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CHAPTER 31
Philistines defeat Israel—Saul hand three sons are slain—Their bodies are retreved by Gileadites and burnt. |
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1 Now the aPhilistines 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 Malchi-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. |
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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 afell
upon ita.
5 And when his armourbearer saw that aSaul 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. |
4a Saul took a sword, and fell upon it Often we do not consider the history of the Israelites in terms of the customs of the east, such as a War Lord killing himself to avoid dishonor and disgrace. But here King Saul of Israel does pretty much the same thing. To aviod the disgrace and dishonor which his captors would heap upon him, he does the 'logical' thing and takes his own life. Even in early American history there are many accounts were rather than be taken by the enemy, the 'heathen savages', the inocent would have their own lifes taken by there own. Suicide is frowned upon by our western socieites of today. Does the circumstance of war and the possible outcomes of certain events make it acceptable? It is not an easy question. What is and is not 'civilization' often hangs in the balance as times and circumstances of war are not the 'supposed norm' of today's modern societies of culture and high values, but Ancient societies were often founded upon war. Israel is not an exception as the Lord commanded them to remove the pagan societies from the promised lands of their inheritance. The warring societies of the past were a common circumstance with which the people lived in. Death and the value of life were not as highly held as in America today. Even today such societies still exist which place the value of a human life as naught in the cause of war. The current war against the 'secret societies' of he terrorist of today is one such example where even children are coerced into fighting and even into suicide bombings of their victums. In today's war the terrorist have all of society as their enemy, the innocent is particularly their targets. Their extremism does but mock what any civilized high society of today values and their design is to force all to be in subjection to them. Certainly Satan is still at work in the world and just perhaps we are not so different from any of the waring societies of the past. | |
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7 ¶ And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were 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.
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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 it in the house of their idols, and among the people. 10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his abody to the wall of Beth-shan. |
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11 ¶ And when the inhabitants of
aJabesh-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 them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. |
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