Bible Strands
1 Samuel 31:10
They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the Philistines' actions immediately after Saul and his sons fall in battle on Mount Gilboa. The text records how victorious warriors display Saul's captured equipment and corpse to assert their dominance.
The words — כֵלָיו (ke.lav) translates literally to "his armor," while תּקעוּ (ta.ke'u) means "they fixed" or "they pierced." These verbs specify the precise method the Philistines used to exhibit Saul's remains as trophies.
The thread — The location Beth-shan appears earlier as an assigned city for Manasseh and Issachar (Joshua 17:11), while the temple of the Ashtoreths recalls the recurring Israelite failure to serve Baal and the Ashtoreths (Judges 2:13). The narrative connects Saul's defeat to the broader pattern of covenant unfaithfulness and territorial loss.
Why it lands — It demands recognition of the complete humiliation of Israel's king and the defilement of his legacy by pagan worship. It asks the reader to acknowledge that the text records historical consequence without offering consolation.
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 they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth–shan.
Cross-references
- Joshua 17:11 Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.
- Judges 2:13 for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
- 1 Samuel 21:9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want, you may take it. For there is no other but this one here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”
- Judges 1:27 At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.
- 1 Samuel 7:3 Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
- 2 Samuel 21:12 he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies after they had struck down Saul at Gilboa.