Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 10:4
Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Saul speaks to his armor-bearer on a losing battlefield after archers have severely wounded him. He issues a command to avoid capture by enemy forces.
The words — The Hebrew verb שְׁלֹף (she.Lof) means "draw out," and דָקְרֵ֣/נִי (da.ke.Re./ni) means "pierce through me," framing Saul's desperate request for a swift death.
The thread — This account parallels 1 Samuel 31:4 and echoes the precedent in Judges 9:54, where a leader also commands his armor-bearer to end his life.
Why it lands — The text records Saul's refusal to submit to enemy captivity and his armor-bearer's fearful refusal, leaving Saul to execute the act himself. It demands recognition of the cost of pride and the finality of divine judgment without romanticizing the act.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 31:4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
- Acts 1:18 (Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong and burst open in the middle, and all his intestines spilled out.
- Judges 9:54 He quickly called his armor-bearer, saying, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So Abimelech’s armor-bearer ran his sword through him, and he died.
- Judges 15:18 And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
- Judges 16:21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.
- Judges 16:23 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.”
- 1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
- 1 Samuel 17:26 David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
- 1 Samuel 17:36 Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
- 2 Samuel 1:9 Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for agony has seized me, but my life still lingers.’