1 Samuel 34

The Death of Saul, 1-13

31:1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. The men of Israel fled from the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa. 31:2 The Philistines stayed right on the heels of Saul and his sons. They struck down Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. 31:3 Saul himself was in the thick of the battle; the archers spotted him and wounded him severely.
31:4 Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and stab me with it! Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come, stab me, and torture me.” But his armor bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. 31:5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him. 31:6 So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men died together that day.
How did King Saul die?

According to 1 Samuel 34:1-14, Saul asked his armor-bearer to kill him, but the armor-bearer refused, and so Saul fell on his own sword and committed suicide.

However in 2 Samuel 1:1-10 an Amalekite claims to have killed Saul, at his (Saul’s) request.

What should we make of this discrepancy?

Some, such as Ackroyd, think that the two accounts represent two incompatible ‘traditions’ concerning Saul’s death.

Others, such as Brueggemann, are unwilling to adjudicate on the relative historicity of the two accounts.

This leaves two main approaches:

1. It may be that the young man is telling the truth.  Saul did indeed fall on his sword, but he did not die instantaneously.  The young man ‘finished him off’ – as this passage says.

Baldwin cites Mauchline (without agreement),

‘who thinks that the Amalekite’s narrative rings true, and regards David as blameworthy for disregarding the man’s “honourable motives and humanitarian considerations”.’

This is also the view of Bergen, who adds that this account, among other things

‘clears David of any suspicions that may have been aroused by his possession of Saul’s royal jewelry. David acquired them not by participating in the battle against Saul but by executing Saul’s killer.’

2. It may be that the young man is lying.  Rather than ‘just happening’ to find himself in the middle of a battle (v6), he was robbing corpses on the battlefield.  Coming across Saul’s dead body, he took the crown and bracelet.  He thought to find favour with David by claiming to have killed Saul.

Evans (UBCS) notes the discrepancies in the young Amalekite’s story:

‘Any person associated with the Israelite army who had been standing next to Saul with the chariots and riders almost upon him would not have avoided death. Nor does the Amalekite’s story explain how he could have been sure of the death of Jonathan. The writers probably are well aware of this deception and include the discrepancies to make the Amalekite’s lie clear to the reader.’

Either way, it looks as though the Amalekite wanted to endear himself to David by claiming to have killed David’s bitter enemy.  In this, he was sadly, and fatally, disappointed.

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31:7 When the men of Israel who were in the valley and across the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. The Philistines came and occupied them.
31:8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. 31:9 They cut off Saul’s head and stripped him of his armor. They sent messengers to announce the news in the temple of their idols and among their people throughout the surrounding land of the Philistines. 31:10 They placed Saul’s armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his corpse on the city wall of Beth Shan.
31:11 When the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 31:12 all their warriors set out and traveled throughout the night. They took Saul’s corpse and the corpses of his sons from the city wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. 31:13 They took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh; then they fasted for seven days.
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