reformed answers

Old Testament

Dead, Dead, or Dead?

Question

Which version of King Saul’s death, IF ANY, do we believe in the Bible?

Answer

Every person looking at the Scripture has a presupposition. It is impossible to look at the Scripture with a tabula rasa (clean slate) approach. One thing to keep in check is that a Christian should always read the Bible with the presupposition that it is true – for indeed it is. The skeptic will normally read the Bible with the presupposition that it has errors and thus questions the Bible when it comes upon such texts as we have below. This is indeed unfortunate for them – for only the truth will set them free (John 8:32). So, what is the truth here?

Saul committed suicide while he was in battle with the Philistines. However, “to some” the Bible speaks of three conflicting versions of Saul’s death. However, these result from a misreading and/or misapplication of certain portions of Scripture, the first which reads:

2 Samuel 21:12 he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had taken them secretly from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa. NIV)
Note, that here, it appears as if the biblical text says Saul was killed by the Philistines. However, below it states that Saul killed himself:

1 Samuel 31:4 Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me." But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
Then we must not forget about 2 Samuel 1:18-20, where an Amalekite states that he killed Saul:

2 Samuel 1:6-10 "I happened to be on Mount Gilboa," the young man said, "and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and riders almost upon him. When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, 'What can I do?' "He asked me, 'Who are you?' " 'An Amalekite,' I answered. "Then he said to me, 'Stand over me and kill me! I am in the throes of death, but I'm still alive.' "So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord."
So, just how did Saul die, by the hand of the Philistines, by suicide, or by an Amalekite?

2 Samuel seems to depict Saul as having been killed by “the Philistines.” However, to understand the context of 2 Samuel 21:12 we must look back to 1 Samuel 31, which focuses on the fact that the Israelites and the Philistines were engaged in battle against one another. In actuality, the battle was not going well for Israel (1 Sam 31:1). Their army was in retreat and even King Saul himself was in severe trouble (1 Sam 31:2-3) – the Philistines had killed his sons (Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua) and Saul himself was critically wounded. Saul knowing he was going to die (and not desiring to fall into the hands of the enemy) asked his armourbearer to kill him (1 Sam 31:4), but his armourbearer was afraid and thus Saul fell upon his own sword (1 Sam 31:4-6). Then Saul’s armourbearer committed suicide.

So, if Saul committed suicide, how can the biblical text say that “the Philistines” killed Saul? Considering the context that: (1) Israel was losing the battle to the Philistines, (2) Saul’s sons had been killed by the Philistines, (3) Israel was in retreat from the Philistines, (4) Saul was critically wounded by the Philistines and thus would not have been able to escape and would have died, and (5) that the battle was still going when Saul committed suicide, it would be proper to say that Saul fell in battle with the Philistines.

This is not unusual. In today’s journalism we use a similar type of language. When U.S. soldiers die in Iraq a common reply would be so and so died in the Iraqi War, while someone more acquainted with the situation might say in order that their son would not be tortured by the Iraqis’ he killed himself before being captured by the enemy. In many cases we do not know how a soldier even dies in war, and in the case of some Special Force’s types’ it is just reported that they “died in combat” or “in the line of duty” with no further information as to: (1) the how, (2) the where, and (3) by whom ever given to the grieving family. Others are mistakenly killed accidentally by their own troops (called “friendly fire”), but it is still reported that they “died in combat.”

Please notice how careful the biblical text is when it says, “that the Philistines slew Saul in Gilboa” (2 Sam. 21:12, ASV). Note that the text does not say that Saul died at the hands of “a” Philistine, but “the Philistines.” In other words, Saul died in a battle with the Philistines (plural). This is merely a way of stating Saul died in battle and not to the exact nature of his death. Because it was in the battle with the Philistines that Saul found himself dying and the fact that he committed suicide while the battle raged on, it may properly be reported that Saul died in battle with the Philistines – for had the battle not taken place, or if he could have been rescued from “the chariots and riders [being] almost upon him” Saul would not have committed suicide.

However, what about the Amalekite’s report? Therein lays another answer, in that it was just “a report” (2 Sam 1:5). The Bible here is merely reporting a lie told by an Amalekite and his judgment (2 Sam 1:14-16). Arriving with Saul’s crown and bracelet in hand and presenting them before David (the new king), the Amalekite obviously expected a reward and/or possible position under the new King (or something). However, in the light of the previous chapter, it must be concluded that the Amalekite was lying in order to gain the praise of David and others. We need to ask of this Amalekite’s report:
The jury is out; the Amalekite’s story has more holes in it than a piece of Swiss cheese. Thus, we like a detective, may piece together what happened. Saul after being wounded by the Philistines killed himself. His armourbearer committed suicide also. Then the Amalekite happened by and recognized Saul and took his crown and bracelet. Supposing to make the most of his good fortune, the Amalekite then escaped from the battle and made his way to David (in Ziklag) and presented his “story.” His supposed good fortune though turned into his own death warrant.

We must note that "some" lies are recorded in the biblical record (as Satan’s lie to Eve Gen. 3:4 – without immediate reference to its false nature, unless we compare it to the Genesis 2 account (note that we have look back as we did in our texts above to understand the text more fully). Another example is the lie of the older prophet (1 Kings 13:18)), but it does not mean that the lies are truth, but merely it is true that a lie was told and thus recorded. The Bible does not hide the fact that people and even angels lie. The Bible does record that God cannot lie (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam 15:29; Psa. 92:15; Mal. 3:6; Rom. 3:4; Tit. 1:12; Heb. 6:18; Jam. 1:17-18). Thus, while it is true that the Amalekite told the “story” (as recorded in the biblical text) it does not mean that it is necessarily the truth and with the other evidence that we have available, our former detective work stands fast as a reasonable and truthful explanation.

Answer by: Joseph R. Nally, Theological Editor, on behalf of the staff at IIIM. The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily the “official position” of Third Millennial Ministries.