1 Samuel 31:11

And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) The inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead.—The memory of the splendid feat of arms of their young king Saul, when he gallantly rescued their city (1Samuel 11:1-11) years before, when they were threatened with deadly peril by the Ammonites, was still fresh in the city of Jabesh-Gilead, and they burned to rescue the body of their hero from shame. It was singular how that first deed of splendid patriotism, done in the early fervour of his consecration, bore fruit after so many long years.

“Good deeds immortal are—they cannot die;

Unscathed by envious blight, or withering frost,

They live, and bud and bloom, and men partake

Still of their freshness, and are strong thereby.”

AYTOUN.

Jabesh-Gilead, a city of Manasseh, on the further side of Jordan, on the road from Pella to Gerasa. perhaps about fourteen miles from Beth-shan (see Judges 21:8, and following). Its name still survives in the Wady Yabez, running down to the east bank of Jordan, near the head of which are still visible some ruins named El Deir, which Robinson has identified with Jabesh-Gilead.

Benson Commentary

1 Samuel 31:11-12. The inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead — They lived on the other side of Jordan; for the people on this side were fled. All the valiant men arose, and went all night — To avoid discovery. And took the body of Saul, &c. — They had been delivered by Saul in the beginning of his reign from the Ammonites, when they were in danger of losing their lives, chap. 11.; and therefore they now showed their gratitude toward him by not suffering his corpse to want the honour of burial. And came to Jabesh and burnt them there — It was not the custom of the Hebrews to burn their dead, but to bury them; but perhaps they burned these bodies for fear, if they buried them, the Philistines might take them up again to fasten them in the same ignominious manner to their walls.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

31:8-13 The Scripture makes no mention what became of the souls of Saul and his sons, after they were dead; but of their bodies only: secret things belong not to us. It is of little consequence by what means we die, or what is done with our dead bodies. If our souls are saved, our bodies will be raised incorruptible and glorious; but not to fear His wrath, who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell, is the extreme of folly and wickedness. How useless is the respect of fellow-creatures to those who are suffering the wrath of God! While pompous funerals, grand monuments, and he praises of men, honour the memory of the deceased, the soul may be suffering in the regions of darkness and despair! Let us seek that honour which cometh from God only.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead heard ... - See 1 Samuel 11:1-15. This is a touching and rare example of national gratitude.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

1Sa 31:11-13. The Men of Jabesh-gilead Recover the Bodies and Bury Them at Jabesh.

11-13. the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard of that which the Philistines had done—Mindful of the important and timely services Saul had rendered them, they gratefully and heroically resolved not to suffer such indignities to be inflicted on the remains of the royal family.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Jabesh-gilead, which was beyond Jordan; for the people on this side Jordan were fled from their cities, as was now said.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead,.... Who lived on the other side Jordan, about eight miles from Bethshan, according to Fuller (p):

heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; not only that they had got the victory over him, and routed his army, but had abused his body, and hung it up by way of reproach and ignominy; which they could not bear to hear of, remembering with gratitude the kindness he had shown to them, in delivering them out of the hands of Nahash the Ammonite, 1 Samuel 11:1.

(p) Pisgah-Sight of Palestine, b. 2. ch. 2. p. 82.

Geneva Study Bible

And when the inhabitants of {e} Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;

(e) Whom he had delivered from their enemies, 1Sa 11:11.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11. the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead] Mindful of the debt of gratitude they owed to Saul for rescuing them from Nahash (ch. 11). The isolated round-topped hill on the south side of the Wady Yâbis, which has been conjecturally fixed upon as the site of Jabesh, is in full view of Beth-shan (Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 556). The distance over the hills, down into the Jordan valley, and up the Wady Jâlûd is not much under twenty miles.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 11. - Jabesh-Gilead. Eusebius describes this place as situated on the road from Pella to Gerasa, and therefore it would be much nearer the Jordan than Mahanaim, and probably was not more than twelve or fourteen miles distant from Beth-shan. The people there had not forgotten how bravely Saul had saved them, and now showed their gratitude by rescuing his remains from disgrace. 1 Samuel 31:11

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

When the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead heard this, all the brave men of the town set out to Beth-shean, took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, brought them to Jabesh, and burned them there. "But their bones they buried under the tamarisk at Jabesh, and fasted seven days," to mourn for the king their former deliverer (see 1 Samuel 11:1-15). These statements are given in a very condensed form in the Chronicles (1 Samuel 31:11, 1 Samuel 31:12). Not only is the fact that "they went the whole night" omitted, as being of no essential importance to the general history; but the removal of the bodies from the town-wall is also passed over, because their being fastened there had not been mentioned, and also the burning of the bodies. The reason for the last omission is not to be sought for in the fact that the author of the Chronicles regarded burning as ignominious, according to Leviticus 20:14; Leviticus 21:9, but because he did not see how to reconcile the burning of the bodies with the burial of the bones. It was not the custom in Israel to burn the corpse, but to bury it in the ground. The former was restricted to the worst criminals (see at Leviticus 20:14). Consequently the Chaldee interpreted the word "burnt" as relating to the burning of spices, a custom which we meet with afterwards as a special honour shown to certain of the kings of Judah on the occasion of their burial (2 Chronicles 16:14; 2 Chronicles 21:19; Jeremiah 34:5). But this is expressed by שׂרפה לו שׂרף, "to make a burning for him," whereas here it is stated distinctly that "they burnt them." The reason for the burning of the bodies in the case of Saul and his sons is to be sought for in the peculiarity of the circumstances; viz., partly in the fact that the bodies were mutilated by the removal of the heads, and therefore a regular burial of the dead was impossible, and partly in their anxiety lest, if the Philistines followed up their victory and came to Jabesh, they should desecrate the bodies still further. But even this was not a complete burning to ashes, but merely a burning of the skin and flesh; so that the bones still remained, and they were buried in the ground under a shady tree. Instead of "under the (well-known) tamarisk" (eshel), we have האלה תּחת (under the strong tree) in 1 Chronicles 10:11. David afterwards had them fetched away and buried in Saul's family grave at Zela, in the land of Benjamin (2 Samuel 21:11.). The seven days' fast kept by the Jabeshites was a sign of public and general mourning on the part of the inhabitants of that town at the death of the king, who had once rescued them from the most abominable slavery.

In this ignominious fate of Saul there was manifested the righteous judgment of God in consequence of the hardening of his heart. But the love which the citizens of Jabesh displayed in their treatment of the corpses of Saul and his sons, had reference not to the king as rejected by God, but to the king as anointed with the Spirit of Jehovah, and was a practical condemnation, not of the divine judgment which had fallen upon Saul, but of the cruelty of the enemies of Israel and its anointed. For although Saul had waged war almost incessantly against the Philistines, it is not known that in any one of his victories he had ever been guilty of such cruelties towards the conquered and slaughtered foe as could justify this barbarous revenge on the part of the uncircumcised upon his lifeless corpse.