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Journey of a Passage

1 Samuel 31:3–5; 2 Samuel 1:6–10

How did Saul die?

1 Samuel 31 says Saul fell on his own sword. In 2 Samuel 1 an Amalekite tells David he found Saul leaning on his spear and killed him at his request. 1 Chronicles 10 follows 1 Samuel 31.

Read 1 Samuel 31:3–5; 2 Samuel 1:6–10 in every edition

Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. Original SamuelUnknown (debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from Original Samuel
Greek
  1. Septuagint, 1 Kingdoms (library text: Giguet's French)Translated c. 2nd century BCTranslated from a Hebrew text of the period
Latin
    English
    1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    Readings

    The Amalekite lied
    He found the body, took the crown and claimed the killing to win a reward; David has him executed for it.
    Two traditions
    Different accounts of Saul's death were preserved side by side.
    Both partly true
    Saul's attempt failed and the Amalekite finished him (a harmonization).

    Every witness, in order

    1. Unknown (debated)

      Original Samuel

      – No copy survives

      No original survives.

    2. Translated c. 2nd century BC

      Septuagint, 1 Kingdoms (library text: Giguet's French)

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from a Hebrew text of the period

      How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

      Tire ton épée, et perce-moi… (31:4)

      Same account. One Greek text (Vaticanus type) via Giguet's French; not checked against a critical edition.

    3. AD 1008

      Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

      ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from Original Samuel

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

      שְׁלֹף חַרְבְּךָ וְדָקְרֵנִי בָהּ (31:4)

      Draw your sword and run me through with it

      Saul falls on his own sword when the armor-bearer refuses.

    4. 1611

      King James Bible

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

      So I stood upon him, and slew him… and I took the crown that was upon his head (2 Samuel 1:10)

      The Amalekite's account.

    What changed, and why

    The texts are compared, not merged. All witnesses agree within each book; the difference is between narratives.

    What the evidence shows

    • Independently documentedThe two accounts differ.

    Sources

    • E. Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. (2012)

    Related lessons

    • Saul and Jonathan Die at Gilboa →The Philistines defeat Israel on Mount Gilboa. Jonathan and two of his brothers are killed. Saul, badly wounded by archers, asks his armor-bearer to kill him; when he refuses, Saul falls on his own sword. The Philistines hang the bodies on the wall of Beth-shan. The men of Jabesh-gilead walk all night, take them down, burn them and bury the bones under a tamarisk.
    • Saul's Death, Retold →The story of Chronicles begins with Saul's last battle on Mount Gilboa, told almost word for word as in 1 Samuel 31. Then the Chronicler adds his verdict: Saul died for his unfaithfulness and for consulting a medium, "and enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David."