English
Português
Español
Français
Answer
Critics of the Bible sometimes point out the two different versions of the death of King Saul as a “contradiction” in Scripture. First Samuel 31:4 states that Saul was injured in battle and then took his own life. Second Samuel 1:10 recounts an Amalekite’s claim of killing Saul. Is this a genuine contradiction in the Bible? Which narrative of Saul’s death is accurate?
The definitive answer is that Saul indeed took his own life, and the Amalekite’s account was a falsehood. The Amalekite fabricated the story of Saul’s death in hopes of receiving a reward from David. While the Bible documents the lie the Amalekite told, it does not validate it as truth.
The authoritative record of Saul’s death is detailed in 1 Samuel 31. The historian explicitly states that Saul committed suicide: “The fighting became very fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they severely wounded him. Saul said to his armor-bearer, ‘Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and abuse me.’ But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused, so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. Thus, Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died together on the same day” (1 Samuel 31:3-6). Subsequent verses in the passage mention multiple witnesses to the incident.
Second Samuel 21:12 attributes the death of Saul to the Philistines: “The Philistines . . . struck Saul down on Gilboa.” Saul and his troops were engaged in battle with the Philistines, and it was during that confrontation that Saul took his own life. His suicide was a result of sustaining fatal injuries from the Philistines and his dread of being captured, tortured, and humiliated by his adversaries.
Second Samuel 1 recounts the tale of the Amalekite who approached David.The biblical record describes him as a man “from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head” «it came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance. », (2 Samuel 1:2). When he came to David, he fell to the ground to honor the presumptive king. He then told his lie about the death of Saul: “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, . . . and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and their drivers in hot pursuit. When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, ‘What can I do?’ . . . Then he said to me, ‘Stand here by me and kill me! I’m in the throes of death, but I’m still alive.’ So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord” (2 Samuel 1:6-10).
The Amalekite’s story conflicts with the biblical historian’s account of the death of Saul and is therefore a lie. Probably, the truth of the matter is that the Amalekite was a treasure-hunter, a battlefield opportunist who followed armies in conflict in hopes of gathering booty from the fallen soldiers. The Amalekite likely witnessed the death of Saul and heard Saul’s plea for his armor-bearer to kill him before committing suicide. After Saul was dead, the Amalekite plundered the body but then realized he might be able to gain an even greater prize from David, who stood to benefit most from the death of Saul. So the Amalekite fabricated his story about killing Saul at Saul’s request, showed Saul’s crown and armband as “proof” of his story, and sat back, expecting David to grant him a large reward.
The Amalekite had miscalculated, however.Ver. King Saul had indeed been David’s enemy, but David was not happy at the death of Saul. In fact, David had previous opportunities to kill Saul himself, but he refrained out of fear of God, since Saul was God’s anointed «And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD. », (see 1 Samuel 24:6). Instead of the reward he was expecting, the Amalekite received judgment. “David called one of his men and said, ‘Go, strike him down!’ So he struck him down, and he died. For David had said to him, ‘Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed’” (2 Samuel 1:15-16). The Amalekite’s lie about the death of Saul brought about his own death.
Putting all the events concerning the death of Saul in the correct order:
• Saul is wounded in battle and then kills himself by falling on his own sword.
• An Amalekite comes across Saul’s dead body and takes his crown and armlet.
• The next day, the Philistines find Saul’s body, behead him, strip him of his armor, send the report, and fasten his body to the wall of Beth Shan (1 Samuel 31:8-10).
• Men of Jabesh Gilead travel overnight and take Saul’s body and those of his sons and burn them at Jabesh (1 Samuel 31:11-12).
• The men of Jabesh Gilead bury Saul’s bones under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and the men of that city fast for seven days «And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.», (1 Samuel 31:13).
• The Amalekite arrives at David’s camp on the third day with the crown and armlet, recounting his fabricated tale.
• David and his men fast and mourn until evening.
• David orders the execution of the Amalekite.
• David ascends to the throne and pays tribute to the valiant men who buried Saul’s body (2 Samuel 2:4-7).
