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1 Samuel 31:7

in 1 Samuel 31

When the Israelites along the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were beyond the 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.

KJV

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.

This verse in 1 Samuel 31

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
The men on the other side of the valley - This must mean to the north of the plain of Jezreel, and would comprise the tribe of Naphtali, and Zabulon, and probably Issachar. But the text of 1Ch 10:7 has “that were in the valley,” limiting the statement to the inhabitants of the plain of Jezreel. On the other side Jordan - This phrase most commonly means on the east of Jordan, the speaker being supposed to be on the west side. But it is also used of the west of Jordan, as here, if the text be sound.

This site's exposition

they forsook the cities, and fled

The defeat at Gilboa reaches past the battlefield: towns across the valley and beyond the Jordan empty rather than face a Philistine army with no king and no standing force left to answer it, and the Philistines settle into cities Joshua's conquest had won. Barnes locates the abandoned country in the north, the ground of Naphtali, Zebulun and Issachar, held by the tribes since the conquest itself. One lost battle undoes what generations had kept, the practical cost of the manner of a king Samuel had catalogued back at chapter eight.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

But the men of Israel saw, etc. Seeing, however, certain unlearned and ignorant of the true remedies of humility and the salutary washing of baptism, the learned in Judea, their own teachers, being defeated in the spiritual contest by the triumph of sin, and also …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

They had still done wickedly (it is to be feared) as well as he, and therefore were consumed both they and their king, as the prophet had foretold concerning them, ch. xii. And to this reference is had long after. 10, 11 , " Where are thy saviours in all thy cities, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

And which the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

They consecrated the armor of the king and his sons to the temple of Ashtaroth fastened their bodies on the temple of Shen, while they fixed the royal heads ignominiously in the temple of Dagon (1Ch 10:10); thus dividing the glory among their several deities.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley - They appear to have been panic-struck, and therefore fled as far as they could out of the reach of the Philistines. As the Philistines possessed Beth-shan, situated near to Jordan, the people on the other side of that river, fearing for their safety, fled also.

The words behind it

25 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.

  • וַיִּרְא֣וּand they saw

    vaiyiruH72001300 times

  • אַנְשֵֽׁי־[the] men of

    ʾanshei-H582566 times

  • יִ֠שְׂרָאֵלIsrael

    yisraelH34782507 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־who

    ʾasher-H8345497 times

  • בְּעֵ֨בֶר[were] on [the] other side of

    beeverH567690 times

  • הָעֵ֜מֶקthe valley

    haemekH601069 times

  • וַאֲשֶׁ֣ר׀and who

    vaasherH8345497 times

  • בְּעֵ֣בֶר[were] on [the] other side of

    beeverH567690 times

  • הַיַּרְדֵּ֗ןthe Jordan

    haiyardenH3383

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H35884482 times

  • נָ֙סוּ֙they had fled

    nasuH5127159 times

  • אַנְשֵׁ֣י[the] men of

    ʾansheiH582566 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH34782507 times

  • וְכִי־and that

    vekhi-H35884482 times

  • מֵ֖תוּthey had died

    metuH4191839 times

  • שָׁא֣וּלSaul

    shaulH7586402 times

  • וּבָנָ֑יוand sons his

    uvanavH11214930 times

  • וַיַּעַזְב֤וּand they abandoned

    vaiyaazvuH5800215 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • הֶֽעָרִים֙the cities

    hearimH58921090 times

  • וַיָּנֻ֔סוּand they fled

    vaiyanusuH5127159 times

  • וַיָּבֹ֣אוּand they came

    vaiyavouH9352568 times

  • פְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים[the] Philistines

    felishtimH6430287 times

  • וַיֵּֽשְׁב֖וּand they dwelt

    vaiyeshevuH34271079 times

  • בָּהֶֽן׃ סin <the> them

    bahen

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

The walk

8 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

    Judges 6:2

    and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 11:38

      The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Samuel 13:6

      Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.

  • Through

    Leviticus 26:36

    As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to…

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 26:17

      And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Ezekiel 21:7

      And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and…

    • Isaiah 30:17

      A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a…

  • Through

    Leviticus 26:32

    And I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who dwell in it will be appalled.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 9:11

      “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”

    • Jeremiah 19:8

      I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 13:6

    Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.

    it leads to

    • Judges 6:2

      and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.

About 1 Samuel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.