Who Killed Saul?

This is a common question. There are two different accounts in the Bible of who killed king Saul. This causes an apparent conflict because both cannot be true. One of the accounts must be a lie. That is just a simple fact. The two accounts are mutually exclusive of each other.

However, there are no real conflicts in the Bible. There are only what appear to be conflicts on the surface. Before I give the answer, let’s look at both accounts.

Account #1

1SAM 31:2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul's sons.

1SAM 31:3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.

Now take a close look at verse 4 and notice who is talking.

1SAM 31:4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, (God is recording the fact that Saul is speaking) Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. (Saul is now done speaking) But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. (God is again recording a fact).

No one in the story is speaking in verses 5 thru 7. These three verses are all narration. In verses 5, 6, and 7 God is recording facts for us.

1SAM 31:5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.

1SAM 31:6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.

Again who is the speaker here? It cannot be Saul or his armourbearer because they are already dead. The bottom line is that the speaker is God. God is inspiring the writer of I Samuel to pen these exact words. And the style of writing here is narration. And because of the inspiration of scripture, God is in effect the narrator.

1SAM 31:7 And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

In the first account of how Saul died the narrator (God) tells us that Saul killed himself by falling on his sword. And several times in these verses the narrator tells us that Saul is dead. He is driving the point home by repeating it over and over. It does not say that he is dieing or severely wounded, but that he died. It is clear that Saul died here by his own hand.

Now let’s look at account # 2

2SAM 1:2 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.

2SAM 1:3 And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.

2SAM 1:4 And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.

2SAM 1:5 And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead?

Now here comes the apparent conflict. But as you read it, notice who is talking.

2SAM 1:6 And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.

2SAM 1:7 And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I.

2SAM 1:8 And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.

2SAM 1:9 He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me.

2SAM 1:10 So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord.

In verses 6 thru 10 the Amalekite is speaking. What we have in these verses is NOT narration from God. What we have is the recording of exactly what the Amalekite said to David. Men can and do lie but God cannot lie (Titus 2:1).

To understand the Bible you must understand this principal. The Bible does not lie, but the Bible does record the lies of men.

If the Bible changed what the Amalekite said to match what really happened, then that would be a lie. To factually and truthfully record what the Amalekite said, the Bible had to record his lie.

Here is a principal of proper Bible study. Anytime you have an apparent conflict between the narrator speaking and what a man said, the narrator is correct 100% of the time and what the man said is a lie that he told. His lie is just faithfully recorded word for word.

There can be no doubt that Saul fell on his sword and killed himself because that is what God said happened. Trust what God said and not what the Amalekite said.

It is also interesting to note what happened to the Amalekite.

2SAM 1:11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him:

2SAM 1:12 And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.

2SAM 1:13 And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.

2SAM 1:14 And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?

2SAM 1:15 And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.

2SAM 1:16 And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD's anointed.

David had the Amalikite killed, but watch real close the reason why in verse 16.

The Amalikite was NOT killed for killing Saul.

The Amalikite was killed for SAYING that he killed Saul. The verse says, “for thy mouth hath testified”.

Another reason is that Saul would not have asked the Amalikite to thrust him thru. Notice again what Saul said, “Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me.”

Saul did not want the uncircumcised to thrust him through. Amalikites are just as uncircumcised as the Philistines.

Another interesting thing is that in the Bible the Amalikites typify the flesh, so it should be no surprise to find the Amalikite lying.

In summary we know that Saul killed himself because:

1) Narration in the Bible is always the recording of facts. In effect God is the speaker when narration is used and God cannot lie. And narration is what is used in the 1st account, which clearly states that Saul fell upon his sword and died.

2) The Bible does record accurately the lies of men. Amalikites in the Bible typify the flesh so it is no surprise that he lied.

3) The Amalikite was not killed for killing Saul but for saying that he killed Saul.

4) Saul would not have asked the Amalikite to run him thru because he was just as uncircumcised as the Philistines.

The first account is a factual recording of events given to us by God.

The second account if a factual recording of the lie of an Amalikite.

There is no conflict here at all. And remember always take what God says over what a man says.  Always take the facts of God over the lies of man.