I Shmuel 31: A Tragic End to a Tragic Story

Shaul knew that this battle would be his last. He knew his troops would be decimated and his children killed. But he had to try to defend his people from the Philistines. It was fitting that Shaul’s end comes in a no-win situation. Shaul seems to have been doomed as king from the start. Shmuel did not want a king. God was insulted that the people wanted a king. Shaul was a regular guy who did not really want to be king. There was no model for national leadership for him to model himself after. He was the first one. Every step of the way Shmuel or God found fault in what he did. After the kingship was taken from him, Shaul was forced to watch as his God-appointed usurper lived in his house and won the plaudits of the people and his children.But Shaul is given a fitting farewell. On the battlefield he falls on his sword to avoid being tortured by the Philistines (וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל לְנֹשֵׂא כֵלָיו שְׁלֹף חַרְבְּךָ וְדׇקְרֵנִי בָהּ פֶּן־יָבֹאוּ הָעֲרֵלִים הָאֵלֶּה וְדִקְּרֻנִי וְהִתְעַלְּלוּ־בִי ... וַיִּקַּח שָׁאוּל אֶת־הַחֶרֶב וַיִּפֹּל עָלֶיהָ) (I Samuel 31:4). The Philistines find his body (and Jonathan’s body), cut off their heads, and hang their bodies on the wall of one of their cities (וַיִּכְרְתוּ אֶת־רֹאשׁוֹ ... וְאֵת גְּוִיָּתוֹ תָּקְעוּ בְּחוֹמַת בֵּית־שָׁן) (I Samuel 31:9–10).The people of Jabesh-Gilead hear about this injustice and they go on a secret mission to retrieve the bodies. “Then they took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days” (וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת־עַצְמֹתֵיהֶם וַיִּקְבְּרוּ תַחַת־הָאֶשֶׁל בְּיָבֵשָׁה וַיָּצֻמוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים) (verse 13). Why do the people of Jabesh-Gilead rescue Shaul’s body? Why do they bury him under the tamarisk tree? The answer to these questions can be found in chapter 11 and chapter 22. Chapter 11 was the first major act of Shaul after he was anointed king. Nachash threatens the city of Jabesh-Gilead and Shaul rallies the people to save the city (וַיַּךְ שָׁאוּל אֶת־עַמּוֹן וַיּוֹשַׁע אֶת־יֹשְׁבֵי יָבֵשׁ גִּלְעָד) (see I Samuel 11). This is why the people of Jabesh-Gilead feel the need to retrieve the bodies. In chapter 22, Shaul is sitting under the tamarisk tree when Doeg tells him that David went to Nov (וְשָׁאוּל יֹשֵׁב בַּגִּבְעָה תַּחַת־הָאֶשֶׁל בָּרָמָה וַחֲנִיתוֹ בְיָדוֹ) (I Samuel 22:6). Right after that he orders the massacre of the priests and the city in the darkest day of his kingship and when he crosses the point of no return. This final ending then pays homage to the first part of his reign before things went bad.