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1 Samuel 31:11

in 1 Samuel 31

When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard concerning him that which the Philistines had done to Saul,

KJV

And when the inhabitants of Jabesh–gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;

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This verse in 1 Samuel 31

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
And the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead,.... Who lived on the other side Jordan, about eight miles from Bethshan, according to Fuller (p): heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; not only that they had got the victory over him, and routed his army, but had abused his body, and hung it up by way of reproach and ignominy; which they could not bear to hear of, remembering with gratitude the kindness he had shown to them, in delivering them out of the hands of Nahash the Ammonite, 1Sa 11:1. (p) Pisgah-Sight of Palestine, b.

This site's exposition

heard of that which the Philistines had done

on 1 Samuel 31:11-13

Jabesh-gilead is the one city in the book with a debt to Saul, delivered from Nahash the Ammonite and the threat of a gouged right eye in the first act of his reign, and it becomes the one place that pays a kindness back in full. Its valiant men march all night to take Saul and his sons down from the wall of Beth-shan, an open defiance of the army now settled in the land, then burn the bodies already corrupted by the heat and the days on the wall, bury the bones under a tamarisk, and fast seven days, the length Israel had once kept for Jacob. Samuel's history opens with Saul's finest hour, delivering a besieged city; it closes with that city delivering him, the one unbroken act of gratitude the book records.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

on 1 Samuel 31:11-13

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.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
When the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead heard ... - See 1Sa 11:1-15. This is a touching and rare example of national gratitude.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

About him. Meaning the same as עָלָיו [about him], i.e., about Shaul.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Samuel 31:11:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And burned them there. [Targum renders,] "And they burned for them. I.e., they burned incense to cover the odor and prevent the decay of the bodies.—Radak as they burn for the kings there.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Samuel 31:12:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּשְׁמְע֣וּand they heard

    vaiyishmeuH8085 →1159 times

  • אֵלָ֔יוconcerning him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • יֹשְׁבֵ֖י[the] inhabitants of

    yosheveiH3427 →1079 times

  • יָבֵ֣ישׁJabesh

    yaveishH3003 →24 times

  • גִּלְעָ֑דGilead

    giladH1568 →134 times

  • אֵ֛ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־[that] which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • עָשׂ֥וּthey had done

    ʾasuH6213 →2628 times

  • פְלִשְׁתִּ֖ים[the] Philistines

    felishtimH6430 →287 times

  • לְשָׁאֽוּל׃to Saul

    leshaulH7586 →402 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

2 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 2:4

    Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 5:5

      In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

    • 1 Samuel 31:11–13

      When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

    • 2 Samuel 5:3

      So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel.

    • 1 Chronicles 11:3

      So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where David made a covenant with them before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel, according to the word of…

    • 1 Samuel 16:13

      So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and…

About 1 Samuel

The Death of Saul — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Death of Saul — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
1 Samuel: the study guide →Read 1 Samuel 31 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 31 →