1 Samuel 31:8
ESV
The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
NIV
The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
NASB
It came about on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip those killed, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
CSB
The next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa.
NLT
The next day, when the Philistines went out to strip the dead, they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons on Mount Gilboa.
KJV
And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.
NKJV
So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
What does 1 Samuel 31:8 mean?
The battle is not fully over until the plunder has been collected from the fallen. The Philistines have routed the Israelites in a decisive victory. The following day, they strip everything of value from the bodies of the dead as part of their reward for participating in the battle. They come to the bodies of Saul and the three of his sons killed alongside him in the battle: Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua. The Philistines had apparently been unaware that Saul had been killed, but they now recognize him and his sons. Soon a celebration will begin over the death of Israel's king (1 Samuel 31:9).Saul had been wounded by Philistine arrows, but he didn't die immediately. Afraid of the humiliations his enemies would put him through, he killed himself (1 Samuel 31:4). He had reason to worry. When King Zedekiah of Judah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, his punishment was to watch his sons be killed and then lose his eyes (2 Kings 25:7). At least Saul won't experience his humiliation. The Philistines will cut off his head, display his armor in the temple of their goddess Ashtaroth, and hang his body on a wall, next to his three sons. Only the men of Jabesh-gilead will be brave enough to retrieve the bodies and bury them honorably (1 Samuel 31:9–13).
