8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. 11 But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days. – 1 Samuel 31:8-13 ESV
What Saul feared in life, actually took place in death. Right before taking his own life, he begged his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me” (1 Samuel 31:4 ESV). Being captured alive by the Philistines was Saul’s greatest fear because he knew they would treat him with derision and scorn. He was well acquainted with the ways of his enemy and understood that agonizing torture and public execution what be his fate.
The Hebrew word he used is alal</em> and it can mean “to act severely, deal with severely, make a fool of someone” (“H5953 -alal – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 12 Feb, 2017). It carries the idea of mocking, as well as defilement. Saul, the great warrior-king of Israel was petrified by the thought of having to endure the pain and humiliation that the Philistines would inflict upon him, so he opted for suicide. But Saul’s death did not stop the inevitable. Upon finding his body, the Philistines stripped him of his armor and cut off his head. The Book of Chronicles states, “they put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon” (1 Chronicles 10:10 ESV). As if to eliminate any doubt as to the cause of Saul’s demoralizing death, the Book of Chronicles goes on to provide the following insight.
So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. – 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 ESV
This was not the only time Saul failed to remain faithful to God. He had violated the law of God by disobeying the words of the prophet and by offering sacrifices to God, a duty reserved solely for priests (1 Samuel 13). He also failed to wipe out the Amalekites and destroy all the spoils from battle, disobeying a direct order from God (1 Samuel 15). And Saul had continually ignored God’s clear pronouncement that he was to be replaced as king by a better man. In fact, he actively tried to prevent God’s will by seeking to kill the very man God had chosen as his replacement: David.
So, there was no shortage of reasons for Saul’s abandonment by God. In many ways, he is the one who left God, having chosen to live his life and rule his kingdom according to his own standards and based on his own wisdom. He had been rash, impulsive, prone to placing blame, and reticent to repent, even when proven guilty. He was prideful, arrogant, self-absorbed, and unwilling to humble himself before God. His eventual humiliation at the hands of the Philistines was his own fault; he had brought this on himself. As his world came to a crashing end on the field of battle, he found himself severely wounded, his sons dead, his army fleeing, and the Philistine troops closing in for the kill. His only recourse was to end it all. Falling on his sword was his final act of defiance, an apt ending to a life marked by a stubborn determination to always do things his way.
But Saul’s self-inflicted death didn’t prevent the Philistines from using his body as a propaganda tool. They hung his decapitated body on the walls of the city of Beth-shan, displayed his head in the temple of their god, Dagon, and placed his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth. Saul’s dismembered body became a tool of the enemy, used to promote their victory and humiliate not only Saul but the God of Israel. The armies of the Philistines had defeated the Israelites and their deity with the help of their own gods.
This scene is reminiscent of an earlier Philistine victory over the Israelites when they captured the Ark of the Covenant and placed it in the temple of Dagon (1 Samuel 5). The Philistines treated the Ark as if it was an idol, a physical representation of the Israelite God, placing it at the feet of Dagon to honor his superiority over Yahweh. So, in the same way, placing Saul’s head in the temple of Dagon was a way to show that their god was greater than the God of Israel. In their minds, Dagon had prevailed over Yahweh. They had won and Saul and the Israelites had lost.
But the story doesn’t end there. When the residents of Jabesh-gilead heard what had happened to Saul and his sons, they took action. At great risk to their own lives, they planned a nighttime raid and took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the walls of Beth-shan and gave them a proper burial. No reason is given for why the bodies were burned but it could be because they had been so mutilated by the Philistines that they were beyond recognition. Or it could have been an attempt to prevent the spread of disease. Whatever the case, their bones were buried and a fast was held for seven days. There would be no memorial erected to the memory of Saul. The first king of Israel would not be memorialized or feted with a statue or an official state funeral. His ending stands in stark contrast to that of another Israelite king.
And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. They buried him in the tomb that he had cut for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier that had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer’s art, and they made a very great fire in his honor. – 2 Chronicles 16:13-14 ESV
It would become customary for the deceased kings of Israel to have elaborate burials and expensive tombs built in their honor. Such was not the case for Saul. He and his sons were buried under a tree in a non-disclosed spot. No pomp. No elaborate ceremony. No monument to mark their memory.
Just like that, Saul was gone, his memory wiped from the minds of his people. But his legacy of faithlessness and disobedience was left behind in the captured cities of Israel, the lost lives of hundreds of soldiers, and the demoralized remnants of the Jews who no longer had a king. But God was not done. This was not an ending, but a new beginning. While all looked lost and the future appeared dim, God had things right where He wanted them. The Israelites would not be without a king for long; this time, they would find themselves with the kind of king they always needed – a man after God’s heart.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.