Text -- 1 Chronicles 10:8-14 (NET)

10:8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. 10:9 They stripped his corpse, and then carried off his head and his armor. They sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines proclaiming the news to their idols and their people. 10:10 They placed his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon. 10:11 When all the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, 10:12 all the warriors went and recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their remains under the oak tree in Jabesh and fasted for seven days. 10:13 So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord’s instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits. 10:14 He did not seek the Lord’s guidance, so the Lord killed him and transferred the kingdom to David son of Jesse.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Ch 10:10

¹ tn Or “god.” The Hebrew term may be translated as singular or plural depending on the context.

NET Notes: 1Ch 10:12

¹ tn Heb “arose and carried away the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons.”

² tn Heb “their bones.”

NET Notes: 1Ch 10:13

¹ tn Heb “and Saul died because of his unfaithfulness by which he acted unfaithfully against the Lord, concerning the word of the Lord which he did not keep, also to Saul, a ritual pit to seek.” The text alludes to the incident recorded in 1 Sam 28. The Hebrew term אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַּעֲלַת־אוֹב (ba’alat-’ov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. A. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew áo‚b,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.

NET Notes: 1Ch 10:14

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.