1Sa 31:9 | KD | STEP | On the day following the battle, when the Philistines tripped the slain, they found Saul and his three sons lying upon Gilboa; and having cut off their heads and plundered their weapons, they went them (the heads and weapons) as trophies into the land of the Philistines, i.e., round about to the different towns and hamlets of their land, to announce the joyful news in their idol-temples (the writer of the Chronicles mentions the idols themselves) and to the people, and then deposited their weapons (the weapons of Saul and his sons) in the Astarte-houses. But the corpses they fastened to the town-wall of Beth-shean, i.e., Beisan, in the valley of the Jordan (see at ). Beth-azabbim and Beth-ashtaroth are composite words; the first part is indeclinable, and the plural form is expressed by the second word: idol-houses and Astarte-houses , like beth-aboth (father's-houses: see at ). On the Astartes , see at Jdg 2:13. It is not expressly stated indeed in , , that the Philistines plundered the bodies of Saul’s sons as well, and mutilated them by cutting off their heads; but ראשׁו and כּליו, his (i.e., Saul’s) head and his weapons , alone are mentioned. At the same time, it is every evident from , where the Jabeshites are said to have taken down from the wall of Beth-shean not Saul’s body only, but the bodies of his sons also, that the Philistines had treated the corpses of Saul’s sons in just the same manner as that of Saul himself. The writer speaks distinctly of the abuse of Saul’s body only, because it was his death that he had chiefly in mind at the time. To the word וישׁלּחוּ we must supply in thought the object ראשׁו and כּליו from the preceding clause. גּויּת and גּויּת ( and ) are the corpses without the heads. The fact that the Philistines nailed them to the town-wall of Beth-shean presupposes the capture of that city, from which it is evident that they had occupied the land as far as the Jordan. The definite word Beth-ashtaroth is changed by the writer of the Chronicles into Beth-elohim , temples of the gods; or rather he has interpreted it in this manner without altering the sense, as the Astartes are merely mentioned as the principal deities for the idols generally. The writer of the Chronicles has also omitted to mention the nailing of the corpses to the wall of Beth-shean, but he states instead that “they fastened his skull in the temple of Dagon,” a fact which is passed over in the account before us. From this we may see how both writers have restricted themselves to the principal points, or those which appeared to them of the greatest importance (vid., Bertheau on ).

‏ 1 Samuel 31:9

On the day following the battle, when the Philistines tripped the slain, they found Saul and his three sons lying upon Gilboa; and having cut off their heads and plundered their weapons, they went them (the heads and weapons) as trophies into the land of the Philistines, i.e., round about to the different towns and hamlets of their land, to announce the joyful news in their idol-temples (the writer of the Chronicles mentions the idols themselves) and to the people, and then deposited their weapons (the weapons of Saul and his sons) in the Astarte-houses. But the corpses they fastened to the town-wall of Beth-shean, i.e., Beisan, in the valley of the Jordan (see at Jos 17:11). Beth-azabbim and Beth-ashtaroth are composite words; the first part is indeclinable, and the plural form is expressed by the second word: idol-houses and Astarte-houses, like beth-aboth (father's-houses: see at Exo 6:14). On the Astartes, see at Jdg 2:13. It is not expressly stated indeed in 1Sa 31:9, 1Sa 31:10, that the Philistines plundered the bodies of Saul’s sons as well, and mutilated them by cutting off their heads; but ראשׁו and כּליו, his (i.e., Saul’s) head and his weapons, alone are mentioned. At the same time, it is every evident from 1Sa 31:12, where the Jabeshites are said to have taken down from the wall of Beth-shean not Saul’s body only, but the bodies of his sons also, that the Philistines had treated the corpses of Saul’s sons in just the same manner as that of Saul himself. The writer speaks distinctly of the abuse of Saul’s body only, because it was his death that he had chiefly in mind at the time. To the word וישׁלּחוּ we must supply in thought the object ראשׁו and כּליו from the preceding clause. גּויּת and גּויּת (1Sa 31:10 and 1Sa 31:12) are the corpses without the heads. The fact that the Philistines nailed them to the town-wall of Beth-shean presupposes the capture of that city, from which it is evident that they had occupied the land as far as the Jordan. The definite word Beth-ashtaroth is changed by the writer of the Chronicles into Beth-elohim, temples of the gods; or rather he has interpreted it in this manner without altering the sense, as the Astartes are merely mentioned as the principal deities for the idols generally. The writer of the Chronicles has also omitted to mention the nailing of the corpses to the wall of Beth-shean, but he states instead that “they fastened his skull in the temple of Dagon,” a fact which is passed over in the account before us. From this we may see how both writers have restricted themselves to the principal points, or those which appeared to them of the greatest importance (vid., Bertheau on 1Ch 10:10).