1 Samuel 31:9
in 1 Samuel 31They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the tidings unto the house of their idols, and to the people.
KJV
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.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 31
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd they cut off his head - It is possible that they cut off the heads of his three sons likewise; for although only his head is said to be cut off, and his body only to be fastened to the walls of Beth-shan, yet we find that the men of Jabesh-gilead found both his body and the bodies of his three sons, fastened to the walls, 1Sa 31:
This site's exposition
came to strip the slain
on 1 Samuel 31:8-10
The Philistines strip Saul as David once stripped Goliath, and cut off his head as David cut off the head of Gath's own champion; the roles have reversed since chapter seventeen, and the head that once stood higher than any man in Israel is carried through Philistine territory as a trophy. Samuel's own text says only the house of their idols; Chronicles names it plainly, that they fastened his head in the temple of Dagon, the same god who had fallen on his face before the ark at Ashdod and now receives Israel's anointed in triumph. The armour goes to the house of Ashtaroth and the body to the wall of Beth-shan, and the cry raised at Shiloh, the glory is departed, reaches its full picture here in a king hung up for a god that could not stand on its own threshold.
This site's exposition
stripped off his armor
Adam Clarke asks whether the sons were beheaded too. Only the head of Saul is named, yet the men of Jabesh-gilead took the bodies of all four from the wall in verse 12. John Wesley reads the news sent to the temples as giving the idols the glory of the victory.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
And they cut off the head of Saul, etc. The corruptors or demons persecuted Judea with the weapons of impiety to such an extent that they completely deprived it of the principal kingdom itself and snatched away the defenses of the sacred law, by which …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Cut off his head - As the Israelites did by Goliath, and fastened it in the temple of Dagon, 1 Chron. x, 10. Idols - To give them the glory of this victory.
There was also a special providence of God, in taking away Jonathan, (who of all Saul's sons, seems to have been the fairest for the crown) for preventing divisions, which might have happened amongst the people concerning the successor: David's way to the crown being by this means made the more clear.
And they cut off his head,....
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיִּכְרְתוּ֙ | vaiyikhretu | and they cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| רֹאשׁ֔וֹ | rosho | head his | H7218 → | 599 times |
| וַיַּפְשִׁ֖יטוּ | vaiyafshitu | and they stripped off | H6584 → | 43 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כֵּלָ֑יו | kelav | armor his | H3627 → | 325 times |
| וַיְשַׁלְּח֨וּ | vayshalechu | and they sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| בְאֶֽרֶץ־ | veeretz- | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| פְּלִשְׁתִּ֜ים | pelishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| סָבִ֗יב | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
| לְבַשֵּׂ֛ר | levaser | to bear [the] news | H1319 → | |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| עֲצַבֵּיהֶ֖ם | ʾatzabeihem | idols their | H6091 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָעָֽם׃ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וַֽיִּכְרְתוּ֙and they cut off
vaiyikhretuH3772 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
רֹאשׁ֔וֹhead his
roshoH7218 →599 times
וַיַּפְשִׁ֖יטוּand they stripped off
vaiyafshituH6584 →43 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כֵּלָ֑יוarmor his
kelavH3627 →325 times
וַיְשַׁלְּח֨וּand they sent
vayshalechuH7971 →845 times
בְאֶֽרֶץ־in [the] land of
veeretz-H776 →2504 times
פְּלִשְׁתִּ֜ים[the] Philistines
pelishtimH6430 →287 times
סָבִ֗יבall around
savivH5439 →336 times
לְבַשֵּׂ֛רto bear [the] news
levaserH1319 →
בֵּ֥ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
עֲצַבֵּיהֶ֖םidols their
ʾatzabeihemH6091 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָעָֽם׃the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
1 Samuel 17:51David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword and pulled it from its sheath and killed him; and he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 21:9
The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want, you may take…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 11:34
quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.
- 2 Samuel 23:21
He also killed an Egyptian, a huge man. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club, snatched the spear from his hand, and killed the Egyptian…
- 1 Samuel 21:9
Through
2 Samuel 1:20Tell it not in Gath; proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
it leads to
- Micah 1:10
Do not tell it in Gath; do not weep at all. Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.
- 1 Samuel 18:6
As the troops were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and…
- Judges 11:34
And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.
- Exodus 15:20–21
Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.
- Micah 1:10
Through
1 Samuel 17:54David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
it leads to
- Exodus 16:33
So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.”
- Exodus 16:33
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.