Study notes

1 Samuel 31

Introducing 1 SamuelWho wrote it, when, why, and what to look for as you read

27:1–31:13 Section

David and his men weren’t safe in Israel. A Philistine king gave them a town to live in. It was very hard for David not to live among the Israelites. Not being allowed to live in Israel was one of the covenant curses. Yet David was always faithful to God and worshipped only God.

Then the Amalekites destroyed David’s town. They captured David’s families’ and the families of his men. David and his soldiers were very sad and bitter about this. God helped them to get their families and belongings back. That happened while the Philistines went to attack the Israelites.

Saul was very afraid of the Philistine army. He tried to receive advice from God through dreams, prophets and casting lots. But he had refused to believe the words God had already told him through Samuel. Then he asked for help from a woman who was a medium. This means that she talked to spirits. She talked to the spiritual part of people whose bodies had died.

Samuel’s spirit told Saul the same things Samuel had told Saul before. Saul’s family line would no longer rule as kings. Saul, Jonathan and two of Saul’s other sons died in the battle against the Philistines. David was far away and wasn’t guilty of Saul’s death. After Saul died, the people of Jabesh Gilead honoured his body. They were the people Saul had rescued in his first battle as king.

31:1

  • The Israelites fled southeast from the Valley of Jezreel (1 Samuel 29:1) to higher and hillier areas. With their chariots, the Philistines had the advantage in the more level valley.

  • Mount Gilboa is southwest of the Sea of Galilee, far from the territory of the Philistines.

31:1–13

While David was in the south successfully fighting the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30), Saul was in the north unsuccessfully fighting the Philistines.

31:4

  • David had earlier served as an armor bearer (a personal assistant who carried a soldier’s weapons) to Saul (1 Samuel 16:21).

  • run me through: This is one of many similarities between the death of Abimelech during the time of the judges (Judges 9) and Saul, Israel’s first national king (see Judges 9:54). In both stories, a wounded leader asks someone else to kill him rather than die in shame.

31:8

After a victory, the army would remove items from the dead. They searched the bodies for anything valuable, such as clothing, weapons, or jewelry.

31:9

In the ancient world, people saw the death of an enemy king as good news. They believed it meant that the enemy’s god had been defeated. The Philistines did not realize that their victory would not last and would bring them no real gain. David, the Lord’s true anointed king, would soon come to power and defeat the Philistines. Instead of defeating Israel’s God, the Philistines were unknowingly carrying out his purpose.

31:11

The people of Jabesh-gilead were repaying a kindness. Earlier, Saul had rescued them from the Ammonites and their king Nahash (1 Samuel 11:1–13). Jabesh-gilead was about nineteen kilometers (twelve miles) southeast of Beth-shan. It lay across the Jordan River.

31:12

burned the bodies: Cremation was uncommon in the ancient world. The bodies may have been burned because decomposition had already begun.

31:13

  • bones … Jabesh: This was not where Saul's remains were finally laid to rest (see 2 Samuel 21:12–14).

  • The end of 1 Samuel returns Israel's history to the time at the end of Judges, when “Israel had no king.” The Philistines were in control again. David had God’s anointing but no crown. He had wives but no sons. His connection with the hated Philistines may have put his standing with his own people at risk. David's future would be difficult. Still, it was clear that God was with him.

Verse notes: Adapted by Mission Mutual (Aquifer Open Study Notes) from Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. CC BY-SA 4.0. Section notes: Biblica Study Notes © 2023 Biblica, Inc. CC BY-SA 4.0, via BibleAquifer. About the sources