1 Samuel 31:10
New International Version
They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

New Living Translation
They placed his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of the city of Beth-shan.

English Standard Version
They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

Berean Standard Bible
They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

King James Bible
And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.

New King James Version
Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

New American Standard Bible
They put his weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they nailed his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

NASB 1995
They put his weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

NASB 1977
And they put his weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

Legacy Standard Bible
And they placed his weapons in the house of Ashtaroth and fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

Amplified Bible
And they put Saul’s weapons and armor in the temple of the Ashtaroth (female goddesses), and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

Christian Standard Bible
Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

American Standard Version
And they put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

English Revised Version
And they put his armour in the house of the Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
They put his armor in the temple of their goddesses-the Asherahs-and fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan.

Good News Translation
Then they put his weapons in the temple of the goddess Astarte, and they nailed his body to the wall of the city of Beth Shan.

International Standard Version
They put Saul's weapons in the temple of Asherah and fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth-shan.

Majority Standard Bible
They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

NET Bible
They placed Saul's armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his corpse on the city wall of Beth Shan.

New Heart English Bible
They put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they put his armor in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

World English Bible
They put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and they place his weapons [in] the house of Ashtaroth, and they have fixed his body on the wall of Beth-Shan.

Young's Literal Translation
and they place his weapons in the house of Ashtaroth, and his body they have fixed on the wall of Beth-Shan.

Smith's Literal Translation
And they will put up his arms in the house of Ashtaroth: and his body they will hang up upon the wall of the House of Quiet.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And they put his armour in the temple of Astaroth, but his body they hung on the wall of Bethsan.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And they placed his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth. But his body they suspended on the wall of Bethshan.

New American Bible
They put his armor in the temple of Astarte but impaled his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

New Revised Standard Version
They put his armor in the temple of Astarte; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And they put his armor in the house of Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-jashan.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And they placed his armor in the house of Ashteroth, and his body they fastened to the wall of Bayth Yashan
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And they put his armour in the house of the Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And they set up his armour at the temple of Astarte, and they fastened his body on the wall of Baethsam.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Philistines Possess the Towns
9They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people. 10They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

Cross References
1 Chronicles 10:10
They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon.

Judges 16:23-24
Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.” / And when the people saw him, they praised their god, saying: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy who destroyed our land and multiplied our dead.”

2 Samuel 1:20
Tell it not in Gath; proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.

1 Samuel 5:2-5
carried it into the temple of Dagon, and set it beside his statue. / When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place. / But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD, with his head and his hands broken off and lying on the threshold. Only the torso remained. ...

1 Kings 11:5
Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

2 Kings 19:37
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.

Isaiah 37:38
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.

Ezekiel 6:4-6
Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will cast down your slain before your idols. / I will lay the corpses of the Israelites before their idols and scatter your bones around your altars. / Wherever you live, the cities will be laid waste and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works blotted out.

Jeremiah 48:7
Because you trust in your works and treasures, you too will be captured, and Chemosh will go into exile with his priests and officials.

Zephaniah 1:4-5
“I will stretch out My hand against Judah and against all who dwell in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the idolatrous and pagan priests— / those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,

Acts 19:24-27
It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen. / Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity. / And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. ...

1 Corinthians 8:4-6
So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one. / For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many so-called gods and lords), / yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.

2 Corinthians 6:16
What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

Galatians 4:8
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.

Revelation 2:14
But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.


Treasury of Scripture

And they put his armor in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.

1 Samuel 21:9
And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

Ashtaroth

Judges 2:13
And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.

Bethshan

Joshua 17:11
And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Bethshean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries.

Judges 1:27
Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

2 Samuel 21:12-14
And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa: …

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1 Samuel 31
1. Saul, having lost his army, and his sons slain,
4. he and his armor bearer kill themselves.
7. The Philistines possess the forsaken towns of the Israelites
8. They triumph over the dead bodies
11. They of Jabesh Gilead recovering the dead bodies by night,
12. burn them at Jabesh,
13. and mournfully bury their bodies.














They put his armor
The phrase "they put his armor" refers to the Philistines' act of taking King Saul's armor after his death. In ancient times, armor was not only a means of protection but also a symbol of a warrior's strength and status. The Hebrew word for armor, "keli," can also mean vessel or instrument, indicating the importance and personal nature of these items. By taking Saul's armor, the Philistines were not only stripping him of his physical protection but also his royal dignity and honor. This act symbolizes the complete defeat and humiliation of Israel's king.

in the temple of the Ashtoreths
The "temple of the Ashtoreths" refers to a place of worship dedicated to the Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth, also known as Astarte or Ishtar in other cultures. Ashtoreth was associated with war and fertility, and her worship often involved rituals that were abhorrent to the Israelites. The Philistines placing Saul's armor in this temple signifies their belief that their gods had triumphed over the God of Israel. This act of desecration highlights the spiritual battle between the worship of Yahweh and the pagan deities of the surrounding nations.

and hung his body
The phrase "and hung his body" describes the Philistines' further desecration of Saul's corpse. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, the treatment of a body after death was of utmost importance, and to leave a body unburied or to display it publicly was considered a great dishonor. The Hebrew word "talah," meaning to hang or suspend, indicates a deliberate act of humiliation. This act was intended to demonstrate the Philistines' dominance and to instill fear and shame in the Israelites.

on the wall of Beth-shan
"Beth-shan" was a strategically located city in the Jordan Valley, serving as a key military and trade center. By hanging Saul's body on the wall of Beth-shan, the Philistines were making a public spectacle of their victory. The city's location would have ensured that many travelers and traders witnessed this display, spreading the news of Israel's defeat far and wide. This act was not only a physical humiliation but also a psychological tactic to demoralize the Israelites and assert Philistine supremacy.

(10) The house of Ashtaroth.--Literally, of "the Ashtaroth." The expression may signify that the pieces of armour belonging to the four men were divided between the different shrines of Astarte in the land, or placed together in the famous Astarte Temple, at Askelon, which Herodotus (i. 105) describes as the most ancient of the temples dedicated to the worship of the Syrian Venus. The latter supposition seems the more probable, as Askelon is specially mentioned by David in the funeral hymn of Saul and Jonathan (2Samuel 1:20).

The wall of Beth-shan.--Beth-shan was in the tribe of Manasseh, some four miles west of the Jordan, and twelve miles south of the sea of Galilee. We are told in Judges 1:27, that the Canaanites, the original inhabitants of the city, were permitted by the conqueror to dwell still in the city. This Canaanitish element in the population was perhaps the reason why Beth-shan was chosen for the barbarous exhibition. The Canaanites would probably have welcomed the miserable spectacle which seemed to degrade their ancient enemies. The writer of the chronicle adds one more ghastly detail to this account: "They fastened the head (skull) of Saul in the Temple of Dagon."



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
They put
וַיָּשִׂ֙מוּ֙ (way·yā·śi·mū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7760: Put -- to put, place, set

his armor
כֵּלָ֔יו (kê·lāw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3627: Something prepared, any apparatus

in the temple
בֵּ֖ית (bêṯ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1004: A house

of the Ashtoreths
עַשְׁתָּר֑וֹת (‘aš·tā·rō·wṯ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6252: A place East of the Jordan

and hung
תָּקְע֔וּ (tā·qə·‘ū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 8628: To clatter, slap, clang, to drive, to become bondsman

his body
גְּוִיָּתוֹ֙ (gə·wî·yā·ṯōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 1472: A body, corpse

on the wall
בְּחוֹמַ֖ת (bə·ḥō·w·maṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 2346: A wall of protection

of Beth-shan.
שָֽׁן׃ (šān)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 1052: Beth-shean -- 'place of quiet', a place in Manasseh, West of the Jordan


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OT History: 1 Samuel 31:10 They put his armor in the house (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 31:9
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