(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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1 Samuel 31:1–7, “Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. 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 fell upon it. And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together. 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.”
While David was away retrieving his family and the families of his men, Saul was fighting against the Philistines. The Lord promised Saul that he would die in the battle but Saul was courageous and went to the battle anyway. The Lord kept His promise and Saul was defeated in the battle. It was important, for the Lord’s plan of redemption, that Israel had a godly king for it was through this line that the promised Messiah would eventually come. Saul had proven himself to be unworthy of the task so the Lord ensured that Saul and his sons were all slain in the battle so that there would be little competition for the crown after the transition period. At this stage, the nation was not completely united, even though Saul had been king for a considerable time. (There is considerable debate among scholars as to how long he reigned, between 12 and 42. According to the apostle Paul, who was a trained Jewish scholar [Acts 22: 3], he reigned 40 years [Acts 13: 21]). Saul was an old man but he still commanded the army because he had been chosen for his ability to be a leader in battle, rather than his ability to obey the Lord. Saul didn’t really trust Jonathan, even though Jonathan was a tested warrior (1 Sam 20: 30-34). However during the battle Saul was seriously wounded even though he had taken the best tactical position before the battle started. Jonathan, Saul’s, firstborn and heir, was also killed as were his other two sons. Saul knew that he was going to die but he didn’t want to be captured and taunted by the Philistines because he was a proud man. A defeated king could be expected to be made into a spectacle for the victorious kind to parade. (compare Judg 1: 6, 7) In order to save himself the shame of defeat and the aftermath, Saul decided to take his own life. He asked his armour bearer to kill him but the armour bearer was afraid so Saul fell on his own sword and died. There are many examples of this in history where a person will place their sword under his solar plexus and fall down so that it comes up into his heart. When Saul’s armour bearer saw that Saul was dead, he followed his master’s example. The Philistines saw that they had won the victory and began to take spoil from the battle. A conqueror would happily live in their enemies homes to show that they were indeed victorious and their foes couldn’t do anything about it.
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