Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Chronicles 10:1

"Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa." — 1 Chronicles 10:1 (ASV)

1 Chronicles 10-29 covers the history of King David, who made Jerusalem the political and religious center of Israel, organized the Levitical ministry in its permanent form, and amassed great stores of wealth and material for the Temple, which his son and successor was to build.

A BRIEF NARRATIVE OF THE OVERTHROW AND DEATH OF SAUL, BY WAY OF PRELUDE TO THE REIGN OF DAVID.

1 Chronicles 10:1–12 is parallel to 1 Samuel 31:1–13. The general agreement of the two texts is so exact as to rule out the assumption of their independence. We know that the chronicler drew much in his earlier chapters from the Pentateuch; and since he must have been acquainted with the Books of Samuel, it is à priori likely that he made similar use of them. At the same time, a number of small variations—on average, at least three in each verse—some of which can be attributed neither to the quirks or mistakes of copyists nor to the supposed caprice of the compiler, may indicate the use of an additional source, or perhaps of a text of Samuel differing in some respects from the one we possess. (See Introduction.)

Now the Philistines fought against Israel. — For a similarly abrupt beginning, compare Isaiah 2:1. The battle was fought in the plain of Jezreel, or Esdraelon, the scene of so many struggles in ancient history. (Compare Hosea 2:10: I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.)

The men of Israel. — Hebrew, man — a collective expression, which gives a more vivid image of the rout. They fled as one man, or in a body. Samuel has the plural.

Fell down slain in Mount Gilboa. — The Jebel Faku’a rises out of the plain of Jezreel to a height of one thousand seven hundred feet. The defeated army of Saul fell back upon this mountain, which had been their first position (1 Samuel 28:4), but were pursued there. Slain is right, as in 1 Chronicles 10:8.