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1 Samuel 31 Bible study: Under the tamarisk tree
The town Saul's army rescued in chapter 11 is the town whose valiant men went all night to take his body and his sons' bodies from the wall of Beth Shan (11:9-11; 31:11-12). And his bones were buried under a tamarisk tree (31:13), a word the Hebrew Bible uses only three times, once for the tree Saul sat under in Gibeah with his spear in his hand (22:6).
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“They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“David had once been Saul's armor bearer.”
Is that in 1 Samuel 31, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Mount Gilboa
Chapter 28 set the two armies in place: "The Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and encamped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped in Gilboa" (28:4). Chapters 29 and 30 followed David, whom Achish sent back (29:6-7, 29:11), to Ziklag (30:1). Chapter 31 goes straight to the battle: "Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa" (31:1) (tap slain). "The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul" (31:2). "The battle went hard against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers" (31:3). David isn't named anywhere in the chapter.
Where it leads to Jesus
Joseph of Arimathea
1 Samuel 31:12leads toLuke 23:53
The valiant men of Jabesh Gilead "went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan" (31:12), and "They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh" (31:13). After Jesus died, Joseph of Arimathea "went to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body" (Luke 23:52). "He took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that was cut in stone, where no one had ever been laid" (Luke 23:53). No New Testament passage cites 1 Samuel 31, so setting the two side by side is a reading. Some see a likeness in the deed: in each, people come for a dead man's body, take it from where it was, and give it burial. Others read each as its own act, with no link intended: the men of Jabesh Gilead, the town Saul's army had rescued (11:9-11), for Saul and his sons; and Joseph, "a good and righteous man" (Luke 23:50) who "was also waiting for God’s Kingdom" (Luke 23:51), for Jesus.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about 1 Samuel 31
That was a taste
The rest of 1 Samuel 31 is waiting in Favor
- Saul and his armor bearer
- What Israel lost
- The men of Jabesh Gilead
- Jonathan
- David's lament
- From the tamarisk to the tomb of Kish
- 5 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach 1 Samuel 31 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
גְּוִיָּהgeviyyahsay ge-vee-YAH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "body, corpse". Strong's: "a body, whether alive or dead". The chapter uses it three times, all in its last verses, and 1 Samuel uses it nowhere else. In 31:10 it is the word for Saul's body in the Philistines' hands. Then the valiant men of Jabesh Gilead "took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan" (31:12), the word twice. It can be a living body too: in Egypt the people told Joseph, "There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands" (Genesis 47:18).
For your group
1 Samuel 31 Bible study questions
- 1Jonathan loved David "as his own soul" (18:1), and he died on Mount Gilboa with his father Saul (31:2, 31:6). How do you live with two loyalties that pull in different directions?
- 2The men of Jabesh Gilead "went all night" (31:12) so that Saul and his sons could be buried, and David called it kindness (2 Samuel 2:5). Who could you show that kind of costly kindness to this week?
- 3The men of Jabesh Gilead "fasted seven days" (31:13), and David and his men "mourned, wept, and fasted until evening" (2 Samuel 1:12). What has helped you grieve a loss alongside other people?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 1 Samuel 31 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home