I Samuel 31, Review
Dear RTB’ers,
The end of Saul and his son, Jonathan, and two other sons… Different from other battle accounts, nothing is said about Saul’s battle plan – only simple mention of the Israeli defeat and the Philistine victory and their mistreatment of the dead bodies. (Recall how the Philistines treated Samson when they defeated him. They were a rude people!) The chapter ends abruptly, with the men of Jabesh-gilead retrieving Saul’s and his sons’ bodies – no doubt they were remembering Saul’s deliverance of them from the Ammonites. (I Sam. 11:1-11) Beyond this one incident, Saul’s story is told without further comment. The writer of I Chronicles provides that commentary: 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. (I Chr. 10:13-14) The end of Saul…
For the first time since we met young David back in chapter 16, there is no mention of him in today’s reading. It will be five more weeks in our reading schedule before we see David again, in II Samuel. But if you want to read ahead…
For many of us the Old Testament history books tend to run together. However, there is an easy memory tool for this time in Jewish history: I Samuel is about Saul (and David); II Samuel is about David; and the Kings books are about David’s descendants, split into a Northern Kingdom (Israel) and a Southern Kingdom (Judah). Then Chronicles retells all four of these books. So it will be a long time – well into next year – before we finish these Jewish history books!
Tomorrow – back to the New Testament.
Blessings!
See also: April 1 (2023) / I Samuel 31; II Samuel 1; Psalm 18 (which gets into II Samuel 1, but still relevant, nonetheless).