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2 Samuel 1 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
There are three versions of Saul’s death mentioned in Scripture and one of them is found here in 2 Samuel 1.
Death Reference #1
1 Samuel 31:4 GNB He said to the young man carrying his weapons, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won’t gloat over me and kill me.” But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.
Death Reference #2
2 Samuel 21:11-12 GNB When David heard what Rizpah had done, 12 he went and got the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from the people of Jabesh in Gilead. (They had stolen them from the public square in Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged the bodies on the day they killed Saul on Mount Gilboa.)
Death Reference #3
2 Samuel 1:8-10 GNB He asked who I was, and I told him that I was an Amalekite. 9 Then he said, ‘Come here and kill me! I have been badly wounded, and I’m about to die.’ 10 So I went up to him and killed him, because I knew that he would die anyway as soon as he fell. Then I took the crown from his head and the bracelet from his arm, and I have brought them to you, sir.”
I believe the first story to be the most accurate depiction of Saul’s death. In the context of 1 Samuel 31, we know that he had been badly wounded by the Philistines and knew he was not going to live much longer. In this sense, Saul had died while in combat with the Philistines, and this is where we get the second version. Although they didn’t strike the final blow, the Philistine army was partially responsible for his death.
The final version we find here in 2 Samuel 1 is simply a lie from an Amalekite in order to try and receive a reward from David.
“The whole account which this young man gives is a fabrication: in many of the particulars it is grossly self-contradictory. There is no fact in the case but the bringing of the crown, or diadem, and bracelets of Saul; which, as he appears to have been a plunderer of the slain, he found on the field of battle; and he brought them to David, and told the lie of having despatched Saul, merely to ingratiate himself with David.”
Adam Clarke
If you remember, the reason why God removed his hand from Saul in the first place was because he refused to obey God’s command to eradicate the Amalekites. How ironic that now an Amalekite is the first to remove his royal crown and bracelet?
But Saul and his men spared Agag’s life and did not kill the best sheep and cattle, the best calves and lambs, or anything else that was good; they destroyed only what was useless or worthless. 10 The LORD said to Samuel, 11 “I am sorry that I made Saul king; he has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands.” Samuel was angry, and all night long he pleaded with the LORD.
1 Samuel 15:9-11 GNB
The most surprising part of this chapter is the fact that David genuinely mourned Saul’s death. This was a man who had dedicated part of his life to seeing David dead. This was a man who gave David his word that he would not harm him, yet continued to hunt him. David’s response illustrates to us the clear conscience that he had upon Saul’s death. It indicates there was no remnant of hatred or bitterness in his heart for what Saul had done to him.