Passage

1 Samuel 31.4

Book: 1 Samuel · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"2. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers."

"4. Then said Saul to his armorbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell upon it."

"5. And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died with him. 6. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armorbearer, and all his men, that same day together." (1 Samuel 31:2-6, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"2. The Philistines overtook Saul and on his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. 3. The battle went hard against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers."

"4. Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me!” But his armor bearer would not; for he was terrified. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell on it."

"5. When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword, and died with him. 6. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor bearer, and all his men, that same day together." (1 Samuel 31:2-6, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"2. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons. 3. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. ^{and the archers: Heb. and the shooters, men with bows} ^{hit: Heb. found him}"

"4. Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. ^{abuse: or, mock me}"

"5. And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. 6. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together." (1 Samuel 31:2-6, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"2. and the Philistines follow Saul and his sons, and the Philistines smite Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, sons of Saul. 3. And the battle is hard against Saul, and the archers find him, men with bow, and he is pained greatly by the archers;"

"4. and Saul saith to the bearer of his weapons, 'Draw thy sword, and pierce me with it, lest they come, these uncircumcised, and have pierced me, and rolled themselves on me;' and the bearer of his weapons hath not been willing, for he is greatly afraid, and Saul taketh the sword, and falleth upon it."

"5. And the bearer of his weapons seeth that Saul [is] dead, and he falleth, he also, on his sword, and dieth with him; 6. and Saul dieth, and three of his sons, and the bearer of his weapons, also all his men, on that day together." (1 Samuel 31:2-6, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

H1856 - daqar

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.