Why does the chapter say Saul died and his kingdom passed to David?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

It says Saul broke the Lord’s commandment, consulted a witch and did not trust in the Lord; therefore the Lord slew him and transferred the kingdom to David, son of Isai.

Chapter breakdown

The chapter records Saul’s death, the burial by Jabes’s men and the stated reasons for the loss of his kingdom.

The Philistines fought Israel. Israel’s men fled and fell wounded on mount Gelboe. Pursuing Saul and his sons, the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab and Melchisua. The fighting grew hard against Saul, and archers reached him and wounded him with arrows.

Saul told his armourbearer to draw his sword and kill him so that the uncircumcised would not come and mock him. The armourbearer refused because he was struck with fear. Saul took his sword and fell on it. When the armourbearer saw Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died. Saul and his three sons died, and all his house fell together.

Israel’s men living in the plains saw what had happened and fled. With Saul and his sons dead, they abandoned their cities and scattered. The Philistines came and lived in those cities.

The next day, while taking spoils from the dead, the Philistines found Saul and his sons on mount Gelboe. They stripped Saul, cut off his head and took his armour. They sent it into their land to be carried about and shown in the idol temples and to the people. They dedicated his armour in their god’s temple and fastened his head in Dagon’s temple.

When the men of Jabes Galaad heard everything the Philistines had done to Saul, all their valiant men arose. They took the bodies of Saul and his sons to Jabes, buried their bones under the oak there and fasted seven days.

The chapter says Saul died for his iniquities: he broke the Lord’s commandment and did not keep it, consulted a witch and did not trust in the Lord. It therefore says the Lord slew him and transferred his kingdom to David, son of Isai.

The story inside

The account moves from battle to the consequences of Saul’s death. His sons are killed and he is wounded. His request to the armourbearer has a stated reason: avoiding mockery by the uncircumcised. Fear keeps the armourbearer from obeying, and Saul falls on his own sword; the armourbearer follows only after seeing Saul dead. The people in the plains then abandon their cities, which the Philistines occupy. The enemy’s treatment of Saul’s remains brings a response from Jabes Galaad: its valiant men recover the bodies, bury the bones and fast. The ending supplies the chapter’s explanation of Saul’s death and the kingdom’s transfer. That explanation belongs to this account of Saul; the text does not turn it into a prediction about every ruler.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The sequence of the two deaths matters. Saul asks to be killed to avoid mockery; the armourbearer refuses from fear. Saul falls on his sword, and the armourbearer does the same after seeing Saul dead. The account does not describe simultaneous deaths or add an unstated motive to the armourbearer’s final action.
2
The loss reaches the cities as well as Saul’s household. The people in the plains see the defeat and flee, abandoning their cities after Saul and his sons die. The Philistines occupy them. The next day’s stripping of Saul, display of his armour and fastening of his head are separate actions with their own stated timing and places.
3
Jabes’s burial and the ending’s explanation remain distinct. The men hear what happened, recover the bodies, bury the bones under the oak and fast seven days. The source supplies no gratitude motive or account of a dangerous expedition. The final verses explicitly name Saul’s broken commandment, consultation of a witch and failure to trust the Lord.

Test your recall

Philistine pursuit → three sons killed and Saul wounded. Saul wants to avoid mockery → he asks his armourbearer to kill him. The armourbearer fears and refuses → Saul falls on his sword. Seeing Saul dead → the armourbearer also dies. The people flee → Philistines occupy their cities. Jabes hears what was done → its men recover and bury the remains and fast seven days. Saul’s stated transgressions and lack of trust → the account attributes his death and the kingdom’s transfer to the Lord.

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 42411–42414
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 10 Saul is slain for his sins: he is buried by the men of Jabes.
Lines 42415–42423
10:1. Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down wounded in mount Gelboe. 10:2. And the Philistines drew near pursuing after Saul, and his sons, and they killed Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchisua the sons of Saul. 10:3. And the battle grew hard against Saul and the archers reached him, and wounded him with arrows.
Lines 42425–42434
10:4. And Saul said to his armourbearer: Draw thy sword, and kill me: lest these uncircumcised come, and mock me. But his armourbearer would not, for he was struck with fear: so Saul took his sword, and fell upon it. 10:5. And when his armourbearer saw it, to wit, that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died. 10:6. So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house fell together.
Lines 42436–42439
10:7. And when the men of Israel, that dwelt in the plains, saw this, they fled: and Saul and his sons being dead, they forsook their cities, and were scattered up and down: and the Philistines came, and dwelt in them.
Lines 42441–42449
10:8. And the next day the Philistines taking away the spoils of them that were slain, found Saul and his sons lying on mount Gelboe. 10:9. And when they had stripped him, and cut off his head, and taken away his armour, they sent it into their land, to be carried about, and shewn in the temples of the idols and to the people. 10:10. And his armour they dedicated in the temple of their god, and his head they fastened up in the temple of Dagon.
Lines 42451–42456
10:11. And when the men of Jabes Galaad had heard this, to wit, all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 10:12. All the valiant men of them arose, and took the bodies of Saul and of his sons, and brought them to Jabes, and buried their bones under the oak that was in Jabes, and they fasted seven days.
Lines 42458–42465
10:13. So Saul died for his iniquities, because he transgressed the commandment of the Lord, which he had commanded, and kept it not: and moreover consulted also a witch, 10:14. And trusted not in the Lord: therefore he slew him, and transferred his kingdom to David the son of Isai.