Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 10:7
When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator recounts the immediate aftermath of Saul’s death on Mount Gilboa, as the surviving Israelites in the valley witness the collapse of the royal army.
The words — וַ֠/יִּרְאוּ (va-yir'u) translates to "and they saw," and נָ֔סוּ (na-su) means "they had fled," capturing the sequence of observation followed by panic.
The thread — The valley troops’ flight and city abandonment reappear in 1 Samuel 31:7, while the broader military collapse echoes 1 Samuel 13:6.
Why it lands — The text records a concrete sequence of observation, panic, and territorial loss, demanding recognition of how leadership collapse triggers immediate national disintegration.
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
And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 13:6 Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.
- 1 Samuel 31:7 When the Israelites along the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.
- Leviticus 26:31 I will reduce your cities to rubble and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will refuse to smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices.
- Leviticus 26:36 As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them.
- Deuteronomy 28:33 A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
- Deuteronomy 28:43 The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.
- Judges 6:2 and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.