UNROLL
Evening after the battle, seen from the foot of Mount Gilboa: the long bare limestone ridge dark against a fading sky, its slopes stony with wild grass and dry thistles, the wide Jezreel valley empty and still in long shadows.

The Book of

1 Chronicles 10

Saul’s whole reign in one chapter: its end, and why.

14 verses≈ 3 min3 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

Tap any post to go deeper

In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–9GenealogiesAll Israel, from Adam
  2. 10Saul fallsThe kingdom turned to DavidChapter 10
  3. 11–12David kingAll Israel gathers
  4. 13–16The arkBrought home with songs
  5. 17The covenantA house forever
  6. 18–20David's warsThe LORD gave victory
  7. 21The siteOrnan's threshing floor
  8. 22–27Preparing the templePriests, Levites and singers
  9. 28–29David's farewellBe strong, and do the work

Saul’s Overthrow and Death

Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him.

Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died. So Saul died together with his three sons and all his house.

The Philistines Possess the Towns

When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army 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.

The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They stripped Saul, cut off his head, took his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon.

Reflect

Who do you ask first?

Saul turned to a medium and did not seek the LORD. When you are afraid or out of answers, where do you turn first? Write down one decision in front of you, and bring it to God before you bring it to anyone else.

Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul

Mount GilboaJezreel ValleyJordan RiverJabesh-gilead (site uncertain)

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Gilboa and Jabesh

Israel fell on Mount Gilboa, above the Jezreel valley, and the Philistines sent the news back through their own land in the west. The men of Jabesh-gilead, across the Jordan to the east, set out to bring Saul and his sons home. Jabesh-gilead’s site is uncertain.

When all the people of Jabesh-gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul,

Morning at the plain gate of Jabesh-gilead on its wooded hill: a band of grim men of the town in dark wool cloaks and head cloths, staffs and spears held low, setting out down the road west, seen from behind, with the ridge of Gilboa far off beyond the Jordan valley haze.

all their men of valor set out and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh.

0:10

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Dusk on the hill outside Jabesh-gilead: a great old oak with a broad spreading crown, a low mound of fresh earth edged with fieldstones at its foot, men of the town sitting around it in rough dark sackcloth with dust on their heads, heads bowed, the town wall small behind among oak woods.

And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, and he failed to inquire of the LORD.

1 Chronicles 10:13–14

Sunrise on a rocky hilltop in the hill country of Judah: David, a lean, ruddy man in his late twenties in a plain wool tunic and dark brown cloak, stands alone looking north over terraced valleys toward the hills of Israel, the first light on his face.

So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.

Saul or David: seek the LORD

Sauldid not keep theword (10:13)A medium1 Samuel 28Did notinquireof the LORD (10:14)The kingdomturned over(10:14)Davidinquired of the LORDSeek the LORD16:11; 28:9

Whiteboard

Saul turned to a medium and did not seek the LORD, and the kingdom passed from him. David asked the LORD before he moved, and the kingdom was turned over to him. Seeking the LORD is the heartbeat of Chronicles, and the chapters ahead keep coming back to it.

Pray

A heart that seeks You

Thank God that His word always comes true, and that His King, Jesus, the Son of David, never fails His people. Ask for a heart that seeks Him first, in fear and in need. Ask for grace to finish faithfully, and for courage like the men of Jabesh, who honored the fallen.

You’ve experienced

1 Chronicles 10

0 of 29 chapters read

A verse to carry with you

So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, and he failed to inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.

1 Chronicles 10:13–14

or swipe left