Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Saul, rejected by God because of his sins, is killed together with his sons by the Philistines. His head is hung in the temple of Dagon, and the rest of his body is buried by the men of Jabesh.
Vulgate Text: 1 Paralipomenon 10:1-14
1. Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2. The Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, sons of Saul. 3. The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him and wounded him with arrows. 4. Then Saul said to his armor-bearer: 'Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me.' But his armor-bearer would not, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5. When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. 6. So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house fell together. 7. When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them. 8. The next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9. They stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout their land to carry the news to the temples of their idols and to the people. 10. They put his armor in the temple of their god, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. 11. When all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12. all the valiant men arose and took the bodies of Saul and his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days. 13. So Saul died for his unfaithfulness, because he transgressed the commandment of the Lord which He had commanded and did not keep it; and also because he consulted a medium, 14. and did not seek the Lord; therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
The events of this chapter we heard in 1 Kings, the last chapter, where I explained them.
Verse 10: The Temple of Dagon
10. THEY CONSECRATED HIS ARMOR IN THE TEMPLE OF THEIR GOD. — That is, of Ashtaroth, as is said in 1 Kings, last chapter, 31. 'Ashtaroth' was Venus, who was worshipped now as a goddess, now as a god.
THEY FASTENED HIS HEAD IN THE TEMPLE OF DAGON — as though thus ascribing the victory to Dagon, and therefore offering the head of the defeated King Saul as the noblest spoil to him.
Verse 14: He Did Not Seek the Lord
14. AND DID NOT SEEK THE LORD. — This was the first cause of Saul's sin: that having distrusted God, whom he had offended by disobedience, he trusted in the devil and summoned him through the sorceress.