Passage Research
1 Samuel 31 — Sermon Preparation
Saul's three sons are killed in battle on Mount Gilboa; wounded and surrounded, Saul falls on his own sword, and the Philistines display his body on the wall of Beth-shan. Below is a research summary for 1 Samuel 31, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 13
- verses
- 202 / 94
- Hebrew words / lemmas
- 6
- classic sermon excerpts
- 3
- preachers & commentators
1 Samuel 31 in the Hebrew
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁאוּל | Shâʼûwl | H7586 | 11 | Shaul |
| פְּלִשְׁתִּי | Pᵉlishtîy | H6430 | 8 | Pelishtite |
| כְּלִי | kᵉlîy | H3627 | 6 | prepared, apparatus |
| בֵּית שְׁאָן | Bêyth Shᵉʼân | H1052 | 4 | Beth-Shean, Beth-Shan |
| גְּוִיָּה | gᵉvîyâh | H1472 | 3 | body |
| נָפַל | nâphal | H5307 | 4 | fall |
| נָשָׂא | nâsâʼ | H5375 | 4 | lift |
How preachers through history handled this text
6 public-domain excerpts on 1 Samuel 31, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“In the foregoing chapter we had David conquering, yea, more than a conqueror. In this chapter we have Saul conquered and worse than a captive. Providence ordered it that both these things should be doing just at the same time. The very same day; perhaps, that David was triumphing over the Amalekites, were the Philistines triumphing over Saul. One is set over against the other, that men may see what comes of trusting in God and what comes of forsaking him. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 2 (Joshua to Esther), on 1 Samuel 31:1–30 (Public Domain)
Places in the text
Based on ancient-geography data
- Mount Gilboa— 1 Sam 31:1
- Beth-shan— 1 Sam 31:10
- Jabesh-gilead— 1 Sam 31:11
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