Who Killed Saul?

1. Saul committed suicide.

Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. So Saul died. 1 Samuel 31:4-6

Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. 1 Chronicles 10:4

2. Saul was killed by an Amalekite.

And he [Saul] said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me. So I stood upon him, and slew him. 2 Samuel 1:8-10

3. Saul was killed by the Philistines.

The Philistines had slain Saul. 2 Samuel 21:12

4. God killed him.

So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. 1 Chronicles 10:14.


I asked this question somewhere else and I got all sorts of funny replies from Saul committed suicide then before He died, He asked an Amalekite who was fighting for the Philistines to kill him quicker.
Then I got death threats for daring to research and question the word of God.
Needless to say I was very unsatisfied with the answers. So who killed Saul?

Go ask orunmila baba ifa.

Chanchit: Go ask orunmila baba ifa.

Give me links to them please

ok

In a way we can say God slayed him because He removed His protective covering over Saul's life due to Saul's disobedience. God allowed Saul to die because he disobeyed God's direct command to him in regards to slaying the Amalekites and he also practised spiritism.
Now the truth is that Saul killed himself but since he lost a war to the philistines, they claimed victory for his death. Someone (the amalekite) knew that Saul wanted to kill David and when he saw Saul's dead body, he decided to claim victory for his death too. He went to David and pronounced himself as the killer of Saul in order to find favor in the eyes of David but he was killed for touching God's once anointed servant (although he never killed Saul, he lied thinking that David would honour him).
Hope you are satisfied now?

Good morning Affiliated,

I really do not know whether your post is guided by a sincerity of purpose but I believe that it is a good thing to ask questions when in doubt. Todaynatoday has done a great job in trying to explain and I think his/her explanation makes sense.

Firstly, you should understand that sacred scriptures can be a bit tricky sometimes to understand if one does not have the right disposition to reading it. I believe firmly that sacred scripture is not just another book. We need to understand the message the author is trying to convey, the context in which some words were used and the underlying circumstance guiding the comments in sacred scriptures.
You rightly quoted:

1 Samuel 31:4-6
4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won't gloat over me and kill me.” But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. 5 The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his own sword and died with Saul. 6 And that is how Saul, his three sons, and the young man died; all of Saul's men died that day.

Which happens to be the account of the author and depicts the manner in which Saul died. This account is also backed by

1 Chronicles 10:4
4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, “Draw your sword and kill me, to keep these godless Philistines from gloating over me.” But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.

Hence the answer to your question: “Who killed Saul?”. Saul was forced to commit suicide by the Philistines because he never wanted them to gloat over him before they eventually kill him.

Now in 2 Samuel 1:8-10, the author was trying to let us know the folly in giving false witness. Note that this was not the author’s account of the death of Saul but a claim made by an Amalekite. This Amalekite obviously was aware that David and Saul were not in good terms that David is likely to succeed Saul as king in the event that Saul and his son’s were dead, given that he lived in the midst of the people of Israel:

2 Samuel 1:13
13 David asked the young man who had brought him the news, “Where are you from?” He answered, “I'm an Amalekite, but I live in your country.”


I believe this Amalekite wanted to win the favour of David by telling him that he killed Saul. He knew the love David has for the king and his sons hence his tactics of feigning sorrow before divulging the news:

2 Samuel 1:2
2 The next day a young man arrived from Saul's camp. To show his grief, he had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head. He went to David and bowed to the ground in respect.

It is actually not uncommon for people to want to gain favour or propagate their selfish interest in the midst of a tragedy. Just like the information minister (Labaran Maku) lied when he said he was scheduled to be a passenger on the ill-fated helicopter that killed Governor Patrick Yakowa. If I were to write about the death of Patrick, I would also make reference to what Maku claimed; which was what the author tried to do in 2 Samuel 1:8-10.

Now for 2 Samuel 21:12

12 he went and got the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from the people of Jabesh in Gilead. (They had stolen them from the public square in Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged the bodies on the day they killed Saul on Mount Gilboa.)

This is quite clear, cause even in the practice of law, when an individual force another person to commit suicide through the use of force then the individual who forced the other man is guilty of murder. In the case of Saul, the Philistines forced him to take his own life by their actions. Though they can’t be charged for murder but if they were not in the picture, Saul would not have killed himself:

1 Samuel 31:1-2
“2 But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he himself was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded.”

Even in soccer, it is the rule to attribute an own goal to the opponent because the own goal was a result of the pressure from the opposing team. So it makes sense to attribute the death of Saul to the Philistines.
It is not uncommon for the people of Israel to attribute the misfortune of someone to some sin against God. This was the case with Saul. Saul fell out of favour with God because Saul sinned against God. Assuming Saul was still with the favour of God he would not have ended in the way he did. The battle with the Philistines would have been a walk in the park for him. Since God decided to “abandon” Saul in that battle, it would be appropriate for the author to attribute the death of Saul to God.

In summary, the various accounts were meant to convey the same message but from different perspective.
The first account was meant to let us know the physical cause of Saul’s death, the second account tried to let us know how someone wanted to take advantage of the situation, the third was meant to let us know those who emerged victorious in that particular battle while the fourth was meant to let us understand the spiritual angle to Saul’s fall.

Thank you!

Todaynatoday: In a way we can say God slayed him because He removed His protective covering over Saul's life due to Saul's disobedience. God allowed Saul to die because he disobeyed God's direct command to him in regards to slaying the Amalekites and he also practised spiritism.
Now the truth is that Saul killed himself but since he lost a war to the philistines, they claimed victory for his death. Someone (the amalekite) knew that Saul wanted to kill David and when he saw Saul's dead body, he decided to claim victory for his death too. He went to David and pronounced himself as the killer of Saul in order to find favor in the eyes of David but he was killed for touching God's once anointed servant (although he never killed Saul, he lied thinking that David would honour him).
Hope you are satisfied now?

Thanks for the explanation. It explains it better than most could and I am a little bit more satisfied. But I am looking at the bible from the point of view of a perfect book that should contain no inaccuracy. About the God part, God passively allowed Saul to be killed and God didn't actively kill Saul. Saying God killed Saul is therefore inaccurate But let's just accept your explanation like that. About the philistines also, claiming the philistines slayed Saul is also inaccurate. The whole point of Saul committing suicide was so that such a claim wouldn't be made. It wasn't the philistines that was claiming victory in that case, that was the records of isreal

striktlymi: Good morning Affiliated,

I really do not know whether your post is guided by a sincerity of purpose but I believe that it is a good thing to ask questions when in doubt. Todaynatoday has done a great job in trying to explain and I think his/her explanation makes sense.

Firstly, you should understand that sacred scriptures can be a bit tricky sometimes to understand if one does not have the right disposition to reading it. I believe firmly that sacred scripture is not just another book. We need to understand the message the author is trying to convey, the context in which some words were used and the underlying circumstance guiding the comments in sacred scriptures.
You rightly quoted:

1 Samuel 31:4-6
4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won't gloat over me and kill me.” But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. 5 The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his own sword and died with Saul. 6 And that is how Saul, his three sons, and the young man died; all of Saul's men died that day.
Which happens to be the account of the author and depicts the manner in which Saul died. This account is also backed by

1 Chronicles 10:4
4 He said to the young man carrying his weapons, “Draw your sword and kill me, to keep these godless Philistines from gloating over me.” But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.
Hence the answer to your question: “Who killed Saul?”. Saul was forced to commit suicide by the Philistines because he never wanted them to gloat over him before they eventually kill him.
Now in 2 Samuel 1:8-10, the author was trying to let us know the folly in giving false witness. Note that this was not the author’s account of the death of Saul but a claim made by an Amalekite. This Amalekite obviously was aware that David and Saul were not in good terms that David is likely to succeed Saul as king in the event that Saul and his son’s were dead, given that he lived in the midst of the people of Israel:
2 Samuel 1:13
13 David asked the young man who had brought him the news, “Where are you from?” He answered, “I'm an Amalekite, but I live in your country.”


I believe this Amalekite wanted to win the favour of David by telling him that he killed Saul. He knew the love David has for the king and his sons hence his tactics of feigning sorrow before divulging the news:

2 Samuel 1:2
2 The next day a young man arrived from Saul's camp. To show his grief, he had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head. He went to David and bowed to the ground in respect.
It is actually not uncommon for people to want to gain favour or propagate their selfish interest in the midst of a tragedy. Just like the information minister (Labaran Maku) lied when he said he was scheduled to be a passenger on the ill-fated helicopter that killed Governor Patrick Yakowa. If I were to write about the death of Patrick, I would also make reference to what Maku claimed; which was what the author tried to do in 2 Samuel 1:8-10.

Now for 2 Samuel 21:12
12 he went and got the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from the people of Jabesh in Gilead. (They had stolen them from the public square in Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged the bodies on the day they killed Saul on Mount Gilboa.)
This is quite clear, cause even in the practice of law, when an individual force another person to commit suicide through the use of force then the individual who forced the other man is guilty of murder. In the case of Saul, the Philistines forced him to take his own life by their actions. Though they can’t be charged for murder but if they were not in the picture, Saul would not have killed himself:

1 Samuel 31:1-2
“2 But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he himself was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded.”
Even in soccer, it is the rule to attribute an own goal to the opponent because the own goal was a result of the pressure from the opposing team. So it makes sense to attribute the death of Saul to the Philistines.
It is not uncommon for the people of Israel to attribute the misfortune of someone to some sin against God. This was the case with Saul. Saul fell out of favour with God because Saul sinned against God. Assuming Saul was still with the favour of God he would not have ended in the way he did. The battle with the Philistines would have been a walk in the park for him. Since God decided to “abandon” Saul in that battle, it would be appropriate for the author to attribute the death of Saul to God.

In summary, the various accounts were meant to convey the same message but from different perspective.
The first account was meant to let us know the physical cause of Saul’s death, the second account tried to let us know how someone wanted to take advantage of the situation, the third was meant to let us know those who emerged victorious in that particular battle while the fourth was meant to let us understand the spiritual angle to Saul’s fall.

Thank you!

Thank you for your thorough explanation. I can't fault your logic