What Does 1 Samuel 31:5 Mean in the King James?
And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The armor-bearer’s fall repeats Saul’s own, making his death an echo of the death he has just witnessed.
THE MEANING
The verse holds a brutal sequence in plain sight: the armor-bearer sees Saul dead, falls on his own sword, and dies beside him. The Hebrew repeats the verb “fall” from Saul’s death, tying the two acts together without softening either one.
THE ROOT
וַיִּפֹּל
wayyippōl
GROWS FROM
נפל
to fall
“fell” in this verse is wayyippōl. The same verb describes Saul falling upon his sword in the verse immediately before this one. “Likewise” conveys the parallel in English, while the repeated Hebrew verb makes the armor-bearer’s fall an echo of Saul’s.
ALSO GROWS
nāphal: to fall or lie fallen
נָפַל
It is the verb used both for Saul’s fall and for the armor-bearer’s.
mappelet: a fall or ruin
מַפֶּלֶת
This noun from the same root carries falling into the sense of collapse or ruin.
מֵת
mēt
GROWS FROM
מות
to die
“dead / died” in this verse is mēt. The verse uses forms of the same root for Saul’s state and the armor-bearer’s end: Saul is dead, and the armor-bearer dies with him. The word family links what he sees to what he does next.
ALSO GROWS
mēt: dead
מֵת
It describes Saul as the armor-bearer sees him.
māvet: death
מָוֶת
The noun names the same root action that the verse gives as the armor-bearer’s own death.
THE PATTERN
The Hebrew verb for falling can describe a fatal collapse or a fall from which another person lifts someone.
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.The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.THE THREAD
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.The Hebrew verb וַיִּפֹּל (wayyippōl, “and he fell”) appears in both verses. Saul falls upon his sword; then the armor-bearer “falls too,” repeating the same root after seeing Saul dead.
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