to pretended deities shame those who give not the praise of their
achievements to the living God. Ashtaroth, the idol that Israel had
many a time gone a whoring after, now triumphs over them. 3. They
sent expresses throughout their country, and ordered public notice
to be given in the houses of their gods of the victory they had
obtained (<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.9" parsed="|1Sam|31|9|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>),
that public rejoicings might be made and thanks given to their
gods. This David regretted sorely, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.1.20" parsed="|2Sam|1|20|0|0" passage="2Sa 1:20">2
Sam. i. 20</scripRef>. <i>Tell it not in Gath.</i> 4. They fastened
his body and the bodies of his sons (as appears, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p11.8" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.12" parsed="|1Sam|31|12|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>) to the wall of
<i>Beth-shan,</i> a city that lay not far from Gilboa and very near
to the river Jordan. Hither the dead bodies were dragged and here
hung up in chains, to be devoured by the birds of prey. Saul slew
himself to avoid being abused by the Philistines, and never was
royal corpse so abused as his was, perhaps the more if they
understood that he slew himself for that reason. He that thinks to
save his honour by sin will certainly lose it. See to what a height
of insolence the Philistines had arrived just before David was
raised up, who perfectly subdued them. Now that they had slain Saul
and his sons they thought the land of Israel was their own for
ever, but they soon found themselves deceived. When God has
accomplished his whole work by them he will accomplish it upon
them. See <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p11.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.6-Isa.10.7" parsed="|Isa|10|6|10|7" passage="Isa 10:6,7">Isa. x. 6,
7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.xxxii-p12">II. How they were bravely rescued by the
men of Jabesh-Gilead. Little more than the river Jordan lay between
Beth-shan and Jabesh-Gilead, and Jordan was in that place passable
by its fords; a bold adventure was therefore made by the valiant
men of that city, who in the night passed the river, took down the
dead bodies, and gave them decent burial, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.11 Bible:1Sam.31.13" parsed="|1Sam|31|11|0|0;|1Sam|31|13|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:11,13"><i>v.</i> 11, 13</scripRef>. This they did, 1. Out
of a common concern for the honour of Israel, or the land of
Israel, which ought not to be defiled by the exposing of any dead
bodies, and especially of the crown of Israel, which was thus
profaned by the uncircumcised. 2. Out of a particular sense of
gratitude to Saul, for his zeal and forwardness to rescue them from
the Ammonites when he first came to the throne, <scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.11.1-1Sam.11.27" parsed="|1Sam|11|1|11|27" passage="1Sa 11:1-27"><i>ch.</i> xi.</scripRef> It is an evidence of a
generous spirit and an encouragement to beneficence when the
remembrance of kindnesses is thus retained, and they are thus
returned in an extremity. The men of Jabesh-Gilead would have done
Saul better service if they had sent their valiant men to him
sooner, to strengthen him against the Philistines. But his day had
come to fall, and now this is all the service they can do him, in
honour to his memory. We find not that any general mourning was
made for the death of Saul, as was for the death of Samuel
(<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.25.1" parsed="|1Sam|25|1|0|0" passage="1Sa 25:1"><i>ch.</i> xxv. 1</scripRef>), only
those Gileadites of Jabesh did him honour at his death; for, (1.)
They made a burning for the bodies, to perfume them. So some
understand the burning of them. They burnt spices over them,
<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.31.12" parsed="|1Sam|31|12|0|0" passage="1Sa 31:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. And that it
was usual thus to do honour to their deceased friends, at least
their princes, appears by the account of Asa's funeral (<scripRef id="iSam.xxxii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.16.14" parsed="|2Chr|16|14|0|0" passage="2Ch 16:14">2 Chron. xvi. 14</scripRef>), that <i>they made
a very great burning for him.</i> Or (as some think) they burnt the
flesh, because it began to putrefy. (2.) They buried the bodies,
when, by burning over them, they had sweetened them (or, if they
burnt them, they buried the bones and ashes), under a tree, which
served for a grave-stone and monument. And, (3.) They <i>fasted
seven days,</i> that is, each day of the seven they fasted till the
evening; thus they lamented the death of Saul and the present
distracted state of Israel, and perhaps joined prayers with their
fasting for the re-establishment of their shattered state. Though,
<i>when the wicked perish there is shouting</i> (that is, it is to
be hoped a better state of things will ensue, which will be matter
of joy), yet humanity obliges us to show a decent respect to dead
bodies, especially those of princes.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.xxxii-p13">This book began with the birth of Samuel,
but now it ends with the burial of Saul, the comparing of which two
together will teach us to prefer the honour that comes from God
before any of the honours which this world pretends to have the
disposal of.</p>
</div></div2>