1 Chronicles 10 is the tenth chapter of the

Books of Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sec ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Old Testament of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. The book is compiled from older sources by an unknown person or group, designated by modern scholars as "the Chronicler", and had the final shape established in late fifth or fourth century BCE. This chapter describes

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...

's downfall and the reasons of his rejection by God. The whole chapter belongs to the section focusing on the kingship of David (1 Chronicles 9:35 to 29:30).

Text

This chapter was originally written in the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. It is divided into 14 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

tradition, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and

Codex Leningradensis The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...

(1008). There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the

version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century),

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century) and

Codex Marchalianus Codex Marchalianus designated by siglum Q is a 6th-century Greek manuscript copy of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament) known as the Septuagint. The text was written on vellum in uncial letters. Palaeographically it ...

(Q;

\mathfrak

^Q; 6th century).

Old Testament references

*: .

Death of Saul and his sons (10:1–10)

This section marks the change of form in the Books of Chronicles changes from a list-based text to a more narrative description based on the historical documents such as the

books of Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Josh ...

and books of Kings, and additional materials to provide information on the legitimate Davidic kingdom. It begins with

's downfall to theologically link the whole exposition with the Babylonian Exile at the end.

Verse 6

:''So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together.'' *Cross reference: *"And all his house": this phrase is used instead of the words 'and his armor-bearer and all his men that same day' in to underline the fact that with Saul's death, his kingdom basically ended. The episode of Ishbaal's brief rule in is considered irrelevant to the Chronicler, although the name is mentioned in the genealogy of Saul (; ).

Verse 10

:''And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.'' *Cross reference: According to Saul's armour was placed in the temple of

Ashtaroth Astaroth (also Ashtaroth, Astarot and Asteroth), in demonology, was known to be the Great Duke of Hell in the first hierarchy with Beelzebub and Lucifer; he was part of the evil trinity. He is known to be a male figure most likely named after ...

(Astarte) and his body fastened to the walls of Beth-shan. The Chronicler avoids naming foreign gods, with few exception, such as Dagon. *"

Dagon Dagon ( he, דָּגוֹן, ''Dāgōn'') or Dagan ( sux, 2= dda-gan, ; phn, 𐤃𐤂𐤍, Dāgān) was a god worshipped in ancient Syria across the middle of the Euphrates, with primary temples located in Tuttul and Terqa, though many attes ...

": god of grain, one of principal deities of the

Philistines The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, whe ...

. The statue of Dagon lost its head and hands when the Philistines placed the ark of YHWH in a temple of Dagon (). The fate of Saul was also similar to that of Goliath (

1 Samuel 17 1 Samuel 17 is the seventeenth chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samu ...

Burial of Saul (10:11–14)

The narrative of Saul's burial is shorter than the account in , omitting details such as the all-night walk of the valiant men from Jabesh Gilead to fetch Saul's body and the hanging of the corpses on the city walls of Beth-shan. The Chronicler focuses more on Saul's rejection by God, giving no less than four reasons: # Saul's transgression (NKJV/NRSV: 'unfaithfulness'): denoting religious crimes which lead to defeat and exile. # He did not keep the word of God, a judgement as declared in Deuteronomy and

Psalm 119 Psalm 119 is the 119th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English of the King James Version: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord". The Book of Psalms is in the third section of the Hebrew Bible, the ' ...

, for instance. It may refer to crimes committed by Saul as reported in

1 Samuel 13 1 Samuel 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samue ...

and 1 Chronicles 15, as the term 'kept' is found in and ' HWH'sword' in

1 Samuel 15 1 Samuel 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Sam ...

('' passim''). # He consulted a medium, an accusation which contains a pun as "Saul" (Hebrew: ) and "consult" ("enquire, inquire, ask"; Hebrew: ) are made up of the same consonants in Hebrew. This refers to Saul's visit to the

witch of Endor The Witch of Endor ( he, ''baʿălaṯ-ʾōḇ bəʿĒyn Dōr'', "she who owns the ''ʾōḇ'' of Endor") is a woman who, according to the Hebrew Bible, was consulted by Saul to summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel. Saul wished to receive ad ...

( 1 Samuel 28). # He did not seek the Lord, emphasizing the Chronicler's general attitude towards God.

Verse 12

:''all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.'' *Cross reference: 1 Samuel 31:12–13 The brave action of the men, marching from Jabesh-Gilead to Beth-Shan and back (about one way), recalls the high point of Saul's leadership at the beginning of his reign when he saved the people of Jabesh-Gilead from foreign attacks (

1 Samuel 11 1 Samuel 11 is the eleventh chapter of the First Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the first part of the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel ...

Verse 14

:''But he did not inquire of the Lord; therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

the son of

Jesse Jesse may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible. * Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' ( ...

.''

NKJV The New King James Version (NKJV) is an English translation of the Bible. The complete NKJV Bible was published in 1982 by Thomas Nelson, now HarperCollins. The NKJV is described by Thomas Nelson as being "scrupulously faithful to the origin ...

*"Turned the kingdom over": The kingdom of Israel is 'at God's disposal', so the choice of kings belongs to God (cf. ; ).

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

translations: *
Divrei Hayamim I - I Chronicles - Chapter 10 (Judaica Press)
translation ith_Rashi's_commentary.html"_;"title="Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary">Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentaryat_Chabad.org *__Christian_translations: *
''Online_Bible''_at_GospelHall.org
(ESV,_KJV,_Darby,_American_Standard_Version,_Bible_in_Basic_English) *
First_Book_of_Chronicles_Chapter_10._Bible_Gateway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chronicles_1_10 First_Book_of_Chronicles_chapters.html" ;"title="1_Chronicles_10.html" ;"title="Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary.html" ;"title="Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentary">Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentaryat Chabad.org * Christian translations: *
''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English) *
First Book of Chronicles Chapter 10. Bible Gateway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chronicles 1 10 First Book of Chronicles chapters">10 Dagon