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Judges 9:54
Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

1 Chronicles 10:4
Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

uncircumcised

1 Samuel 14:6
And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: forthere is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.

1 Samuel 17:26,36
And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for whois this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? …

2 Samuel 1:20
Tellit not in Gath, publishit not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

abuse me.

2 Samuel 1:9,10
He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my lifeis yet whole in me…

2 Samuel 17:23
And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddledhis ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

1 Kings 16:27
Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he shewed,are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

a sword.

“Draw your sword and run me through with it,
Saul requests his armor-bearer to kill him to avoid capture. This reflects the ancient Near Eastern honor-shame culture, where being captured by enemies was seen as a fate worse than death. Saul's request also shows his fear of humiliation and torture at the hands of the Philistines.

or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!”
The term "uncircumcised" is used to describe the Philistines, emphasizing their status as non-covenant people, contrasting them with the Israelites who were marked by the covenant of circumcision. This highlights the religious and cultural enmity between the two groups. Saul's fear of torture underscores the brutal practices of ancient warfare.

But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it.
The armor-bearer's refusal can be seen as an act of reverence for the king, as well as fear of the consequences of killing the Lord's anointed. This reflects the deep respect for God's chosen leaders, despite Saul's failures. It also shows the moral dilemma faced by those serving under flawed leadership.

So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
Saul's suicide marks a tragic end to his reign, fulfilling Samuel's prophecy of his downfall. This act of self-destruction is a culmination of Saul's disobedience and rejection by God. It contrasts with the hope and redemption found in Jesus Christ, who, unlike Saul, was obedient unto death and brought life through His sacrifice. Saul's death also sets the stage for David's rise to kingship, aligning with God's sovereign plan for Israel.

• The scene unfolds on Mount Gilboa where “the battle intensified against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was wounded by the archers” (1 Samuel 31:3).

• Saul’s words reveal that, even while gravely injured, he retains enough clarity to issue a direct command to the servant who had stood beside him in many campaigns (compare1 Samuel 14:6–7, where an armor-bearer loyally supports Jonathan).

• The moment fulfills earlier warnings of divine judgment pronounced through Samuel: “Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD… the LORD has done this thing to you this day” (1 Samuel 28:18). God’s word proves true once more.

• Saul mirrors the request of wicked Abimelech, who cried, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him’ ” (Judges 9:54). Both kings sought an honorable death in the eyes of men.

• The plea highlights Saul’s desperation. He once slaughtered Amalekites with ease (1 Samuel 15:7–9); now he cannot strike a final blow himself without assistance.

• Years later an Amalekite will falsely claim, “So I stood over him and killed him” (2 Samuel 1:9-10), illustrating how rumors swirl when a leader dies and how God still holds liars accountable (2 Samuel 1:14-16).

• “Uncircumcised” is Saul’s scornful label for Philistines, echoing David’s earlier challenge to Goliath, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?” (1 Samuel 17:26). The term stresses their covenant-outsider status (Genesis 17:10-14).

• Saul fears humiliation, not merely death. The Philistines had paraded Samson for sport (Judges 16:25) and later would fasten Saul’s corpse to the wall of Beth-shan (1 Samuel 31:10).

• His focus on personal disgrace contrasts sharply with David’s passion for the Lord’s honor (1 Samuel 17:45-47). Saul’s priorities reveal how far his heart has drifted from God.

• The aide’s refusal may stem from reverence for “the LORD’s anointed” (1 Samuel 24:6; 26:9-11). Even David, hunted by Saul, would not raise a hand against the king.

• Fear also grips him: to kill the king could be viewed as regicide, drawing severe consequences (2 Samuel 4:10-12).

• His terror stands in contrast to Jonathan’s armor-bearer, who once acted with bold faith (1 Samuel 14:13). The spiritual decay in the royal camp now spreads to its servants.

• Saul’s self-inflicted death fulfills Samuel’s prophecy: “Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me” (1 Samuel 28:19).

• Parallel accounts confirm the act (1 Chronicles 10:4-6). The Amalekite’s later tale to David contradicts eyewitness details, exposing an opportunist (2 Samuel 1:6-10).

• Scripture presents suicide without commendation. It records other desperate suicides—Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17:23) and Judas (Matthew 27:5)—but never portrays self-destruction as a righteous option.

• Saul’s reign began with promise (1 Samuel 10:1, 24) yet ends in tragic self-reliance, underscoring the cost of persistent disobedience and the unshakeable certainty of God’s word.

1 Samuel 31:4 captures Saul’s last conscious choices: a wounded king seeking an honorable death, driven by fear of humiliation from pagan enemies, met by an armor-bearer too terrified to comply, and culminating in suicide. Every detail underscores themes already woven through the book—God’s prophetic word stands, reverence for the Lord’s anointed matters, and human attempts to control outcomes end in futility when hearts stray from obedience. The verse serves as a sobering reminder that true security lies not in swords or human honor but in humble submission to the Lord who keeps His word without fail.

Lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me.--"Even in Saul's dying speech there is something of that religious formalism which marked his character after his fall from God, and which is a striking sign of spiritual blindness. He censures the Philistines as 'uncircumcised.'"--Wordsworth.

Saul had a strong consciousness of the sacredness of his person as the Lord's anointed; as it has been well said of him, no descendant of a long line of so-styled Christian or Catholic sovereigns has held a loftier claim of personal inviolability.

And abuse me.--He remembered how these same Philistines in former years had treated the hero Samson when he fell into their hands.

His armourbearer would not.--Love and devotion to his master we can well imagine stayed his hand from carrying out his fallen master's last terrible command. If the armourbearer--as the Jewish tradition above referred to asserts--was indeed Doeg the Edomite, the two, the king and his confidential officer, had been fast friends for years. Some dread of the after consequences, too, may have weighed with the royal armour-bearer, as he was to a certain extent responsible for the king's life. What possibly he dreaded actually came to pass in the case of the Amalekite who told David that he was the one who inflicted the fatal stroke when the king was dying; as a guerdon for his act, David had him at once put to death for having put forth his hand to destroy the Lord's anointed.

A sword.--It was a heavy weapon, a war sword, answering to the greatepee d'armesof the Middle Ages. This he took from the reluctant hands of his faithful follower, and placing the hilt firmly on the ground, he threw the weight of his body on the point.

In2Samuel 1:6-10 we have another account of the death. There an Amalekite bearing the royal insignia of the late king, the crown royal and the well-known bracelet of Saul, comes to David at Ziklag after the fatal fight, and recounts how, finding the king leaning on his spear--possibly, as Bunsen supposes, "lying on the ground propping his weary head with the nervously-clutched spear," exhausted and seized with "cramp" (this is the Rabbinical translation of the word rendered "anguish"), at his urgent request, slew him. Most commentators--for instance, Kiel, Lange, Bishop Hervey, &c.--regard the Amalekite's story as an invention framed to extract a rich gift from David, who, the savage Arab thought, would be rejoiced to hear of his great enemy's fall. If this be so, then we must suppose that the Amalekite wandering over the field of battle strewn with the slain on the night which succeeded the battle, came upon the body of Saul, and, attracted by the glitter of the golden ornaments, stripped off the precious insignia, and hastened with his lying story to David. Ewald, however, sees no reason to doubt the trustworthiness of the Amalekite's story; in fact, the two accounts may well be harmonised. Stanley graphically paints the sceneafterhe had fallen on his sword, and his faithful armourbearer had in despairing sorrow killed himself also. "His armourbearer lies dead beside him; on his head the royal crown, on his arm the royal bracelet; . . . the huge spear is still in his hand; he is leaning peacefully on it. He has received his death-blow either from the enemy (1Samuel 31:3), or from his own sword (1Samuel 31:4). The dizziness and darkness of death is upon him. At that moment a wild Amalekite, lured probably to the field by the hope of spoil, came up and finished the work which the arrows of the Philistines and the sword of Saul himself had all but accomplished."--Jewish Church,Lect. 21. The words of the next verse (5) do not contradict this possible explanation. The armourbearer, seeing the king pierced with the arrows and then falling on his own sword, may well have imagined his master dead, and so put an end to his own life. But Saul, though mortally wounded, may have rallied again for a brief space; in that brief space the Amalekite may have come up and finished the bloody work; then, after the king was dead, he probably stripped the royal insignia from the lifeless corpse. . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...